Leveraging legacy system data to examine generational propensity to volunteer

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations face increased competition in their volunteer recruitment efforts. Rapidly changing generational demographics within the US and an expanding base of digital marketing sources challenge the effective management of this critical process. Furthermore, many nonprofits lack the data and/or technical skills necessary to organize, analyze, and evaluate their volunteer recruiting processes. This study leverages legacy system data from two Midwest Big Brother Big Sister locations and finds that compared with Millennials, Boomers (2.08/1.63 times) and Gen-Xers (1.53/1.20 times) are significantly more likely to volunteer. Regression models revealed the significant influence of marketing sources by generation, providing insight for segmented marketing strategies. Findings also suggest an increased focus on marketing to Millennials results in overall lower volunteer rates. This article profiles an approach using basic dimensional data analysis and more advanced data analytics and serves as a guide for nonprofits to follow to develop insight into their volunteer recruitment efforts.