Volunteer: Volunteer Onboarding & Retention System for a Growing Nonprofit

About the Opportunity

This is a volunteer opportunity provided by Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit creating social change through pro bono connections. We are seeking a volunteer to help Face Friends Foundation craft a comprehensive recruitment and onboarding plan for their virtual, asynchronous nonprofit environment.

Face Friends Foundation is an all-volunteer, fully virtual nonprofit based in Sugar Hill, Georgia, serving the Gwinnett County corridor. The organization is building the Sugar Hill Workforce Academy—a culinary incubator kitchen and technical literacy lab designed to create economic opportunity for youth, unemployed adults, and small business owners in the community.

Their most persistent operational challenge is volunteer onboarding and retention. Despite recruiting talented, qualified volunteers, inconsistent welcomes, unclear role expectations, and lack of follow-up lead to rapid disengagement, often within the first 30 days. The goal of this project is to develop a structured, documented system to improve volunteer retention and engagement.

Responsibilities

• Meet with the organization’s leadership to identify vacant roles.
• Conduct interviews with board or staff members involved in recruitment to assess past successes and challenges.
• Develop a complete, ready-to-implement volunteer management system tailored for a fully virtual, asynchronous nonprofit environment, including:
• Volunteer Welcome & Onboarding Playbook: A step-by-step documented process covering the first 30 days, including welcome messaging templates, Bitrix24 platform orientation, role introduction protocols, and a first assignment framework.
• 30-Day Orientation Framework: A structured week-by-week schedule outlining what every new volunteer should know, do, and deliver within their first 30 days, regardless of role.
• Performance Accountability Standards: Clear, documented expectations for volunteer engagement, including check-in frequency, task updates, and a process for addressing dormancy and underperformance.
• Volunteer Retention Strategy: A practical, low-cost strategy for keeping volunteers motivated, recognized, and engaged in a fully remote environment without financial compensation.
• Bitrix24 Tracking System: A simple, documented framework for the onboarding team to monitor volunteer progress and engagement status in real time.

What Success Looks Like

• Every new volunteer receives a consistent, professional, and energizing onboarding experience from day one.
• Volunteer dormancy drops significantly within the first 90 days of implementation.
• The onboarding team operates independently using a documented system, reducing reliance on the Executive Director.
• Volunteer retention improves measurably, with fewer departures in the first 90 days and better-staffed, productive departments.
• The foundation’s ability to recruit, retain, and mobilize volunteers accelerates progress toward opening the Sugar Hill Workforce Academy and achieving its $150,000 escrow target.

About Face Friends Foundation

Mission: To empower individuals with facial differences to achieve their full potential by providing support, resources, and advocating for a more inclusive society where every face is valued and respected. Additionally, the foundation works to alleviate food insecurity in communities.