Volunteers are the life blood of many nonprofit and charitable organizations. When your organization relies on volunteers for special events and day to day management, the dwindling numbers might put a damper on your project. Sign up and recruit new volunteers for your project year round.
Knowing what you need for volunteers will help you make the most of the ones you find. Lay out a plan for your project that includes all the tasks you need accomplished from office work, recruiting and any other tasks. Then parcel those tasks out into three or four hour intervals that volunteers can pick up easily even if they only have a few hours time to spare.
Keep your mailing list up to date. Whenever you have a recruiting function, sale, church event or any other function that attracts people, make certain that you get contact information. Consider setting up a website to attract volunteers. Just make certain there is a place to collect names, addresses and email.
Reach out to past volunteers. Take a look through your files for past events to see who you’ve been able to count on in the past. Put out the call to see if any are interested in helping out again. When you reach out and they aren’t available, ask them to pass along the request to anyone they know who might be interested in giving time. Remember that people all have causes close to their heart and those who volunteer probably know other volunteers who might be interested in taking up your cause too.
Your organization should have an audience and if you want to be successful you better know who they are. If your cause is helping the homeless, look to families, churches and other community organizations. If literacy is your pet project then consider reaching out to local schools to find families interested in helping out. Focus your recruiting to groups most likely to support your cause instead of casting your net randomly.
Advertise the need for volunteers. Having a website is inexpensive and can help your cause reach a wide audience. Posters and advertisements in community newsletters will also bring attention to your cause. In any advertising you do make sure to include a call to action that attracts volunteers.
When your budget won’t stretch to costly ads in newspapers or fancy web design then consider a trade instead of cold hard cash. There are plenty of organizations or students willing to donate their time and skills to a worthy cause. When they benefit from a trade of advertising their skills on your website or a trade of one of your skills you might find everyone wins with the deal.
Reward volunteers for their service. If you’re still having trouble with recruiting consider offering some benefits to potential volunteers. Offer a sampling of your skills, a free meal or a get together to reward the volunteers who stick with your organization. Volunteers are often more abundant during holiday seasons, tough winters and when people want to start a New Year off right. Special campaigns during these times will bring in volunteer helpers and those willing to give their time and service.
Author Resource:-
Lillian Esquival writes about project management and other business ideas for http://HowToDoThings.com.
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