Volunteer Engagement Sankey Diagram: Editable Template
Follow volunteers from recruitment source through training and activity level to who is still active after 12 months. An editable nonprofit template with invented figures.
A volunteer engagement Sankey follows people from how they found you to whether they are still giving time a year later, so you can see where goodwill is lost.
The example charity recruited 900 volunteers from four sources: its website, events, employer schemes and referrals from existing volunteers. Some drop out before training; the rest settle into regular, occasional or lapsed patterns, and a year on each group is split into those still active and those who have left.
Volunteers are not paid staff and their time is the scarce resource, so retention matters more than headcount. Following one cohort through all four steps shows whether the problem is recruitment, onboarding or keeping people interested. The numbers are invented. For the same idea applied to staff see /sankey/hiring-funnel, and for where a charity money comes from see /sankey/grant-funding-flow.
How to read this diagram
- Of 900 recruits, 200 (22.2%) never reach training and 700 do.
- Website recruits are the largest group (300) and also lose the most before training: 90 of 300, or 30%, against 20 of 150 (13.3%) for employer schemes.
- Regular volunteers are the most loyal: 250 of 280 (89.3%) are still active, against 120 of 260 (46.2%) of occasional volunteers.
- Overall 390 of the 900 recruits are still active after 12 months (43.3%); 310 trained volunteers had left, and 200 never started.
- Training does not record the source, so the activity level cannot be traced back to the recruitment channel here.
The data behind it
Invented volunteer counts for one fictional cohort. Not data about any real charity.
| From | To | Amount (volunteers) |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Trained | 210 |
| Website | Dropped before training | 90 |
| Events | Trained | 190 |
| Events | Dropped before training | 60 |
| Employer schemes | Trained | 130 |
| Employer schemes | Dropped before training | 20 |
| Referrals | Trained | 170 |
| Referrals | Dropped before training | 30 |
| Trained | Regular | 280 |
| Trained | Occasional | 260 |
| Trained | Lapsed | 160 |
| Regular | Still active at 12 months | 250 |
| Regular | Left by 12 months | 30 |
| Occasional | Still active at 12 months | 120 |
| Occasional | Left by 12 months | 140 |
| Lapsed | Still active at 12 months | 20 |
| Lapsed | Left by 12 months | 140 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Website,Trained,210
Website,Dropped before training,90
Events,Trained,190
Events,Dropped before training,60
Employer schemes,Trained,130
Employer schemes,Dropped before training,20
Referrals,Trained,170
Referrals,Dropped before training,30
Trained,Regular,280
Trained,Occasional,260
Trained,Lapsed,160
Regular,Still active at 12 months,250
Regular,Left by 12 months,30
Occasional,Still active at 12 months,120
Occasional,Left by 12 months,140
Lapsed,Still active at 12 months,20
Lapsed,Left by 12 months,140How it works
Choose a cohort
Pick people who joined in a defined period so each one can be followed to the same end date.
Enter source and onboarding
Add a flow from each recruitment source to Trained or Dropped before training.
Add activity and retention
Split trained volunteers by how active they became, then split each group into still active and left.
Keep inner nodes balanced
Each middle node should have as many volunteers going out as coming in, or the diagram will lose people silently.
Frequently asked questions
How should I define regular and occasional?
Pick a rule you can apply to every volunteer, such as shifts per month, and write it down. The diagram shows the groups you give it; it does not decide them.
Can I trace activity back to the recruitment source?
Yes. Add a node per source and activity pair, or add the source to the activity node names, then connect them. The amounts come from your own records, typed or pasted into the table.
Edit this volunteer Sankey
Open the template as your own chart and enter your recruitment sources, activity levels and retention.