Once a CVITP volunteer has been recruited, trained and gained some experience, the CVITP stands to gain if the volunteer comes back again next year.  Given that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not publish information about its volunteers, we do not know if the root of the problem behind its stagnating volunteer numbers is principally one of poor recruitment of new volunteers or of poor retention of existing volunteers.

Just as with the recruitment of new volunteers, the CRA currently relies primarily on its host organizations’ efforts to retain their existing volunteers for the next tax season.  Yet the evidence suggests this indirect approach, mediated via its host organizations, is not working.  In this article, we propose ways for the CRA to get directly involved in efforts to retain its existing CVITP volunteers.

Volunteers need to be recognized for their efforts.  This is a fundamental aspect of any organization’s work on retaining its volunteer.  However, at present the CRA does remarkably little to recognize its CVITP volunteers’ contributions.

This article offers ideas for the CRA to better acknowledge their volunteers’ contributions both to the volunteers themselves and to the wider community.  It also includes some other measures the CRA could take to help retain experienced volunteers.

These suggestions are informed by Volunteer Canada’s Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement (CCVI) and, in particular, its checklists for putting the Code into action (including the checklist on recruitment on page 9).  While it has not adopted the Code, we believe the CRA should heed its advice as the Code represents the industry standard for Canadian organizations, whether non profit or government, in working with volunteers.