Indezine Template

Volunteer Recruitment
Tips that Treat, Not TrickOctober 2011 Module 1 of 4 Created by C.Piggott KAVCO Volunteer Leadership Training

Why do people volunteer?Wanted to helpFelt indebted to cause/programWanted publicitySkill buildingGain ExperienceVisibility in their company (boss favorite charity)Looks good on resume or college apps.Fear (vol. for Cancer Society to eliminate the disease)Religious CommitmentSocialization needsSense of DutyAssigned by courtDesire to share blessings in own lifeAssigned by employer

Your organization is great, right? You serve a worthwhile cause and do many exciting things. So why dont more people want to volunteer with you? Halloween is a great time to ask: Are we scaring away potential volunteers?So I have complied some simple recruitment tips to en-treat volunteers without tricking them:

Tip For Recruiting
Dont just ask for help or volunteers. This vague approach leaves everything up to the prospective volunteers imaginationand YOU ought to be frightened at that! Design a different recruitment message for each specific assignment you need to fillincluding an appealing job title. Give potential recruits enough information to be able to say thats for me. Challenge people and theyll rise to the occasion.

Tip For Recruiting
Be SpecificHow many hours a week or month a volunteer assignment requiresand for how long you hope the volunteer will remain in the position. Be honest! Then someone who applies to become a volunteer already knows what you expect. (Besides, you may surprise some people by being reasonable and flexible!)

Tip For Recruiting
Be perceptive What are some fears a potential volunteer may have about your work and address these things in your recruitment message. Is personal safety a concern? Note the well-lighted adjacent parking lot or the buddy system you use. Are there unknowns about how your facility looks? Add lots of photos showing bright spaces and smiling faces.

Tip For Recruiting
Training for the positionsTalk about the training you give all newcomers, so that no one has to worry about not being skilled enough or unprepared. Assure prospects that theyll be supported while learning how to be a good volunteers.

Tip For Recruiting
Warm Body RecruitmentWhen you need a large number of volunteers for a short period time and the qualifications of the task are minimal, you might engage in Warm body recruitment." This involves a mass distribution of information.Brochures Posters Speaking to groups Notices in appropriate media Word of Mouth

Tip For Recruiting
Targeted RecruitmentThe targeted campaign requires a carefully planned approach to a small audience. Use this method when you are trying to recruit volunteers that need to have specific skills or not commonly found characteristics. A targeted campaign requires, at the outset, that you answer several questions: What do we need? Who could provide this? How can we communicate with them? What would motivate them?

Working through such questions will help you identify and locate the volunteers that you need. Once you locate a source of such volunteers, simply take your recruitment message directly to them. Tip For Recruiting
Targeted Recruitment

Tip For Recruiting
Concentric Circles RecruitmentThis type of recruitment requires you to identify populations who are already in direct or indirect contact with your organization and then to contact them with your recruiting message. Such populations include: Your clients, their families and relatives. Alumni of your program/s. Friends of your current volunteers and staff. People in your organization's neighbourhood. People who have been affected by the problem you are attempting to solve.

Tip For Recruiting
Recruiting Volunteers OnlineWhile finding volunteers the old fashioned way through referrals and local contacts still works best, the use of online volunteer matching sites is growing, and is a way of at least doing a first quick cut of possible volunteers.

How many prospects will you need?Prospect Formula This formula will help you determine how many prospect you will need to contact in order to reach your volunteer goalsGoal = 20 Current number minus 20% = (5-1 =4)Subtract from goal (20-4=16)Divide goal by actual for ratio (20/5= 4)Multiply number by ratio (16x4)64 prospects needed to reach goal (20)

Tip For Recruiting
Communicating (Facebook vs. Daily News) ** RADIO BABIES - AGES 60-80 ** TV BABIES (BOOMERS)- AGES 42-60 ** COMPUTER BABIES (GEN X)- AGES 25-41 ** DIGITAL BABIES (GEN Y)- UNDER 25The way you recruit a audience of Gen X people is different than how you recruit an audience of Boomer. Research how to reach your target audience.

**Millenials on Board by Rachel Reiser

Remember this There are numerous methods you can use to recruit volunteers. However, not all of them will be appropriate for your organization or your specific needs. All of these methods are only as good as the follow up! Agencies must determine exactly what needs to be done before recruiting volunteers, rather than recruiting first and then scrambling to find jobs.Attached resources Click to viewWhere to target advertise and Developing a timeline Evaluate the success of your recruitment campaign so that you can learn for the future, what was and what was not successful. And remember - recruitment is only the beginning; keeping hold of volunteers is much harder!

AssignmentMake a list of 5 action items you will take to improve you recruitment efforts. Include due dates.

You have now completed Module 1 of the KAVCO Volunteer Leadership Training. Please follow this link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3TJHFPT to complete the quiz.

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References:http://www.energizeinc.comhttp://www.charityvillage.comhttp://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/browse/volunteering-issues/senior-volunteers/doc/16-tips-in-recruiting.htmlhttp://www.serviceleader.org/leaders/recruitingsub/tips#3-1b

Thank you!

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