This could include public speaking, gardening, data entry, or social media advocacy. Use your current volunteers to recruit prospective volunteers through the social media channels they use the most, whether TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Create social posts that your volunteers can share, and provide them with marketing materials like images, links, and text to highlight upcoming volunteer events. Nonprofits everywhere are seeing increased community needs and fewer resources to fulfill those needs. For organizations with limited staff capacity, volunteers are the answer.
When your volunteers feel seen and valued by your organization, you’ll have an easier time recruiting new volunteers (and retaining them). People will want to volunteer for your organization because they’ll see that you recognize their efforts to make a difference. City officials like city council members or the city manager can be excellent resources for helping you with volunteer recruitment. There are also more informal ways to get information about your volunteer opportunities on social media. You could even comment on your followers’ posts with a link to your sign-up sheet and an invitation to get involved.
How to Recruit Volunteers: Top Strategies
- Once the areas of need have been identified, the organisation can determine whether volunteers with a certain skillset, background or level of experience are required.
- Social media is a must, but don’t just post a general call for help; create engaging content that highlights the fun, social, and meaningful aspects of volunteering.
- Information gathered from a range of sources will provide a well-rounded view of the volunteer’s work history, skills, and character.
- The golden rule of volunteer recruitment is, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” Use these strategies to help ask potential volunteers to get involved with your cause.
- 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.
- This helps to ensure the volunteer is fully aware of what is expected of them and understands the scope of the role before committing to it.
Before extending any invitations to volunteer, it’s essential to know and understand whoever is receiving the invitation. Volunteer program tools for any organization, program size, and budget. Rachel is a creative and savvy freelance writer with a background in journalism, book publishing, and marketing. From writing about new trends in philanthropy to analyzing the best nonprofit tech tools, Rachel’s writing and editing work is designed to help changemakers make the world a better place.
Silent Auction Software Tools: Streamline Event Planning
Nonprofits can work with volunteers to create brief written or video testimonials that tell authentic, engaging stories. When shared on social media or included in newsletters, these stories can showcase the impact of volunteering from a relatable, first-hand perspective. People are more likely to act when they see the meaningful experiences of others, especially when those individuals are part of their community or network.
Increase Your Nonprofit’s Capacity
With additional volunteers available, organisations can expand their services and offerings, making a greater impact on the individuals and communities they serve. Without volunteers, organisations may struggle to keep up with the demands placed on them. You can also leverage your nonprofit’s databases to narrow down your search during your volunteer recruitment. Your constituent relationship management (CRM) software and event management tools are great places to learn more about supporters who might be willing to volunteer. Plus, when you use software to manage volunteer roles, your supporters will have an even more pleasant experience donating their time 5 ways to recruit more volunteers for your nonprofit and efforts to your cause. Having a strong online presence is crucial for effective volunteer recruitment.
Leverage Your Online Presence
Flyers, booths at local events, partnerships with community businesses, and bulletin board announcements can reach audiences less active on digital platforms. Recruitment can scale rapidly when you partner with businesses, schools, or other nonprofits. By forging “win-win” alliances, you gain new volunteers while partners fulfill their community engagement goals. Once potential volunteers decide to move forward, a strong application form can significantly increase the number of completed sign-ups.
- This software is a valuable tool for organisations seeking to recruit, organise, and optimise their volunteer efforts.
- Nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers to support missions, including providing services to communities in need, fundraising, and organizing events.
- They even give the option of sharing posts on social media–a very low commitment, but still a big help.
- This will strengthen your brand as an organization that accepts volunteers and will help you both recruit and retain great volunteers for the long term.
- CRMs can provide organisations with valuable insights into the demographics and interests of their volunteer base, which can help identify new recruitment opportunities.
Establish relationships with corporate sponsors
A volunteer matching website helps connect your organization with people seeking volunteering opportunities. The real benefit of using a website like this is that you already know the website’s users value volunteering, so you won’t need to convince them that donating their time and skills is important. Your job will instead involve finding the right volunteers who connect with your mission and want to engage with your specific organization. Word-of-mouth recruitment leverages the supporters you already have to recruit volunteers for you.
Many communities host fairs or events related to family resources, the environment, arts, housing, and education. If your mission aligns with the event, find out if you can host a booth to recruit potential volunteers. Bring a signup sheet, flyers, and branded items such as stickers, bookmarks, or magnets so that people remember your organization. Additionally, invite current volunteers to attend and share their experiences with prospective new supporters.
Volunteer solutions like Bonterra Mobilize are hubs for volunteers to find opportunities that interest them. Anyone can visit these websites and scroll through hundreds of volunteer opportunities near them, making these networks a powerful recruitment tool. Advertise your opportunities on these sites, and you’ll get access to large networks of interested, passionate volunteers.
In this section, we’ll learn how to find new volunteers and, even better, help volunteers find you. Whether you’re with a large team or a solo entrepreneur looking to start the next great cause, we have a membership package that will help you grow your network and your cause. Developing a volunteer network can boost your organization’s success immensely. Volunteers help save money and time and are also often the heart and soul of an organization. Depending on your audience and the scale and location of your operations, physical promotion in the form of fliers or stands might or might not be effective.
Some virtual volunteer opportunities may include committee work, blog post editing, social media support, virtual volunteer recruitment, or event planning. Develop a good reputation for your volunteer program by emphasizing appreciation from the get-go. Make a plan to thank each person who attends an info session about your program or comes to a one-off volunteer opportunity. This is a great way to find volunteers with skills that can benefit your organization in a variety of ways. Civic groups are a wonderful resource for recruiting volunteers because they’re sincerely invested in making your community a better place. Plus, they know the challenges facing your community and can help you connect with others to solve problems and spread your mission in your local area.
Now that we’ve reviewed the basics, let’s dive into some essential strategies to boost volunteer recruitment. When recruitment is strong, it sets the entire volunteer lifecycle up for success. In contrast, if volunteers have a poor recruitment experience—long wait times, unclear descriptions, or minimal follow-up—they might drop out before they even begin.