Volunteer recruitment is a key part of any volunteer organization’s functions, but before you can successfully do so, you need to have a strong strategy in mind. So, what exactly is volunteer recruitment, and why is having a strategy important?

What is Volunteer Recruitment?

Volunteer recruitment, as the name suggests, is the process by which charities and other volunteer organizations get their workforce. It’s quite similar to standard job recruitment and may involve anything from social media outreach to visiting public spaces in person. Whatever you decide on, however, you’ll need a solid strategy.

Why Having a Strategy is Important

So, what makes having an effective recruitment strategy so important? Simply put, structure. Without a strategy and the structure that comes with it, the recruitment process often runs into redundancies, wasted time, and underwhelming results. That being said, how do you create a volunteer recruitment strategy? Let’s take a look.

1. Define Your Volunteer Needs and Roles

First and foremost, identify your organization’s needs and determine the roles that will best fulfill them. This gives a sense of purpose and direction to your recruiting strategy, allowing recruiters to streamline their process. From there, you can identify specific roles, what they do, and who you need to do them. This gives your recruiters a clear idea of who they should be looking for.

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Next, you’ll need to determine a few details for the sake of your prospective volunteers. Figure out a specific time commitment, the skills and experience your volunteers need, and when they need to be available to serve in their position. If they know the sort of commitment they’re making, they’ll be much more comfortable making it and are more likely to be available to help when it matters most.

It can also be helpful to create clear, concise descriptions for each of the volunteer roles you need to fill, and the impact those roles will have. You should include these descriptions in all of your recruitment materials. As with the element of time, prospective volunteers want to know what they’re getting into, so by clearly defining their future role in the organization, you can ensure that each and every new volunteer will be passionate about their work.

This all goes to create a sense of transparency regarding accessibility, workload, and the type of work that volunteers will be doing. This ensures that anyone who is unable to fill the position will not feel led on or deceived.

2. Develop a Volunteer Recruitment Plan

With that out of the way, it’s time to move on to the meat and potatoes of the matter: the recruitment plan itself. Figure out where you want to spread the word about your openings for volunteer positions and come up with plans for those respective advertising mediums. Popular mediums include social media, email campaigns, and a personal website for the organization.

Once you’ve decided on the mediums you’ll be using, determine the type of messaging and tone that will most appeal to your target audience. This will allow you to tailor your recruitment materials to suit the type of person you want to recruit. In addition, be sure that all of your materials are clear, concise, and visually appealing.

In addition to your other publicity efforts, look for big community events where you can join in to spread awareness about your organization. Events like state fairs and festivals tend to be very popular and draw large crowds, which means you’ll have plenty of exposure to the public and plenty of chances to recruit some new volunteers.

Finally, be sure to take a look at what other nonprofit organizations and volunteer groups around you are doing. Sometimes, their unique perspective and approach to volunteer recruitment can be just the thing your organization needs to draw in new members.

3. Promote Your Volunteering Opportunities

This step is essentially just the synthesis of your preparation in steps one and two. Let’s take a moment to return to those big community events you looked for earlier. Now’s the time to put that knowledge you found into practice by setting up camp at one or several of these events. The goal is to promote the opportunities and positions you have available, and give a clear outline of what being a volunteer at your organization means.

Next, start using those channels of communication you decided on earlier. Whether social media, an email campaign, a website, or a combination of several mediums, these channels of communication will reach an extremely wide audience, making them one of the main driving forces behind the recruitment of new volunteers.

It’s also worth considering reaching out to other organizations in your community like schools and churches to share your volunteer opportunities with their attendees. This is an especially effective strategy if your target groups for new volunteers generally attend these organizations, and great for putting together a volunteer force of like-minded individuals that may have already worked together before joining your organization.

Finally, host informational sessions for any potential candidates or interested parties. Even if they’re interested in joining your organization, most people don’t want to commit to something they know nothing about. As such, hosting meetings where they can learn more about what they’ll be doing is often just the thing you need to do to seal the deal.

4. Screen and Select Volunteers

Of course, you don’t just want to let anyone into your organization without knowing who they are as a person. Due to this, it’s important to put together an effective screening and selection process, including an application and structured interviews if needed. This will help you get a feel for who exactly you’re going to be working with, as well as give them a chance to ask questions and learn more about you.

Though it may not be necessary for every volunteer position or organization, you should consider implementing a background check into your interviewing process. While this is optional for many organizations, for charities whose purpose is to help vulnerable people like children, it’s an absolute must.

If you’ve opted to include a structured interview in your onboarding process, the information you’ve learned can now be used to match your volunteer to the perfect position for them. Keeping their skills in mind, assign them a role that plays to their strengths, allowing them to do their best possible work while enjoying it as well. 

5. Provide Training and Support

Ensure that you have a clear, concise, and fleshed-out orientation for all new volunteers. Include information about your overarching mission, the values and philosophies that drive that mission, and the goals you’re setting to pursue that mission. This will allow your new recruits to land on their feet when they begin working with you, as well as unify them under a common banner.

Of course, training shouldn’t stop after orientation! Ongoing training, even for veteran volunteers, often proves to be extremely helpful by giving them the chance to both brush up on the basics and expand their horizons by learning new skills and subjects. This ensures that everyone has the opportunities they need to do their best work possible.

Finally, be intentional about creating opportunities for your volunteers to interact and get to know each other. A volunteer group’s greatest strength is its sense of cohesion and camaraderie, so providing chances to foster that community is absolutely essential. Whether they take the form of conferences, fun events, or something else entirely, be sure your volunteers have a chance to communicate and form connections with the rest of the group.

6. Recognize and Reward Volunteers

While nobody volunteers for the sake of glory and fame, it’s still nice to feel seen and appreciated every once in a while. As such, you should be sure to put systems in place to give your volunteers the recognition they deserve for all their hard work and provide them with rewards as a way of thanking them. Volunteer appreciation events are the perfect way to do this. They give your volunteers a chance to relax and enjoy themselves as a reward for their effort.

In addition, be sure to listen to your volunteers, especially when they voice their criticisms or concerns. It can also help to be proactive here, seeking out volunteers to survey about their experiences as a member of your organization. This will help you get the feedback and perspective you need to improve your organization’s workings, and will also help your volunteers to feel seen and heard.

Finally, give your long-time volunteers chances to work for your organization in different capacities. As with their standard 9:00-5:00, many volunteers who have been a member of your organization will begin thinking about other, more involved positions they can take up. As such, offering higher-ranked leadership positions is the perfect option, both giving your veteran volunteers a sense of progress and fulfillment and allowing you to delegate some of the leadership responsibilities to those volunteers.

Though the recruitment process can seem like a difficult one at first glance, breaking it down into simple steps like this makes it far more manageable, and gives your organization the boost it needs to really make a difference out in the community, and in the world as a whole. Ultimately, it all comes down to clarity, structure, and communication with those you’re hoping to reach. Once you’ve put together a plan to cover those bases, it’ll go smoothly for both you and your new recruits.

To learn more about the volunteer recruitment process, as well as how to formulate a recruitment strategy, visit us at CivicChamps today, and take a look at our wide range of resources!

As CEO of Civic Champs, I lead our team of passionate change leaders to create technology solutions to create a seamless and rewarding volunteering experience for both volunteers and service organizations.