When Sarah, a volunteer coordinator at a mid-size nonprofit, planned her organization’s annual gala, she did what many of us do: she handled every detail herself. She ordered the linens, confirmed the caterer, and even created the seating chart, looping in volunteers only the week before the event and asking for their help with setting up tables and checking in guests.

The event went well, but Sarah was exhausted, frustrated, and questioning whether she could keep doing it every year. It wasn’t that no one would help her; in fact, her volunteers wish she’d ask for more help. Opportunities like this are exactly what motivated some volunteers to sign up in the first place!

The truth is that volunteers feel more connected to your mission when they’re part of the process. Involving them in your event-planning efforts taps into their creativity, builds ownership, and strengthens your community.
Below, we’ll explore five creative ways to bring volunteers into the planning process, helping you lighten your load while creating more invested supporters.

Recruiting a Volunteer Event Council

Volunteers want to contribute to the big picture, not just carry boxes and check people in. By creating a small, diverse event council, you’ll invite them into the heart of the planning process.

Form a small group of highly engaged volunteers who can take charge of certain aspects of the event, such as the theme, guest experience, and communications:

• Theme or experience: Delegate the event experience to someone who can brainstorm unique fundraising ideas, decor, or amenities that reflect your mission and audience.
• Communications: Select a liaison who can review the invitations, emails, and social media posts to ensure they’ll resonate with donors.
• Logistics: Place someone in charge of identifying practical ways to improve flow, accessibility, and volunteer coordination.
• Sponsorships: A sponsorship person can identify and pursue sponsorships or community partnerships.
• Hospitality: A hospitality lead can ensure every guest, from VIPs to volunteers, feels welcome and appreciated.

Ensure that committee members have all the necessary resources to succeed. For example, a volunteer in charge of logistics likely needs to know how to use event software so they can access ticketing and registration tools, while the communications liaison may need access to your email marketing tools.

This council also becomes a perfect training ground for future board members or even staff leaders who already understand your organization’s mission and events from the inside out.

Assigning Roles That Match Skills

Effective volunteer management is about receiving help from passionate supporters while still making the experience fulfilling for them. When you match volunteers’ skills to planning tasks, you create value for both sides: the volunteer feels fulfilled, and your event gains professional polish.

Your volunteers might include graphic designers, social media managers, photographers, accountants, or even professional event planners. Many volunteers have professional expertise or hidden talents that go untapped.

Ask if any volunteers have expertise in areas relevant to your event-planning needs, such as:

• Technology experience: Who can oversee sound, lighting, and presentation needs and ensure a seamless program flow?
• Marketing knowledge: Can any of your volunteers build relationships with local businesses, sponsors, and media outlets to spread the word?
• Data analysis: Identify volunteers who know how to extract meaningful insights from your registration data, ticket sales, or donor engagement metrics.
• Creative design: Is anyone particularly skilled in graphic design? Who would enjoy creating event programs, signage, or digital materials that align with your brand guidelines?
• Social media expertise: Volunteers familiar with social media platforms (and potentially with a significant following) can assist in creating a content calendar, capturing behind-the-scenes moments, and posting live during the event.

Your CRM is a valuable tool for identifying individuals who can fill each role. Take a look at your database and identify who has what skills by tracking volunteer interests, professions, and past activities. This will make it easier to assign roles that fit each person’s strengths.

As CharityEngine’s nonprofit event management guide explains, it’s also important to properly communicate the role to potential volunteers before they sign up. Write thorough volunteer role descriptions, including any potential qualifications or experience volunteers may need for a specific role. This helps ensure your role opening attracts the right candidates!

Using Micro-Tasks for Planning Input

Not every volunteer has time for recurring meetings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t contribute.

Micro-tasks are short, flexible requests that take just a few minutes and can be done remotely. These bite-sized opportunities make it easy for busy supporters to weigh in without the time commitment of a full planning role. Examples include:

• Proofreading the event invitation or program
• Voting on theme ideas or dinner options through a quick online poll
• Reviewing draft social media posts for clarity or excitement
• Suggesting silent auction items from their personal networks
• Providing accessibility feedback on your event website or registration form

This approach allows you to gather quick, diverse feedback from a large pool of volunteers, ensuring a broader range of ideas and perspectives without overwhelming anyone’s schedule.

Offering Exclusive Perks

Volunteers who help plan your event are investing intellectual and emotional energy, so go beyond a generic thank-you email. When volunteers feel appreciated and included, their satisfaction (and likelihood of signing up again) skyrockets! Recognition fuels retention.

Recognize their contributions with perks that make them feel valued and special, such as:

• Early-bird access to event registration or ticket sales
• “Planner Badge” or ribbon on their name tag recognizing their leadership role
• Private pre-event walk-through or behind-the-scenes preview with senior staff
• Invitation to a post-event celebration with leadership, where planning successes are shared and celebrated
• Spotlight feature in your newsletter or a social media post highlighting their contribution

The right volunteer management software will make it easy to show your appreciation by providing tools to engage volunteers well after the event. In fact, this software can manage every step of the volunteer lifecycle, from recruitment to retention. Don’t forget to rely on a solution like this while you’re assigning roles and planning schedules!

Building a "Post-Event Feedback Loop"

The event isn’t over when the lights go out. Gathering feedback from your planning volunteers shows you value their input and want to make the process even better next time.

Send a short, structured survey within a week of the event to capture their thoughts while they’re still fresh. For example, you might ask:

• Which part of the planning process felt most efficient?
• Which parts caused the most frustration or confusion?
• Did you feel your contributions made an impact?
• Would you take on this planning role again?
• What would you change for next year’s event?

You can use your CRM to share these surveys and track responses. Follow up by sharing how their feedback will be implemented. Volunteers who see their ideas turned into real changes feel respected and eager to stay involved.

When volunteers are part of the planning process from the start, they feel trusted, valued, and more deeply connected to the mission. Their ideas bring fresh perspectives, their involvement builds stronger relationships, and their investment helps create smoother, more successful events.

The key is shifting from simply assigning tasks to truly collaborating. When planning becomes a shared effort, everyone feels a sense of ownership. And that’s what keeps volunteers coming back, ready to help again!

Julie Kennon is a corporate communications expert with a love of writing. As CharityEngine’s Director of Content, she’s responsible for written and video content and incorporating it into a broader, content-driven marketing strategy.

Before joining CharityEngine, Julie served as the Director of Communications for Astriata, a design and web development company. Previously, she was a writer and corporate communications consultant for multiple individuals and businesses in different industries. Even before that, she was the Director of Corporate Communications for a company that sent her all over the world and taught her a lot about the fascinating world of power plants. (That's a joke. They're boring.)

When Julie’s two children were younger, she burned up her keyboard as an editorial writer. Her work appeared online in cool places like the New York Times and Psychology Today websites and in print in local magazines. She reached fame (in her own eyes) when her writing was reposted online by a syndicated Washington Post columnist and syndicated by an online blogging network.

Outside of work, she spends time getting her increasingly reluctant kids to hang out with her and her husband. He's a good guy because he loves to sit and have a glass of wine and listen to stories about her day, even if he has already heard them. She also adores her very naughty rescued Lab, Piper, who steals food from the counter and then hides it under the pillows on sofas or beds.