Engagement Is Not Enough: What Actually Keeps Volunteers and Why the Sector Has Been Asking the Wrong Question

Engagement Is Not Enough: What Actually Keeps Volunteers and Why the Sector Has Been Asking the Wrong Question Research Poster by Dr Daniel Ruscoe DBA This research poster presents findings from a completed and examined Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), drawing on an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study of 276 UK third-sector volunteers across organisations varied by size, type, and geographic location. The study empirically examines the relationship between volunteer engagement factors; leadership, organisational culture, recognition, and training, and volunteer retention intention in UK charitable organisations. The central finding challenges a widely held sector assumption: that engaged volunteers stay. Key findings include a statistically negligible correlation (r = .01) between recognition and retention intention, despite recognition being the highest-rated factor for volunteer satisfaction. In contrast, training and development — the lowest-rated engagement factor, showed the strongest link to retention intention (r = .20), not because it motivates, but because it makes roles feasible and sustainable over time. The poster introduces the Ruscoe Feasibility-Based Model, which reframes volunteer retention as a feasibility outcome rather than an engagement outcome. It argues that organisations are systematically investing in the wrong levers, and that high engagement and low retention can, and do, coexist. Practical recommendations focus on role design, induction quality, structured ethical exit processes, and post-exit relationship management. Full paper: [doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17965086]