Why volunteers stop coming
Almost nobody resigns. They miss one week, then another, then the message you were going to send stops feeling worth sending.
By the time someone tells you they are leaving, the decision is months old. This is the sheet for catching it while it is still a conversation about capacity.
- Six domains where it shows first: attendance, language, scope, boundaries, social, conflict — and what each one usually means.
- The seven-day rule, which is the one operational habit that catches drifters before they are gone.
- The six reasons they came, in the words you will actually hear, so you can stop guessing at the one you are trying to protect.
- Free to print and pass around, including inside your own training pack.
One in five lapsed volunteers gave “no reason in particular” for stopping. No complaint, no exit conversation, nothing a survey would ever catch. NCVO, Time Well Spent 2023, 7,006 UK adults.
Here's your sheet
Thanks, you are on the list. Download it below and keep it somewhere you will find it again, because we cannot send you a second copy by email yet.
What's behind it
These two pages are cards 1 and 10 of twelve in The Quick Reference Cards, which also cover the motivation conversation, the role design canvas, screening in ten steps, the first shift, the 90-day runway, recognition that works, five hard conversations, the twelve KPIs and the twelve-month plan.
They ship inside the Volunteer Engagement Masterclass with a 69-page handbook, a training deck, a participant workbook and a live toolkit. See what's in it →