The ability of an organization to create and maintain volunteer
programs is often the difference between success and failure. From
volunteer recruitment to volunteer management, knowledge about
volunteerism is almost as important as knowledge about fundraising.
This article will cover the various methods that are commonly used
in order to recruit volunteers, and it will briefly discuss various
factors key to good volunteer management.
There are numerous methods available to nonprofits for the
recruitment of volunteers. The most common outlets are as follows:
corporate newsletters and volunteer programs; schools and colleges;
retiree programs; senior citizen centers; places of worship;
internship programs; civic clubs, fraternities, and sororities;
career counseling centers; newspaper, radio, and cable television
advertisements, governmental organizations; court “sentence to
serve” programs; volunteer recruitment fairs; and other nonprofit
volunteer programs.
Many corporations have volunteer programs designed to encourage
their employees to take part in community service, with some going
so far as to allow their employees to volunteer during workdays.
Taking advantage of these programs not only helps build and sustain
a nonprofit’s volunteer programs; it can also help the nonprofit in
its fundraising efforts.
Internship programs at schools and colleges is another place to go
for volunteers, though some require that students be paid a stipend
during their service. Another resource found at many colleges and
universities is their sororities and fraternities. Along with civic
clubs, these are places filled with potential volunteers.
Career counseling centers are a good place to seek volunteers
because the individuals at these centers are considering a change of
career and might be willing to volunteer for a nonprofit in order to
discern whether the nonprofit sector is for them.
Nonprofits often enlists newspapers, radio stations, or cable
television networks as sponsors, allowing them to spread their
message through those sponsors media, and just as businesses
advertise their products, nonprofits can advertise their mission
while asking that people volunteer.
Places of worship are a great place for many nonprofits to search
for volunteers, as members of these organizations, particularly
youth groups, are eager to help their communities. Similarly,
retiree programs and senior citizen centers also bring together
individuals who are often not just willing, but eager, to volunteer
for programs that benefit their communities.
And just as corporations often encourage their employees to
volunteer by allowing them to do so during business hours, some
government offices offer their employees up to a half-day a week for
volunteer programs, so these offices are also a good place to search
for volunteers.
The judicial system is also a place to find volunteers, as
individuals who have committed minor offenses are sentenced to serve
a certain number of hours doing community service rather than being
sentenced to jail.
Volunteer recruitment fairs are one of the more obvious places to
find volunteers, but they are useful because they bring together a
large number of individuals whose very attendance shows their
interest in offering their services. A less obvious way to find
volunteers is for an organization to make its volunteer needs known
to other nonprofits. When those nonprofits are contacted by
individuals interested in volunteering, they can direct those who do
not fit their needs to other organizations that they know are in
need of volunteers.
Recruitment is just the first step of the process, though. Next, a
nonprofit must be able to manage the volunteer program while
considering such factors as management policies and procedures,
legal considerations, staff/volunteer relations, and training.
Nonprofits that have management policies and procedures in place
before volunteers are brought in will be more capable of ensuring
volunteers that they are being treated in a fair way. These offer
volunteers a way to know how the nonprofit expects them to act in
certain situations and provides a written source for them regarding
the way that the organization expects them to approach and complete
various tasks.
Managers of volunteer programs should also be aware of the various
laws regulating such programs. For example, insurance is often
needed to cover volunteers, like employees volunteers are afforded
certain rights, and certain safeguards must be used to ensure that
volunteers act in an ethical manner.
Aside from being able to offer the sort of supervision that will
enhance a volunteer’s performance and let him or her know where
improvement is needed while encouraging the volunteer by rewarding
him or her for those areas that are being performed well, a good
manager should also be aware that volunteers and staff members often
see themselves as such different part of an organization that avoid
one another, which can often lead to conflict. Management should
encourage these groups to work together in order to achieve the
organization’s goals.
Of course training is perhaps the most important aspect of creating
a good volunteer. If a proper orientation and training program is
created for incoming volunteers, they will be better equipped to
perform the task for which they have been recruited.
As stated earlier, a volunteer program can mean either success or
failure for a nonprofit. Creating and maintaining a volunteer
program is a challenging endeavor, but it is one that is well worth
the effort. |
