If you do not have your volunteer roles in writing, with full
descriptions about what the volunteer in each role will do, how
many hours a week or month the volunteer will commit in each
role, how long of a commitment you expect a volunteer to make
for each role (a day, a week, a month, six months), and what
success in the role looks like, your efforts to recruit
volunteers, and to keep them, will fail.
If you do not have a system and commitment in place to answer
within 48 hours any email or application from someone that wants
to volunteer, your efforts to recruit volunteers will fail.
If you do not have a system or commitment in place to get new
volunteers into roles and tasks QUICKLY, your efforts to recruit
and keep volunteers will fail.
I cannot emphasize these three points enough. If you start
recruiting before you have those three things in place, you
won't get the volunteers you need, you will anger people that
want to volunteer with your program and you will generate
negative public relations. As a result, in the future, your
calls for volunteers will not be taken seriously. People who
don’t get a quick reply, or any reply, to their inquiry to
volunteer, don’t get complete answers to their questions, don’t
understand why their application was rejected, etc., will share
their bad experiences with their networks - their associates on
Facebook, their family, their co-workers, etc.
If you are recruiting volunteers
for high-responsibility roles, like for a mentoring or
tutoring program or board position, see this resource on recruiting for such
high-responsibility roles.
Recruiting Local Volunteers To Increase
Diversity Among the Ranks
Having plenty of volunteers to undertake all the
roles at your organization usually isn't enough to say a
volunteering program is successful. Another indicator of success
is if your volunteers represent a variety of ages,
education-levels, economic levels and other demographics, or are
a reflection of your local community. Most organizations don't
want volunteers to be a homogeneous group; they want to reach a
variety of people as volunteers (and donors and other
supporters, for that matter).
You also don't want a core group of volunteers who are so
entrenched that no new volunteers stick around after just one or
two gigs. If you have a core group of volunteers who are showing
up regularly, that's great, but you still need places for NEW
volunteers and core volunteers need to be trained on welcoming
and supporting new volunteers. It may even mean limiting how
many of your regular volunteers can participate in a shift, in
order to make room for new volunteers.
This resource will help you think about how to recruit for
diversity, or to reach a specific demographic. Please
use it in all of your volunteering recruitment efforts.
Everything you say & do is a
recruitment message
Every message your organization sends out is, at least
indirectly, a volunteer recruitment message. Every Facebook
status update, every post to Instagram, every mass email sent,
every newsletter story - it affects how people think about your
program and about volunteering with you. If most of your
messaging to supporters and speeches to civic groups are about
how your organization needs money, people are going to get the
impression that your organization needs money much more than
people - and, perhaps, doesn't manage money very well. If most
of your messages are about the difference your volunteers make
in the lives of young people, or whatever it is volunteers do at
your organization, people are going to feel an emotional
connection to what you do. If you post photos online of people
having fun, of people being happy, etc., you are creating an
image of an organization that would be pleasant to be a part of.
If you post messages that thank your volunteers, you are saying
to potential candidates, "We value our volunteers!" If you don't
answer questions or criticisms posted online about your program,
that may make someone wonder how responsive you would be for
volunteer.
One of my favorite users of Facebook is Peace Corps,
because every message they send out is, at least indirectly, a
recruitment message. For instance, when they ask on a Facebook
status update, "What did you love most about being a Peace
Corps volunteer?", and people respond, the responses from
alumni, and even the organization's response to criticism or
questions from non-Peace Corps alumni, become recruitment
messages for new volunteers. Same for Habitat for Humanity
and many of Habitat
affiliates.
Messages that work - and those that
don't
Messages that attract
potential mentors:
- testimonials from volunteers
- testimonials from your clients about their experiences
with your volunteers
- evaluation of your program showing it’s effective
- photos that show volunteering as fun, important,
impactful, etc.
- "this is your opportunity to make a difference for climate
change / homeless families / local, hungry children / dogs
without families..."
- "this is your opportunity to get directly involved in
theater performances / museum shows / historic preservation
/ the culture of immigrants in our community..."
- "this is your opportunity to improve children's education
experiences / comfort people who have experienced violence /
support people with intellectual disabilities..."
- “Are you up to the challenge?” (a lot of people would be
attracted to the idea that you DON'T take everyone, that if
they were accepted, they would be "special")
Messages that do NOT attract
volunteers:
- “We desperately need” messages (need rather than an
interesting, challenging or fun opportunity)
- boring photos (people sitting at desks or in a row of
chairs, listening to someone talking, people sitting
passively around a table)
- “We have lots of work to do.”
- photos of people looking sad, bored or disinterested as
they do a task. If the volunteer is sweeping a floor, they
should be smiling - the goofier the better!
All of your outreach, collectively, is creating an image of your
organization. You want that image to be inspiring, one that
draws the right people to support your program as volunteers.
Everyone at your organization is a
recruiter
Everyone at your organization - every volunteer, every employee,
every long-term consultant - should be able to say what your
does, just very basically, that your organization involves
volunteers, and where people can find complete information
online about volunteering. The accountant, the human resources
manager, the six-month marketing consultant: all should be able
to say what the organization does, in their own words (no
“canned” speech) and what the web address is. Also, all
employees, consultants and volunteers, regardless of their
responsibilities, should be invited to presentations on success
stories about your program - it will inspire them about the
organization they work for AND make them better volunteer
recruiters with family and friends.
Outreach
Once you have EVERY ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS IN WRITING
(preferably on your web site) and a system and commitment to
reply WITHIN 24 HOURS to people that say they want to volunteer,
you can post messages meant to recruit volunteers to.
- your own web site.
- your Facebook account (and encourage your staff and
volunteers to "like" the post and share it).
- your Instagram account (and
encourage your staff and volunteers to "like" the post).
- your BlueSky account (please
use this instead of the site formerly known as Twitter -
please stop using the site formerly known as Twitter.
The owner of the site formerly known as Twitter.
hates nonprofits and is actively trying to do away with
the third sector, in addition to be a raging racist). Include
the city and state where you are, if you want
volunteers from that region, and the word
"volunteer" somewhere in the tweet (and encourage your staff and
volunteers to "like" the post and share it).
- your Mastodon account, if
you have such. Use it the same way you use BlueSky.
- your blog.
- Facebook groups, as appropriate (is there one for the
neighborhood you are in or the city where you are located?).
Include the full name of your organization, a link to your
web site for more info, etc.
- Reddit communities, as appropriate (is there a subreddit
for the neighborhood you are in or the city where you are
located?). Include the full name of your organization, a
link to your web site for more info, etc. In addition to
using location-focused subreddits, see the list
of subreddits at Reddit4Good.
- any one of the
many volunteer matching web sites or apps where you can
list your volunteering opportunities for your geographic
area.
Also, as said earlier on this page, having plenty of
volunteers to undertake all the roles at your organization
usually isn't enough to say a volunteering program is
successful. Another indicator of success is if your volunteers
represent a variety of ages, education-levels, economic levels
and other demographics, or are a reflection of your local
community. Most organizations don't want volunteers to be a
homogeneous group; they want to reach a variety of people as
volunteers (and donors and other supporters, for that matter).
Please think about
how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a specific
demographic that is under-represented among your
current volunteer and staff ranks.
The reality is that all of the above will probably be enough
to get you all of the volunteers you need. I encourage you to
try JUST these aforementioned recommendations first, before
doing anything else, so that you are not overwhelmed with
applicants.
And be sure to take down recruitment posts if you DO get
overwhelmed with volunteers.
If all of this still doesn't get you enough volunteers, then
you can also send an email noting your volunteer recruitment
directly to:
- the career office or volunteer center / community
engagement center at all area colleges and universities
- faculty at area colleges and universities that might know
of students that would be good candidates (contact web
design teachers if you need a web designer, contact faculty
teaching students studying social work if your nonprofit has
clients that a social worker might work with, contact
accounting teachers if you need help with administrative
tasks, etc.)
- very large businesses/corporations that employ hundreds of
people in your community
- business associations, the chamber of commerce, etc.
- civic organizations (Kiwanis, Junior League, Jaycees,
Lions, Rotary, Elks, etc.)
- special-interest groups (Retired Senior Volunteer
Program/RSVP, American Association of Retired Persons/AARP,
medieval reenactors, historical societies, local gaming
associations)
- communities of faith and ethical societies/humanist
societies
- nonprofits who may work with people that would make
excellent volunteers. For instance, Adelante Mujeres
in Forest Grove, Oregon works with the large Latino
population in the area, helping them to start businesses,
explore careers, learn how support their children in school
and college, etc. Many of their clients would make excellent
volunteers for other organizations, because volunteering
would help their clients be more connected to the
community.
Your web site needs to be
super-detailed!
Please see this web page, also on my site,
the Information About &
For Volunteers You Should Have on Your Web Site, for
details on what your organization should have on its web site
in order to be able to recruit and support volunteers. If your
organization or department involves volunteers, or wants to,
there are certain things your organization or department
must
have on its web site - not by law, of course, but from a point
of view of ethics and credibility. To not have this basic
information about volunteer engagement on your web site says
that your organization or department takes volunteers for
granted, does not value volunteers beyond money saved in
salaries, or is
not really ready to involve
volunteers. In addition to what I have on that page, your web
site also needs to have this information:
- complete, detailed how to be a volunteer
- why volunteer
- what volunteers (literally - what do they do)
- testimonials from volunteers and those that have benefited
from such
- photos
- information on how volunteers are screened (be up front
about criminal background checks - and who pays for such)
- information on what makes a great volunteer
- information on what would exclude someone from becoming a
volunteer (be frank)
- videos
Volunteers can help
There are a lot of people who would love to volunteer to
build a list of people and their email addresses that would be
good to contact regarding volunteering with your organization,
who would post these messages on social media for you,
etc.
When someone applies or inquires about
volunteering
Reply within 48 hours about next steps.
If you don't already have this question on your application -
"How did you hear about our organization or volunteering with
us?" - then add it, or ask it in your followup email to all
new candidates for volunteering. Track each month what
outreach method is the most effective in attracting
volunteers.
Notify applicants promptly and respectfully if they do not
meet program requirements to volunteer with you. If
appropriate, encourage them to look at volunteer
matching web sites and apps for opportunities with other
organizations.
Results almost guaranteed
If you do all of the above, you will very probably be
overwhelmed with people wanting to volunteer. I've used a
version of the aforementioned for everything from an
elementary school mentoring program to a Girl Scout event to
events at a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and its
associated ReStore and on and on. Every time, the organization
has ended up with so many applications, they've asked me to
scale back recruitment efforts. Every. Time. And when someone
writes me and claims the aforementioned doesn't work, I have a
look at their social media and web site, and I talk to the
person who answers their phone the most, etc., and I find they
are NOT doing most of what I've recommended above.
If your recruitment of volunteers isn't working, see Diagnosing
the causes of volunteer recruitment problems
Before you hire a consultant, even
me, to see what the problem is regarding why you don't
have enough volunteers, or the kinds of volunteers you want
most, you might be able to diagnosis the problem yourself -
this blog is meant to help you do that. The only catch is that
you MUST be honest as you answer the questions listed here.
Also, answering these questions is rarely a one-person
exercise; you may think you know the answer, but you need to
ask other staff members, including volunteers themselves, what
their answers are to these assessment questions. This is one
of the most popular blogs I've ever written.
Also see
- All of My Volunteer Engagement
Resources
Resources to help with creating accessible volunteer roles,
welcoming everyone as volunteers, how to create a mission
statement for your volunteer engagement, creating specific
types of volunteer roles, virtual volunteering, and so much
more.
- Short-term Assignments for
Tech Volunteers
There are a variety of ways for mission-based organizations to
involve volunteers to help with short-term projects
relating to computers and the Internet, and short-term
assignments are what are sought after most by potential "tech"
volunteers. But there is a disconnect: most organizations have
trouble identifying such short-term projects. This is a list
of short-term projects for "tech" volunteers -- assignments
that might takes days, weeks or just a couple of months to
complete.
- One(-ish) Day "Tech"
Activities for Volunteers
Volunteers are getting together for intense, one-day events,
or events of just a few days, to build web pages, to write
code, to edit Wikipedia pages, and more. These are gatherings
of onsite volunteers, where everyone is in one location,
together, to do an online-related project in one day, or a few
days. It's a form of episodic volunteering, because volunteers
don't have to make an ongoing commitment - they can come to
the event, contribute their services, and then leave and never
volunteer again. Because computers are involved, these events
are sometimes called hackathons, even if coding isn't
involved. This page provides advice on how to put together a
one-day event, or just-a-few-days-of activity, for a group of
tech volunteers onsite, working together, for a nonprofit,
non-governmental organization (NGO), community-focused
government program, school or other mission-based organization
- or association of such.
- Creating One-Time, Short-Term
Group Volunteering Activities
Details on not just what groups of volunteers can do in a
two-hour, half-day or all-day event, but also just how much an
organization or program will need to do to prepare a site for
group volunteering. It's an expensive, time-consuming endeavor
- are you ready? Is it worth it?
- Examples of Virtual
Volunteering
The most comprehensive list of virtual volunteering tasks you
will find anywhere. Hosted on the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.
- Required Volunteer
Information on Your Web Site
If your organization or department involves volunteers, or
wants to, there are certain things your organization or
department must have on its web site - not by law, of
course, but from a point of view of ethics and credibility. It
also will help tremendously in your recruitment efforts.
- Using Third Party Web Sites
or Volunteer Matching Apps to Recruit Volunteers
There are lots and lots of web sites out there to help your
organization recruit volunteers. You don't have to use them
all, but you do need to make sure you use them correctly
in order to get the maximum response to your posts.
- Diagnosing
the causes of volunteer recruitment problems
Before you hire a consultant, even
me, to see what the problem is regarding why you don't
have enough volunteers, or the kinds of volunteers you want
most, you might be able to diagnosis the problem yourself -
this blog is meant to help you do that. The only catch is that
you MUST be honest as you answer the questions listed here.
Also, answering these questions is rarely a one-person
exercise; you may think you know the answer, but you need to
ask other staff members, including volunteers themselves, what
their answers are to these assessment questions. This is one
of the most popular blogs I've ever written.
- Screening Volunteers for
Attitude
Screening is vital to finding the right people for some, maybe
all, volunteer roles, particularly those where the volunteer
will work with clients and the general public, and to screen
out people who may be better in shorter-term assignments or
assignments where they would not work with clients or the
general public, or who would not be appropriate in any role at
the organization. We put all sorts of emphasis on criminal
background checks and reference checks for volunteers, but the
reality is that a mismatched volunteer, in terms of attitude,
can be a program-killer. Screening volunteers for attitude
will reduce volunteer turnover and ensure everyone has a more
satisfying experience as a volunteer or working with
volunteers.
- Recruiting Local
Volunteers To Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
Having plenty of volunteers usually isn't enough to say a
volunteering program is successful. Another indicator of
success is if your volunteers represent a variety of ages,
education-levels, economic levels and other demographics, or
are a reflection of your local community. Most organizations
don't want volunteers to be a homogeneous group; they want to
reach a variety of people as volunteers (and donors and other
supporters, for that matter). This resource will help you
think about how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a
specific demographic.
- Recruiting
Volunteers To Serve in Difficult, Even Dangerous Roles
Some volunteering is perceived as difficult by potential
volunteers and the general public, because of the clients that
volunteers will work with or the kind of activities volunteers
must undertake. Examples: serving as a Big Brother/Big Sister,
mentoring a foster child, assisting adults with developmental
disabilities, volunteering in a shelter for women experiencing
domestic violence, or staffing a suicide hotline. Some
volunteering is perceived as difficult AND dangerous, such as
fire fighting or search and rescue or volunteering in prisons
or jails. Some volunteering is perceived as controversial,
such as providing water stations in the dessert for people
entering a country illegally and can die from dehydration, or
defending a women's health clinic patients from protesters.
Difficult, dangerous and/or controversial roles actually
appeal to many people who want to volunteer: they feel
strongly about the cause, or they want to do something
substantial and challenging. But other roles may seem too
intimidating to new recruits, like mentoring a young person
going through the foster care system, working with young
people in the juvenile justice system, working with people
with intellectual disabilities, or working with seniors. How
do you recruit for roles that might seem difficult, dangerous,
even controversial? How do you recruit for a subject area or
role that might provoke an initial reaction of fear among
potential volunteers? This resource can help.
- Recruiting Mentors
(or any high-responsibility volunteers that will work with
clients)
Successful volunteer recruitment is a mentality as much as a
method. Successful recruitment of volunteer mentors comes from
a mentality that permeates the organization, one that prompts
employees and volunteers to always be looking for
opportunities for outreach and partnership, and where all
employees and volunteers are advocates for the program,
regardless of the tasks they undertake. This web page has
specific recommendations to recruit mentors for youth, but
these recommendations could be used for most any
high-responsibility, high-commitment volunteer role working
with clients, such as counselors or tutors.
- Finding a
Computer/Network Consultant (volunteer or paid)
Staff at mission-based organizations (nonprofits, civil
society organizations, and public sector agencies) often have
to rely on consultants, either paid or volunteer, for
expertise in computer hardware, software and networks. Staff
may feel unable to understand, question nor challenge whatever
that consultant recommends. What can mission-based
organizations do to recruit the "right" consultant for "tech"
related issues, one that will not make them feel
out-of-the-loop or out-of-control when it comes to
tech-related discussions?
- TechTools and
Online Resources for Recruiting Volunteers
There are a variety of tech tools - tools related to
computers, tablets, smart phones, cell phones and/or the
Internet - and online resources that can be used for
recruiting volunteers - all volunteers, not just online
volunteers (virtual volunteering). This page on the Virtual
Volunteering Wiki lists some of these tools, but be
forewarned: if you aren't ready to onboard applicants QUICKLY,
then recruiting online volunteers will lead to angry people
and bad public relations. Advice for HOW to use these tech
tools in the various functions of volunteer management,
including volunteer recruitment, can be found in The
Last Virtual Volunteering
Guidebook. This section of the Virtual
Volunteering Wiki tracks SOME of these ever-changing tools -
however, note that the manager of this wiki makes no effort to
try to be comprehensive nor stay absolutely up-to-date because
(1) she has no funding whatsoever to support this ongoing
research and (2) what constitutes the best online tool is
subjective. Instead, this resource is meant to give you an
idea of just how much is available.s
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