Volunteering is important as an individual and as a community. On a personal level, it allows us to contribute to our locality in our own way. For nonprofit organizations, volunteers enable you to make an even greater impact on society and help more people.
However, it can be challenging for charities and similar organizations to find nonprofit volunteers. If you have this problem, here are three ways to recruit volunteers for your cause:
Identify Your Organization’s Needs
First, you have to know the types of people you’re looking for. You need to be transparent about the tasks that nonprofit community volunteers will have to do when they join your organization.
Assess whether you need someone to oversee office work or organize nonprofit events. You may even want to delegate volunteer management so that you can focus on other aspects of your organization. Knowing what you need can help you target potential candidates better and narrow your sources.
Establish Your Recruiting Process
Next, clarify who’s in charge of nonprofit volunteer recruitment in your organization and set up the recruiting process. It can be a simple process consisting of only interviews or a thorough process with tests and other assessments.
A customer relationship management (CRM) platform is useful for managing the information of your donors and community partners. However, a nonprofit CRM can also be used for recruiting nonprofit volunteers.
Through GivePulse, nonprofits can list opportunities, register volunteers, and manage their engagement. Volunteers can find opportunities that resonate with them, keep track of their calendars, and measure their impact.
Nonprofits can set up and customize application forms so individuals and groups can quickly sign up to volunteer. Applications can include custom fields, like orientation videos and waivers, and volunteers can make payments through the platform to purchase extras like t-shirts or pay for a background check.
Maximize Your Current Network
Tap your current network to find potential volunteers. Here are four connections you should focus on:
Former Volunteers
Try to contact people who’ve volunteered for your organization before and ask them whether they’d like to return. Through GivePulse’s platform, you can easily retrieve the contact information of former volunteers and reach out to them.
Referrals
When recruiting community volunteers, you can also ask your current volunteers if they have family or friends who might be interested. Talk to them about your organization’s needs and have them invite friends to join them in volunteering through GivePulse.
Social Media Followers
You should also maximize social media platforms and post about needing more volunteers for your nonprofit organization. For this type of recruitment, you should emphasize the benefits of volunteering aside from highlighting your needs. GivePulse makes it easy to share links to your social feed, directing potential volunteers straight to the opportunities that matter to them.
Community Contacts
Lastly, you can organize nonprofit events that highlight your recruitment activities. By listing your event on GivePulse, you can easily track attendance and communicate with attendees before and after the event.
You can also talk to businesses, schools, and other community groups to help you find people who are looking for opportunities to volunteer.
Takeaway
Nonprofit volunteering is beneficial for individuals and communities alike. Recruitment can be a challenge, but you can easily overcome this difficulty by following the steps above.
Whether you’re a new nonprofit organization or an established one, GivePulse can save you time in recruiting and help you build more meaningful relationships with your volunteers.
Ready to level up your volunteer recruitment process? Schedule a demo with GivePulse to learn how we can help you engage volunteers and enhance your community impact.
About GivePulse
GivePulse's mission is to enable everyone in the world to participate and engage in lifting their community to new heights. We do so by providing a platform to list, find, organize and measure the impact of service-learning, community engagement, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and volunteerism.
Founded in 2012 in Austin, Texas, GivePulse works with 650,000+ groups, including colleges and universities, nonprofits, businesses, K-12/school districts and cities and municipalities. Together, we connect millions of people in an effort to create positive social change.
Start making a difference today by visiting www.givepulse.com.