This presents a great opportunity for nonprofits to expand their personnel range and effectiveness if they create structures that will allow for roles that can be filled by volunteers. The report found that three out of every 10 Boomers who volunteer today leave their organizations each year. Highlight and characteristics that lead to greater retention are as follow:

1. Boomers in their late 40s to mid-50s are volunteering at higher rates than the previous generation did at the same age

2. Three volunteer activities appear to hold considerable appeal for Boomers. In particular, three-fourths of Baby Boomer volunteers who engage in professional activities (managing people or projects) continue volunteering the following year. Activities with the second and third highest volunteer retention rates were music or some other type of performance (70.9 percent) and tutoring, mentoring and coaching (70.3 percent).

3. Volunteering appears to be a virtuous cycle, the more often Baby Boomers volunteer then the more likely they are to volunteer again. Volunteers who serve 12 or more weeks per year have a volunteer retention rate of 79 percent vs. 53 percent for those who serve two or fewer weeks per year.

4. Baby Boomer volunteers who engage in general labor or supply transportation regularly drop out of volunteering (with only 55.6 percent continuing to volunteer the next year).

5. Underscoring the important connection between working and volunteering, the report found that remaining in the workforce increases the likelihood that a Baby Boomer will continue to volunteer: 60.5 percent of Baby Boomer volunteers who leave the workforce continue to volunteer the following year, compared to 69.3 percent of those who experience no change in their labor status. Baby Boomers increasing their work hours are slightly more likely to continue volunteering compared to those who decrease their work hours (71.6 percent vs. 68.4 percent). If many Baby Boomers retire later and work longer than past generations (working into their 70s), as some studies indicate, that trend could actually translate into a larger number of older volunteers.