How to Design a Strategic and Modern Volunteer Recruitment Campaign
Author: Jessica Pang-Parks, Learn with JPP
Volunteers are crucial to most nonprofit organizations because they share their time and talent to support the mission, advocate for the cause, and often donate financially too! However, recruiting suitable volunteers can be challenging.
Understanding the Volunteer Engagement Cycle
Attracting dedicated volunteers starts with understanding and implementing the volunteer engagement cycle.
Stewardship lies at the core of volunteer recruitment. Volunteer stewardship is a lot like donor stewardship. It involves building and maintaining relationships, recognizing volunteers as individuals, being responsive, showing appreciation, sharing values, and seeking feedback.
The Volunteer Recruitment Cycle
Within recruitment, there is another cycle: the volunteer recruitment cycle, which starts with setting recruitment goals.
Steps to a Successful Volunteer Recruitment Campaign
1. Set Recruitment Goals
Think beyond the number of volunteers you want to recruit!
Consider the impact you want volunteers to have, what they will learn, and how the community will feel around them.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
Consider demographics, skills, interests, and availability.
3. Design Volunteer Role Descriptions
Include a captivating title, clear objectives, responsibilities, required skills, screening measures, time commitment, location information, and benefits.
Pro Tip: Review the role description annually for accuracy. Engage current volunteers, summer students, or a committee to support this review.
4. Choose the Right Recruitment Messages and Mediums
Highlight the impact of volunteering, emphasize participation benefits, and appeal to potential volunteers' motivations.
Modernize your messaging by portraying volunteers as “caring community members” and “partners with staff” rather than traditional, self-sacrificing heroes.
Consider the media your target audience consumes, the events they attend, and the people they trust.
Use multiple mediums (e.g. social media, newsletters, referrals from current volunteers) to reach your targets.
5. Serve interested volunteers
Designate a responsible party for managing inquiries and applications.
Establish response time standards consistent with donation response times. Prepare to respond promptly to candidates. Use this complimentary
Volunteer Application Response template from Learn with JPP to show candidates you care: https://learnwithjpp.ck.page/wnnappresponse
6. Evaluate your campaign
Solicit feedback from volunteers, staff, and the recruitment team.
Gather insights on the process, volunteer experience, and areas for improvement.
Refer back to recruitment goals to refine strategies.
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