HANDS·IN Volunteer Readiness Index
May 27, 2026
YOUR ARCHETYPE

The Apprentice

Past the starting line, still building.

Overall Score
53 / 100
how you compare→

How you compare

Where your overall score of 53 falls among every nonprofit that's completed the index.
YOU · 53 050100
61st
percentile — higher than 6 in 10 organizations.
48–68
where most organizations land. You're in the thick of it.
Updates live as more organizations complete the index
A benchmark is only honest when it's built on real data.
★ Founding cohort
You're one of the first organizations to take the index. Once 30 have completed it, your comparison unlocks — built on real peers, not a guess. We'll email you the moment it's live.
★ Founding cohort · benchmark unlocks at 30 completions
Tier
Emerging
tier progression→

Tier Progression

Where you sit on the journey — and where your score could take you.
▼ YOU · capped
△ 53 reaches here
Beginning0–30 Emerging31–45 Steady46–60 Established61–75 Trusted76–88 Anchor89–100
Your score of 53 lands in Steady — but the Legal/Liability cap holds you at Emerging. Lift that one sub-area above the threshold and you climb a full tier.
Issued To
Westside Garden Co-op
test@example.org
Your four stages · at a glance Weak Functional Strong
Preparing for Volunteers · 5 sub-areas · stage score 61
Role Definition90
Coordination72
Leadership Buy-In58
Experience Design43
Legal / Liability ⚠42
See your full breakdown ↓
Getting Volunteers in the Door · 5 sub-areas · stage score 63
Registering Volunteers75
Outreach / Marketing65
Training65
Pre-Shift Communication62
Inclusive Recruitment48
See your full breakdown ↓
Volunteer Day Experience · 5 sub-areas · stage score 56
Send-off94
Day-of Execution58
Meaningful Experience50
Onboarding48
Impact Capture30
See your full breakdown ↓
Sustaining Relationships · 3 sub-areas · stage score 33
Volunteer Records and Data36
Conversion to Other Support35
Re-engagement Cadence28
See your full breakdown ↓
4 chapters · open as you like

You're not at the beginning anymore. You've built real competence in the middle of the journey — volunteers find you, and the day works. What's still informal is the bookends: the foundation, and the follow-through.

You've built real competence in some parts of your program — the work is happening, volunteers are showing up, and you're not figuring it out from scratch every time. But the other half of the journey is still informal. The work ahead is broadening the foundation: taking the practices you've established in the middle stages and building them in the others.

You've proven you can do this. Now the question is whether you can do it consistently across the whole program.

To volunteers, you are
"An organization that's still developing in some areas, but is genuinely building toward something."
Your shape across the four stages.
4567 PREPARINGATTRACTINGVOLUNTEER DAYSUSTAINING 61635633
How to read it

Your four stages plotted on a compass. The closer a corner sits to the center, the weaker that stage. The three colored rings mark the weak, functional, and strong bands — so a corner's position in a colored ring tells you that stage's level. A balanced organization fills the outer green ring; a lopsided one — like yours, pulled left toward Sustaining — has its work concentrated in one corner.

Scored againstWeak 0–45Functional 46–66Strong 67+
01Send-offS3 · Volunteer Day
94
02Role DefinitionS1 · Preparing
90
03Registering VolunteersS2 · Attracting
75
04CoordinationS1 · Preparing
72
05Outreach / MarketingS2 · Attracting
65
06TrainingS2 · Attracting
65
07Pre-Shift CommunicationS2 · Attracting
62
08Day-of ExecutionS3 · Volunteer Day
58
09Leadership Buy-InS1 · Preparing
58
10Meaningful ExperienceS3 · Volunteer Day
50
11OnboardingS3 · Volunteer Day
48
12Inclusive RecruitmentS2 · Attracting
48
13Experience DesignS1 · Preparing
43
14Legal / LiabilityS1 · Preparing · Risk
42
15Volunteer Records and DataS4 · Sustaining
36
16Conversion to Other SupportS4 · Sustaining
35
17Impact CaptureS3 · Volunteer Day
30
18Re-engagement CadenceS4 · Sustaining
28
STRONGFUNCTIONALWEAK 1000 61635633 PREPARINGATTRACTINGVOLUNTEER DAYSUSTAINING begin end →
How to read it

Your four stages walked left to right, in the order a volunteer experiences them — from before they arrive, to long after they leave. Each dot is a stage; the colored band it sits in tells you that stage's level. Your line rests in the functional band through three stages, then drops out of it at Sustaining. That fall — gold to red — is the gap between a good volunteer day and a lasting relationship.

Scored againstWeak 0–45Functional 46–66Strong 67+
Send-off
94 / 100
You end the volunteer shift on a high note, and volunteers leave feeling appreciated and clear on what's next.
A genuine strength — the kind of ending that makes people want to come back.
Role Definition
90 / 100
Your volunteer roles are well-defined and align with the work your organization most needs done right now.
Clear roles are the foundation the rest of your program leans on.
Registering Volunteers
75 / 100
Signing up to volunteer with you is clear and easy, and asks for just what's needed.
Low-friction sign-up is doing quiet work for you every week.
Enjoying your results so far? ★★★★★
★ Thank you — feedback like yours is how this gets better.
Scored againstWeak 0–45Functional 46–66Strong 67+
1 First
Legal / Liability
Legal risk
42 / 100
Your legal groundwork has gaps that may put your volunteers and organization at risk.
2 Next
Re-engagement Cadence
28 / 100
Past volunteers don't always hear from you, and the relationship can fade after their shift ends.
3 Then
Conversion to Other Support
35 / 100
Volunteers who would be willing to get more involved often aren't asked.
The Walkthrough · self-guided
Work through all three, in order, at your own pace.
Begin your walkthrough →
The Walkthrough · self-guided

This page is the diagnosis. The walkthrough is the plan.

It opens with your Legal/Liability cap, because it's the ceiling on everything else. Next is your Sustaining stage — the widest gap and the place where relationships you've already built are leaking value fastest. You'll have a written 90-day plan, a four-touch re-engagement template, and the specific next conversation to have with your leadership.

Self-guided · $250
⇣ Download PDF ▤ View your responses ⇡ Share results ✓ A copy has been emailed to test@example.org

Want to go deeper? The self-guided Walkthrough turns this diagnosis into a written 90-day plan — visit volunteerreadinessindex.com to begin.

The Walkthrough
You have the diagnosis. Now build the plan.

Share your results

Send a read-only link to your full Volunteer Readiness report.