Don’t be afraid to get creative in your approach to volunteer recruitment. There are endless possibilities when it comes to promoting volunteering opportunities so think outside the box and come up with an idea that will really resonate. This may provide important insights into what about your program, if anything, leads individuals to stop volunteering. Remember that in order for your volunteer recruitment efforts to pay off, you need to have measures in place to retain your volunteers’ support for the long term. A volunteer recruitment plan is critical to securing as much support for your nonprofit as possible. After all, 72% of volunteers are involved with only one organization, while just 18.3% volunteer with two.
Many young volunteers are likely to be motivated by the benefit of personal and professional development. Career exploration, building up their resume, or gaining transferable skills are all common motivations for volunteering. It’s in the onboarding process that you will need to balance volunteer expectations with your own organizational goals and program expectations. Your volunteers should feel like their expectations are heard and their questions answered.
Therefore, create inquiries directly addressing the necessary volunteer experience, roles, skills, and interests, such as driving abilities or proficiency in foreign languages. In this section, you will learn ten helpful volunteer recruitment ideas to attract them. Making sure your volunteers feel valued falls in the bucket of both recruitment and retention. When you recognize and appreciate the value of your existing volunteers, you can leverage their support and loyalty by encouraging them to bring new volunteers on board via word-of-mouth marketing.
The easier the volunteer signup process is, the more success you’ll have with recruiting eager volunteers for your nonprofit’s cause. Be sure to share your nonprofit’s mission and impact alongside your volunteer needs, so people can understand just how their involvement can make a difference in their community. To learn about potential volunteer grants your volunteers may be eligible for, consider appending employer data to store crucial information such as a supporter’s employer and job title. Then, reach out to notify them about this opportunity to increase their impact. Social media is a powerful and cost-effective way to reach a broader audience. Get creative with your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages to show potential volunteers how rewarding it is to support your organization.
In addition to using your social network to find volunteers, there are a plethora of other ways to recruit the right kind of support. Volunteer onboarding is the mechanism through which new volunteers acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective members of your organization. Regardless of how interested potential volunteers are in your cause, it is always a plus if they can also get something out of it. Everyone loves to be recognized and appreciated for their hard work and efforts— so are volunteers.
Instead, focus on what volunteers gain by giving their time and make an emotional appeal. However, volunteer programs only bring value to a nonprofit organization when they’re done “right”. Recruiting, engaging, and retaining nonprofit volunteers takes time and effort. Through the generosity of donors, nonprofit organizations are able to help their community without expecting anything in return. To carry out their mission, these organizations often rely on loyal volunteers who are willing to donate their time and energy to an important cause. There is still the onboarding and training process, as well as continuous volunteer management.
- You can share some examples of success that past volunteers had and the impact they made.
- Finding volunteers can be difficult, so it’s important to be open to new approaches, plan ahead, and gather fresh ideas.
- Some volunteers will be ready to take on a part-time job level of volunteering, while others will be looking for something to do once a month, or a couple times a year.
- Informally, telling volunteers they’re doing a great job and asking their opinions on internal developments are all important.
So far, you have learned what volunteer recruitment is, how to attract more volunteers for your organization, and how to create a form for volunteer candidates to easily apply. You may still have some lingering doubts despite having answers to all these questions. In today’s rapidly accelerating era of communication, the most functional way to introduce your organization to people is through social media.
Decide How You Want to Recruit
As established groups of volunteers get to know the ropes, you can use their experience to provide mentorship programs. When marketing your volunteer program, it is important to clearly and concisely state your organization’s mission and purpose. A well-defined mission helps them understand what they are connecting with, as well as the commitment they’re making. A specific message in this regard will also help you reach the right volunteers who will bring optimal value to your organization.
Invest in paid online advertising.
Volunteer recruitment and retention will only work if you use the right tools for the job. This means a volunteer management system designed to streamline your workflow and make the whole experience seamless for your volunteers. Great recruitment can look like a lot of different tasks, but its main goal is to grow your volunteer program with high-value volunteers who can make a lasting difference at your organization. But sometimes it can feel impossible to find dedicated, skilled volunteers – and even harder to keep them.
Investing in your nonprofit’s culture and relationships will work wonders to build your volunteer force. By engaging others in your mission and utilizing some of these ideas, you can grow an amazing team of volunteers. All the steps nonprofits take to ensure the “right fit” in the workplace for paid staff apply equally to volunteers. Many nonprofits conduct background checks on volunteers; some adopt written policies that apply specifically to volunteers and find that a volunteer handbook is a useful tool. Managing volunteers is similar to managing paid staff, except that volunteers don’t expect to be compensated for their services. However, they do expect to be treated with respect, trained (as needed), supervised, and provided with feedback and rewarding experiences.
Promote on social media
You can broaden your reach by running advertisements on social media to capture the interest of a wider audience. However, many of them are either completely unaware of the existence of non-profit organizations or have limited knowledge about them. Welcome your new volunteers, and make sure someone is appointed to check in and engage with them regularly, so that the volunteers you worked so hard to recruit grow with your organization. Therefore, if you put out a general call for volunteers…no one knows exactly what you mean. Whichever channels you end up choosing, make sure signing up for your volunteer program is easy and intuitive. This creates a better experience for your volunteers who will be more likely to stay if their experience is engaging and valuable right from the start.
First and foremost, organizations have a duty to ensure the wellbeing and safety of their volunteers. A component of this is ensuring that, in the event of misconduct or an accident, both the organization and other volunteers will be protected from all damages. Liability insurance ensures the former, while organizations like CNESST help cover the costs of the latter. It is important to note that new https://simple-accounting.org/ members do not automatically benefit from this protection, and it is up to organizations to register their volunteers and pay the related fees. Feeding America, for example, has a volunteer page that features a large image of volunteers in action. Front and center on the page, interested supporters can fill in their information to pledge to volunteer and find opportunities in their location.
Recognize volunteers and ask for feedback.
Regardless of which recruitment method you use, you must have a compelling recruitment message. In addition to taking into account the jobs you need volunteers to do, also consider who could do those jobs best and who might be interested in the first place. Depending on your mission/field of work – you might attract volunteers from different demographics (e.g. Baby Boomers or Millennials). With each how to recruit volunteers for a non profit organization shift they volunteer for, they bring their own expertise and passion for your cause – not to mention all the hours of work they’re saving you and your staff. Prepare your nonprofit for success with pro bono and skilled volunteers using the Readiness Roadmap. Safety training is a critical aspect of volunteer training, especially if the volunteers will be working in a potentially risky environment.
When an individual volunteers regularly with your organization, they can check with their employer to see if they’re eligible for a volunteer grant. If they are, they can submit an application and, upon approval, the company contributes a specific donation amount to your nonprofit. If you’re interested in getting started with the Google Ad Grant program and maximizing your results, consider partnering with a certified agency, like Getting Attention. Identify what sets your volunteer program apart from others, and highlight these differences in your nonprofit communications to attract the most suitable volunteer candidates.
This increases the chances that they will continue their involvement with your nonprofit. Decide whether you want to run more of broad a recruitment campaign (i.e. warm body) or more targeted recruitment. Warm body recruitment is more appropriate if you’re recruiting a large number of volunteers for (usually) very short periods of time or for a specific event. This might involve distributing flyers, setting up brochures, speaking to groups, posting on socials, and more.
They could help you coordinate a corporate volunteering day or connect you with a local club that is seeking a volunteering opportunity. In order to recruit the best volunteers, you’ll need to freshen up your strategies for attracting them to your program and encouraging them to sign up. You want the volunteers you recruit to be aligned with the organization’s mission and activities. Think about the activities they will assist with, the required workload, the number of volunteers required, and the staff in charge of supervising volunteer activity. In addition to the obligations of each volunteer, the clauses of the contract also inform the obligations of the nonprofit.
It is crucial for nonprofits to prioritize recruiting volunteers as an ongoing task. Finding volunteers can be difficult, so it’s important to be open to new approaches, plan ahead, and gather fresh ideas. Here are over 20 suggestions to help you think more strategically about recruiting volunteers. Volunteer recruitment efforts and outreach don’t require that you offer a contract or compensation. Prospective volunteers willingly offer their time and skills, without any expectations in return (except for their own satisfaction after helping). Their motivations include personal values, a desire to be a part of initiatives they align with or a certain cause.
