Australians are often willing to lend a helping hand, with over 25% of Australians over 15 volunteering in 2020 (ABS). Still, these numbers don’t always translate to a large volunteer base for your organisation. For most organisations, volunteering is not one size fits all, you may require volunteers who can conduct physical labour, or volunteers with specific skill sets resulting in a considerable decline to that 25% volunteer base.
Finding (and keeping) the right volunteers for your organisation can be an ongoing battle but we don’t want it to stand in your way. There are many ways to grow and maintain your pool of volunteers, such as:
- Knowing your ideal volunteer
- Advertising in the right place
- Being clear on your proposition
- Providing a tremendous first volunteer experience
Know your ideal volunteer
You will find that the generic characteristics of a good volunteer are quite similar to what most companies are looking for from new and current staff:
✅ Problem-Solving Skills
✅ Critical Thinking Skills
✅ Flexibility
✅ Communication Skills
✅ Teamwork
Yet no one characteristic defines a good volunteer and for your organisation, these skills might mean nothing if they have no connection with your purpose and mission!
So before you start trying to recruit volunteers, take a moment to understand who the ideal volunteer is for you. What sort of people resonate with your mission and purpose? What other causes do these people care about? What skills are most useful for your organisation and who are the people who have these skills?
Remember, it is not bad to direct volunteers to other organisations if you do not think they align with your mission or if they have traits that aren’t desirable to you. It will mean both you, and the volunteer, end up having a more positive experience.
Advertise in the right place
Once you have defined your ideal volunteer, it is time to think about where to find them. Many individuals with skills suited to volunteering may never be presented with the opportunity to volunteer. Studies have found that while many individuals express an interest in volunteering, many have never volunteered due to three key barriers. They feel that they do not have enough time, they do not have enough information and have not found a volunteering role that interests them or they have never been asked to volunteer (Stanford Center for Longevity). Organisations have the opportunity to unlock potential volunteers by making the right people aware of the organisation and the volunteering roles offered.
Advertising is one of the best ways to get the right message to the right people. The way you choose to advertise will be based heavily on your ideal volunteer. You may wish to consider finding new volunteers through:
- Social media platforms
- Online job sites (such as Seek)
- Volunteering platforms
- Corporate partnerships
- High Schools
By getting the word out to individuals that align with your organisation and your mission, you will likely begin to see more volunteers who have a passion for what you do and the motivation to remain at your organisation.
Be clear on your proposition
It is important to be clear from the beginning. By providing a clear proposition from an individual’s first contact with your organisation you will save both the individual and your organisation valuable time in onboarding a volunteer that you may discover to be unsuitable later down the track. An effective proposition will outline your organisation’s mission, your expectations of the volunteers and any non-negotiables.
Stating your mission: individuals looking to volunteer for your organisation must have both an understanding and an appreciation for your mission. A volunteer who has a personal interest or connection to your mission will work harder as they have a connection to the cause and will be more likely to stay for a long time. In the application process, we suggest re-stating your mission and prompting questions that will ensure applicant volunteers are carefully considering both volunteering and the organisation they are volunteering for.
Set your expectations: individuals should know what is expected of them before they start volunteering. List all expectations in the application process to filter out any volunteers who are unable or unwilling to meet any of the expectations set by your organisation. These may be time commitments, travel requirements or physical demands, or any other factor that will limit a volunteer’s ability to contribute to your organisation.
Lay out any non-negotiables: if any requirements will determine whether an individual can or cannot volunteer for your organisation, be sure to be upfront about them. These could include licences or permits required to volunteer such as a driver’s licence or working with children check. It is always hard turning people away, however, some limits need to be set to ensure all volunteers are suitable.
⭐Volaby tip: Our onboarding process is a 3 part process allowing organisations to filter and approve volunteers. The first part is your screening question/s, this allows you to ask any non-negotiable questions such as “Are you over the age of 18?” and choose whether or not you would like the responses automatically approved. The following part allows you to set required tasks, these tasks can include volunteer information, training requirements and agreements. You may wish to ask for a copy of a driver’s licence or have a quiz to test a volunteer’s suitability. Finally, you have the option to include extra tasks, these are not compulsory for volunteers to complete and can be used to learn about additional skills that may improve the volunteer’s ability to perform certain tasks.
Provide a tremendous first volunteer experience
An individual’s first experience as a volunteer for your organisation will set the tone for their volunteering journey. Whether it is their first time volunteering, or they have volunteered many times before, it is important to provide a tremendous first experience. As an organisation, there are many ways to make a volunteer’s first day as smooth as possible.
Give the volunteer the resources to be prepared: Make sure you provide the exact location and time you want the volunteer to arrive. Let them know if you have a uniform or if there are certain items they should consider wearing/bringing. Provide any initial information or training they should complete before they arrive.
Make sure the volunteer knows what they are doing: Consider providing a list of tasks or choosing a volunteering ‘buddy’ to walk them through their first day. Let them know that it is ok to ask questions if they are unsure. Advise them of anything they should be aware of to remain safe while they are volunteering.
Provide a friendly environment: Let other regular volunteers know that there will be a new volunteer joining them and encourage them to make the new volunteer feel welcome. Make sure the volunteer knows who to go to if they need help and consider providing a way to contact a leader if they have any issues before, during, or after volunteering.
⭐Volaby tip: Volaby provides many ways to provide information and training to your volunteers. Here are some key ways you can use Volaby to set a volunteer up for success
- Provide locations and times – you can set the location and time of activities so that volunteers can see these details when applying
- Use tasks to create orientation videos and training – use the required and additional tasks to provide volunteers with information and training that will assist them with their first experience
- Use segmented bulletins and resources – provide both bulletins and resources to volunteers in certain activities to provide specific information or leader contact details
- Create a new volunteer resource – upload a resource that walks volunteers through everything they need to know for their first time such as what they will be doing, what to wear and what to bring
By setting the volunteer up for success, you are also setting your organisation up for success. Remember, volunteers are giving their time to your organisation and are unlikely to do so if they do not feel welcome and supported.
Top Tips for your organisation
Facebook provides the incredible capability to do targeted advertising, which is key to getting your message to the right people by focusing on an individual’s specific traits, interests and preferences. By determining the traits and interests relevant to specific volunteering roles you are looking to fill, you can tailor your advertising to ensure your message is reaching individuals with those skills and interests.
Say your organisation provides food rescue services and you need volunteers in Brisbane to help with maintenance on the vans used for distributing food. You can use Facebook’s audience selection tools to find people with these skills and narrow it down to people who are also passionate about your cause and in the right location! This can be done by targeting people who “Like” or are members of groups related to car hobbies, food and world hunger and other charities similar to yours.
The use of these tools will not only expand your potential volunteer pool but also assist in locating role-specific volunteers.
Want to level up your volunteer application and onboarding process?
The three-part customisable Volaby onboarding process allows you to easily sort through volunteer applicants and determine the best volunteers for your organisation. Don’t want to waste time approving applicants? The onboarding process can be set to “auto-approve” allowing you to spend more time where it matters – making a difference!
Our volunteer management and social impact data-capture software was created by Orange Sky to help to track and automate volunteer onboarding and training. Made by nonprofits, for nonprofits and their volunteers. We’ve made it easy to use and intuitive for everyone who uses it. We invite you to get in touch and trial Volaby for free today, with no obligations.
We look forward to speaking with you soon.