Food banks, shelters, and community centres don’t run on funding alone. They run on people; volunteers who lend their time, energy, and commitment to keep essential services going. And in Canada, that peoplepower is immense. In 2023 alone, nearly 75 per cent of Canadians volunteered, giving an extraordinary 4.1 billion hours.
Yet even with this dedication, volunteer involvement can be unpredictable. Unlike paid staff, volunteers may cancel, arrive late, and participate only when their schedules allow. For nonprofits, that makes planning difficult. After all, how do you maintain steady operations when your volunteer capacity is never guaranteed?
To manage this uncertainty, nonprofits turn to an array of engagement tactics, including electronic communications, presentations to organizations, and tabling at community fairs. But these activities cost time and money, two resources already in short supply. The real challenge becomes: How can nonprofits ensure they have enough volunteers at the right times without overspending limited resources to get them?
That’s the question Ivey faculty Mustafa Hayri Tongarlak, Associate Professor of Management Science and Deishin Lee, Associate Professor of Operations Management, along with colleagues Baris Ata (University of Chicago) and Joy Field (Boston College), set out to answer in their new research.
Using real data from a major American food bank, the research team applied a Brownian control model – a tool built for managing uncertainty – and uncovered a more effective way to stabilize volunteer turnout: a dynamic engagement strategy. Functioning like a thermostat, the model helps organizations conserve resources by pausing outreach when capacity is steady. Yet, as numbers dip, it advises ‘turning up the heat,’ escalating from low-cost digital outreach during mild fluctuations to high-effort field recruitment during severe shortages.
It’s simple in concept, but powerful in practice. When tested on the food bank data, this demand-based strategy significantly reduced operational costs while maintaining virtually the same level of social impact.
For nonprofits, this insight offers a powerful reminder: impact isn’t about engaging more, it’s about engaging wisely. By adopting this smarter, more strategic approach, organizations can safeguard their resources and continue showing up for the communities that need them most.
For a deeper look at how a dynamic engagement strategy can strengthen your volunteer operations, read A Dynamic Model for Managing Volunteer Engagement in Operations Research.
