The $400,000 Question Your Board Isn't Asking
- Nonprofit Learning Lab
- 42 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By Houston Goodwin, CEO, Better Impact
If one department in your organization was responsible for delivering $400,000 in economic value annually— enabling critical services, expanding your reach, and multiplying your impact—how much would you invest in it?
Now here's the follow-up: What if I told you that same department probably runs on less than $50,000 a year, operates with outdated tools, and struggles to get a line item in your annual budget? I'm talking about your volunteer program.
The Invisible Infrastructure
Executive directors can tell me their technology budget down to the dollar. They know exactly how much they invest in marketing, evaluation, and professional development. But when I ask about their volunteer program=budget? Silence. Or worse: "Well, volunteers are free, so..." Except they're not free. Not even close.
Here's what keeps me up at night: while every nonprofit leader I talk to knows volunteers are essential to their mission, almost none of them can quantify the true value their volunteers provide or the real investment required to manage them effectively. This disconnect is costing us. Badly.
The Questions You Can't Answer (But Should)
As an executive leader, you're responsible for making strategic decisions about resource allocation. So let me pose a few questions:
Can you calculate the economic value your volunteers generate? Not a guess—an actual number you could present to your board or a funder.
Do you know your volunteer program's ROI? If a funder asked, "For every dollar you invest in volunteer infrastructure, what return do you get?" Could you answer with confidence?
What does it actually cost to recruit, train, manage, and retain a volunteer?
Most organizations can't answer this. They're managing one of their largest workforces with almost no visibility into true costs. If you hesitated on these questions, you're not alone. The vast majority of nonprofit leaders are in the same position.
And it's holding us back.
What the Research Shows
New research from the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland and Points of Light reveals something stunning: Approximately half of all critical volunteer positions go unfilled every year. Not because people don't want to volunteer, but because organizations don't have the infrastructure to support them.
Post-pandemic, demand for services increased by more than 60%. Yet only 13% of organizations are engaging more volunteers than before.
And here's the kicker: While nonprofit leaders overwhelmingly believe volunteers are essential to service delivery and quality, funders don't see it the same way. There's a massive perception gap keeping funding for volunteer infrastructure at shockingly low levels.
The $500,000 Board Member
I recently spoke with a CEO who had an epiphany during a board meeting. After presenting the usual volunteer report (number of volunteers, hours served, nice quotes), a board member—a former Fortune 500 executive— raised his hand.
"Let me get this straight. You're managing what amounts to a half-million-dollar workforce on a budget that wouldn't cover an entry-level position. And you're doing it with spreadsheets and manual processes. Why?"
Silence.
"Because we've always seen volunteers as free labor, not as a strategic asset that requires investment."
That's the mindset we need to change.
What You'll Learn
On March 2nd, I'm hosting a webinar: "The Overlooked Engine: Why Your Volunteer Department May Be Your Organization's Most Underfunded Asset."
This isn't about volunteer appreciation or recruitment tips. This is about building the business case for investment using peer-reviewed research from the Do Good Institute, Points of Light, and The Bridge Span Group.
You'll walk away with:
Frameworks for calculating your volunteer program's economic value
Strategies for different funder types (foundations, corporations, individuals)
Templates for board presentations and funding requests
ROI calculation tools you can use immediately
A clear action plan for securing investment
Your Pre-Webinar Challenge
Before March 2nd, try to answer these three questions:
What is the economic value (in dollars) that your volunteers generated last year?
What did it cost your organization to manage those volunteers?
If you could invest more in volunteer infrastructure, what ROI would you expect?
If you can't answer these confidently, you need to be on this call.
The Bottom Line
Your volunteer program is either your organization's most overlooked asset or your most underfunded liability. Which one depends entirely on whether you're willing to treat it like the strategic infrastructure it actually is. Volunteers aren't free labor. They're a workforce that requires investment to manage effectively. They're not
"nice to have"—they're a force multiplier that can exponentially increase your impact. But only if you invest in the infrastructure to support them.
The research is clear. The path forward is mapped. The question is: are you ready to make the case?
Join me on March 2nd, and let's change the conversation together.
The Overlooked Engine: Why Your Volunteer Department May Be Your Organization's Most Underfunded Asset
When: March 2, 2026
8:00 am - 10:00 am PST | 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST | 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm GMT
Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, COOs, Development Directors, Volunteer Managers, Board Members
About Houston Goodwin
Houston Goodwin is the CEO of Better Impact, a leading volunteer management platform that has powered over 500 million hours of service worldwide. With a background in software leadership and private equity, Houston brings a fresh, data-informed perspective to the volunteer sector—championing the belief that
volunteer leaders are strategic drivers of change, not just program coordinators. His mission is to help organizations transform how they recruit, engage, and report on impact—and unlock the full potential of their volunteer efforts.
Share your experience: Can you calculate your volunteer program's economic value? What challenges have you faced when seeking funding for volunteer infrastructure? Let's discuss in the comments.