Welcome A-Board by: Heather L. Harris

Volunteer Recruitment 101: A Fair Exchange

“I go fishing up in Maine every summer. Personally, I am very fond of strawberries and cream; but I find that for some strange reason fish prefer worms. So when I go fishing, I don’t think about what I want. I think about what they want. I don’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangle a worm or a grasshopper in front of the fish and say: ‘Wouldn’t you like to have that?’ Why not use the same common sense when fishing for men?”
Dale Carnegie

6.5 million Canadians currently volunteer in over 175,000 organizations. Competition is stiff and human resources are limited. Quality recruitment planning, strategies and activities are key to attracting high-calibre volunteers to your organization.

Sadly, volunteer recruitment is often an after-thought in many nonprofit organizations. Few recruiting plans specify objectives, responsibilities and time lines, and fewer still, are creative and specific. The same people are approached year after year in the same way with little effort to creatively identify new strategies, new target groups, or new recruitment methods.

A healthy organization needs volunteers with a variety of skills and abilities to fill a variety of positions. Targeting the specific skills your organization is looking for is as simple as 1-2-3.

Recruit using the search “profile”! Targeted recruitment campaigns shape the recruitment message and direct the information dissemination process. Pretend to be the volunteer to imagine where and how to recruit. In your recruitment efforts, always answer the WIIFM question from the volunteer’s perspective - What’s In It For Me?

Recruitment Planning Questions

• What human resources will be needed to accomplish organizational goals in the next twelve months? (Consider skills, talents, experience, attitudes and attributes as well as number/quantity.)
• What skills and talents do we currently have in our organization?
• What are the gaps in our talent pool?
• Do we have job descriptions for all volunteer positions?
• What may prevent someone from volunteering with us?
• What factors may encourage or attract volunteers to our organization?
• Are there potential volunteer markets that we are not reaching?
• How can we best reach new volunteer markets?
• Do we have a planned and targeted recruitment campaign?
• Do the methods and messages we use relate to our community and the kind of volunteers we want to attract? (Select the appropriate recruitment method to reach the target population.)
• Do we have the systems and tools in place to bring volunteers into our organization quickly and easily?
• Do we have knowledgeable, enthusiastic, well-trained people involved in the recruitment process?

Volunteer Recruitment Checklist:

• Our organization portrays a positive, vital image that attracts quality volunteers.
• We are creative in where and how we look for new volunteers.
• We capitalize on growing trends such as family and corporate volunteerism.
• We have a well organized plan for finding volunteers with the skills and expertise we need.
• Recruitment strategies and ads are positive, motivating and informative.
• We are candid about the amount and kind of work (time and effort) involved in a particular job. (The reason most volunteers give for quitting their jobs is that there is a big difference between what they are asked to do initially and what they end up doing.)
• We carefully consider new ideas for recruiting volunteers.
• When potential volunteers express an interest in becoming involved, we follow up immediately, making sure their questions are answered right away, they get interviewed and trained immediately, and they get placed as soon as they’re ready. (More volunteers are lost through neglect or poor “customer service” than any other problem.)
• We focus recruitment strategies on what the prospective volunteer wants and is interested in.
• We consciously avoid warm body recruitment: filling the spaces with whoever is available-first through the door approach.
• We maintain detailed records with regard to recruitment efforts and evaluate our plan and strategies annually.
• Our volunteer recruitment committee meets throughout the year assessing our resources and searching for new volunteers as needed.
• We know that the best recruiters are satisfied volunteers and work hard to achieve volunteer satisfaction.

Today’s volunteers have more attractions and distractions in their lives than ever before including other more appealing volunteer opportunities. They now expect professionally run volunteer programs and meaningful tasks which positively impact community issues.

To recruit effectively, invest time in clarifying your expectations for the person as well as what your organization can give in return. Recognize that both the volunteer and the organization have something of value to offer each other. Each volunteer brings unique skills, abilities, knowledge, experience, insight, personal contacts, time and energy free of charge while a charitable organization can provide opportunities for personal challenge, learning and growth and the chance to make a valuable contribution to the community.

If this partnership is to be successful, both parties must carefully consider what they want and need from each other. Potential volunteers must be made aware of what is realistically involved in accepting a position with your organization (ie. time and financial commitments) and have an opportunity to express possible concerns or objections (ie. safety issues, volunteer liability) in a positive and productive manner.

Successful recruitment strategies ultimately offer a fair exchange: potential volunteers are offered challenging and worthwhile tasks while your organization’s targeted “invitation to serve” will draw more and better qualified individuals to your program.