Sustaining Members, Volunteers, and Leaders in Community Organizations

Community organizations must be self-sustaining in order to remain active, viable, and strong. The three primary steps involved in sustaining members, volunteers, and leaders include evaluate, recognize, and either retain, redirect, or disengage. A volunteer performance evaluation will determine whether individual and organizational goals are being met. Whether formal or informal, recognition helps volunteers feel they are making a meaningful contribution to the organization and its programs and clientele. The final step in Sustain includes one of three options: retain, redirect, or disengage. At the conclusion of the cycle, a volunteer may enter only one of these three steps.