Coordinating volunteers often means focusing on the logistics: creating signups, filling open slots, making sure people show up trained and ready.

But behind every shift is a deeper opportunity.

Your nonprofit or volunteer group has the potential to become more than a place where tasks get done. It can become a third place — a space where people feel a genuine sense of connection, purpose, and belonging.

Recognize the "Third Place" You're Already Creating

A third place is a space outside of home (your first place) and work (your second place) where people gather regularly and feel like they belong. Think: a coffee shop where everyone knows your name — or a food pantry that feels more like family than a shift.

In Part 1 of this series, we explored why reclaiming third places matters more than ever in a disconnected world. In Part 2, we looked at the key ingredients that make these spaces feel welcoming and meaningful.

Now, in Part 3, we're getting practical: how do you shape a volunteer program into a third place?

Notice the Signs of Community Taking Shape

Building a third place through your volunteer program doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. Often, it's about noticing what's already happening — and adding just a bit more intention.

Do your volunteers linger after a shift to chat? Offer rides home? Celebrate birthdays or bring snacks without being asked?

These are more than nice gestures — they're signs of something deeper: a culture of care.

Over time, volunteering becomes more than a shift on a schedule. It becomes a chosen community. That's the power of a third place — and you can nurture your program to become just that!

Build Belonging With These 5 Tips

Want your volunteers to stick around — and keep coming back?

These five tips can help transform routine sign-ups into a deeper sense of connection. They're the building blocks of a team that feels part of something meaningful.

1. Learn people's names — and use them.

It's one of the simplest ways to help someone feel seen. When we remember and say each other's names, we signal: You matter here. Give your volunteers name tags, introduce people to one another, and model using names warmly and often.

2. Build small, consistent teams.

Trust grows with repetition. When volunteers serve together regularly and see the same faces each shift, they start to open up — and look forward to returning.

3. Make it easy to fill in for each other.

Life happens — volunteers get sick or have emergencies. When finding a sub for a volunteer shift is simple, it reduces stress, and gives others the chance to lend a hand. That kind of care turns a schedule into a community. Try features like sub requests to help volunteers show up for one another.

4. Make space for casual connection.

A few unstructured minutes before or after a volunteer shift can spark real conversations. Provide snacks or coffee, and you've created a space where relationships grow naturally.

5. Celebrate together.

Recognize volunteers' birthdays, service anniversaries, or team accomplishments, such as the successful completion of big events. Even a simple "We couldn't have done this without you" can go a long way.

Small practices like these are investments in the kind of culture that keeps people coming back. They send a powerful message: You're more than just a name on the schedule. You belong here.

Spread the Joy of Joining

The five tips above are simple ways to build connection among volunteers, but what's the most powerful strategy for volunteer retention?

Joy.

Volunteering doesn't just meet the needs of your organization. It meets a need inside each of us.

In a time when loneliness is on the rise, your volunteer program can be a powerful remedy. Even a lifeline to happiness. As one expert shared on The Happiness Lab:

We naturally stick with the things that bring us joy. When volunteers leave a shift feeling appreciated and connected, that joy is magnetic. It draws others in and helps your community grow.

So, how do you spread the kind of joy that keeps volunteers coming back?

• Foster a welcoming environment
• Show appreciation to volunteers
• Celebrate them in stories, shoutouts, and gatherings

When your volunteer program adds joy to people's lives, they'll stick around for good — and they'll bring others along with them.

Be the Place People Find Community

When a volunteer signs up for a shift, they may be looking to help out. But often, they're also looking for a place to belong — not just to meet a need, but to be part of something meaningful.

And that's what you're offering, whether you realize it or not.

Every welcoming email, every name remembered, every team celebration, or shared shift becomes part of a larger purpose. In a world hungry for connection, your church or nonprofit can be the third place people long for — and the kind of community we all need.

So keep building. Keep welcoming.
You're doing sacred work.
And the world needs more of it.

Looking for More? Go Deeper with These Resources

• Part 1: Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Reclaiming Community Through Volunteering
• Part 2: More Than a Shift: How Volunteering Becomes a Place to Belong
• "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" – The Happiness Lab podcast
• Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam
• The Interview: Robert Putnam Knows Why You're Lonely – The New York Times
• Join or Die – A new documentary on why joining groups matters
• Here's Why Volunteering Is Just What the Doctor Ordered