Volunteer Appreciation and Retention

In these challenging times, it’s crucial to focus on appreciating and retaining your volunteers! This interactive workshop will be an in-depth exploration of best practices for volunteer appreciation and retention. We’ll identify ways to motivate and retain volunteers through our daily engagement practices, as well as specific appreciation techniques. Participants will also learn how to craft a strategic plan for volunteer retention, and explore creative ways to appreciate and retain volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
About the Presenter: Julie Strassman
Julie Strassman is an experienced volunteer engagement professional and educator, dedicated to helping organizations build mutually beneficial relationships with volunteers.  She currently works as the Volunteer Coordinator with Bethesda Hospice Care, where she has increased volunteer participation by 92% over two years. Previously, she worked with LifeWise (previously Kingdom House), where she achieved volunteer engagement goals such as a 78% increase in volunteer groups over two years. She passionately believes in utilizing best practices to create and sustain volunteer programs that mutually benefit organizations and volunteers.
Julie  has served on the Board of the Metropolitan Volunteer Management Association (MVMA) as the VP of Programming, and was awarded MVMA’s Volunteer Director of the Year in 2019.  She has also served on the Certification Committee for the United Way of Greater St. Louis’  Volunteer Center. She has presented on volunteer engagement best practices for many local and national nonprofit organizations, including MVMA, Lindenwood University, University of Missouri St. Louis, Send Me St. Louis, and the We Raise Foundation (previously Wheat Ridge Ministries).