Nonprofit organizations across the country are looking to a huge resource to fill their needs and better serve their communities: retiring baby boomers. Numbering around 77 million, the baby boomer generation is well educated and talented, and many are looking for ways to contribute their skills and experience to help local schools, service organizations and soup kitchens.

Baby boomers are in better shape than any previous generation of retirees, too. Tapping into this healthy resource of human capital could change the face of charities from coast to coast.

So what do volunteer managers need to do to attract the talents of baby boomers?

• Offer flexibility, such as nontraditional hours or projects that can be done at home.
• Offer a variety of opportunities that leverage the unique skills and talents of this age group. Rather than having a baby boomer volunteer sit at a reception desk, ask them to edit a newsletter or update the organization’s website.

What types of work do baby boomers typically volunteer for?

• Helping at food banks: logistics, packing, serving, database management.
• Helping low-income people and elderly prepare and file tax returns.
• Coordinating services for veterans and their families.
• Tutoring, teaching ESL classes and literacy work.

The percentage of baby boomers volunteering their time is declining slightly. While about 33.5% of this age group volunteered in 2003, only 28.8% did so in 2010. The decrease could be because boomers are getting older. Others are working longer, as a result of the economic downturn. Delaying retirement cuts into volunteer time.

Think about how your organization could benefit from a few good baby boomers—and start recruiting new volunteers!

Tags: Managing Volunteers, Volunteer Recruiting

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at and is filed under Volunteer Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.