National Adult Literacy Database

READ Saskatoon, a community-based volunteer literacy organization, like many literacy organizations in Canada, is experiencing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining tutor volunteers. The research project presented in this report was designed to contribute to READ Saskatoon’s ongoing efforts to build organizational learning capacity to meet literacy needs in Saskatoon. The objectives of this project were to identify 1) the factors affecting READ Saskatoon’s capacity to recruit and retain volunteer tutors; and 2) the factors affecting READ Saskatoon’s capacity to recruit and retain Aboriginal volunteers. In this paper, the authors discuss what motivates individuals to volunteer their time as literacy tutors and what relationships should be established, maintained or transformed in order to attract and retain literacy volunteers.