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Five steps to enhance your volunteer recruitment

By Jeremy Freeman

Group of youth and volunteers
Effective volunteer recruitment is an intentional process that is backed by solid strategies and a clear plan. While there are certainly times when a desperate plea for immediate help can solicit a short-term solution, recruitment will occur best by following some simple steps. Consider these five steps to enhance your volunteer recruitment this season.

1. Appeal to the individual (skills and traits)

Not every job can be filled by any person. Specific responsibilities require individual skills and traits to accomplish the work effectively. Identifying the individual skills and traits you are looking for allows you to hone your recruitment towards an individual's strengths and motivations. Does a role require someone who is a problem solver? What about someone who enjoys serving? By connecting roles to character traits we can more readily connect an opportunity to someone's personal motivation and sense of purpose.

2. Connect the role to the impact

Helping the potential volunteer see the impact their role will make will inspire them to put themselves into lines of service far more than just knowing that work is being accomplished. All service is working towards a greater end than just the role requirement. No matter the role, we want all of our volunteers to accomplish the most important elements of our mission and organization.

3. Have a clear description

Provide a role description of the responsibilities. This gives clarity to the expectations, and helps a potential volunteer know if they have the capacity to serve. It also provides a guiding framework for future feedback you have for them as they serve. The role description can be as thorough or simple as you need. Consider these two different examples that focus on the same volunteer role. 

4. Find a door-opener

It's never easy making a cold-call and sometimes it is necessary. However, your recruitment can be far more effective if you find a door-opener. The concept of a door-opener was introduced to me by another youth-serving organization called Trail Life. A door-opener is someone who the individual you are asking may respect, or trust. Using a door-opener allows the focus of the recruitment to be on the relationship first, and the role second. The door-opener can help bridge the relationship and set a meeting and serve as a connection for you as the recruiter to explain why the potential candidate was selected.

5. Provide immediate support

Ensuring the role has support is critical. As you outline the responsibilities involved, clearly connect what resources you have, and who will support the work. Knowing there is a process in place to not ‘do it alone’ will provide a sense of reassurance for a volunteer. Trail Life recommends that if a volunteer agrees to serve, follow up within the first days with a phone call to affirm and appreciate their decision to serve. 

How do you see these strategies being used in your program or organization? What else do you see as vital in ensuring a successful volunteer recruitment effort?

-- Jeremy Freeman, Extension educator

You are welcome to comment on this blog post. We encourage civil discourse, including spirited disagreement. We will delete comments that contain profanity, pornography or hate speech--any remarks that attack or demean people because of their sex, race, ethnic group, etc.--as well as spam.


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Comments

  1. Jeremy great aspects to consider here! I wonder how others think about how best to "make the ask." We know that a high percentage of people say they don't volunteer because they weren't asked...so how do people make the ask in real life? Thanks for provoking new thinking!

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    1. Anne, it's sad to think but often we hide behind our walls of security unwilling to make the ask trying to find the 'perfect fit.' One of the things I have learned is to make the ask in such a way that even if the original person says no, they can help serve as a resource or champion to help you recruit the right person.

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  2. Sometimes we fall into just sending out an email to make an ask for volunteers. The majority of the time there is no response. That personal ask is so critical when recruiting volunteers. Such good insight in this. I like the idea of the door-opener.

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    1. There is value in the efficiency of an email, and if you use the steps identified above in the right context it CAN be successful, but it requires the virtual ask to really identify the individual, draw out their skills, and if possible show who else has said they would make a good candidate. Thanks for your reaction!

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  3. Jeremy what a timely topic as we move into the summer schedule of opportunities. So glad you note the importance of position descriptions but that they can be tailored to appeal to the individual while still covering the important details. Being clear on expectations is vital to a successful volunteer experience and the follow up call is a great way to ensure your both on the same page and any uncertainties are clarified.

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    1. Having been a part of it myself, a follow-up call is so important and it doesn't need to be very formal or take a lot of time. It cements the ask in a deeper relational context, and ensures that everyone is feeling okay with what they agreed to. I would rather know a day or two in if a volunteer is having 'second thoughts' then 2 days before a program!

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  4. Such great and tangible wisdom, Jeremy! I love the quote, "All service is working towards a greater end than just the role requirement." Helping them see themselves as part of the larger impact is so important. But the thing I will most take away from this is the simplified club leader role description. Wow! This is what everyone should use right now! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Connecting the work to the impact is absolutely vital, and I appreciate it being called out here. Research shows that one of the most significant reasons why people volunteer is a commitment to the mission of the organization that they volunteer for and/or the purpose of the work. Demonstrating to volunteers the impact is the natural extension of that commitment, so showing impact strengthens the relationship with the volunteer while simultaneously validating what they have done and reinvigorating their current and future volunteer efforts.

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    1. Thank you for your response! We have a great organizational mission, and putting that in front of our volunteers not only draw them in, but is a refresher for them to point all of their work towards that end.

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