How to support volunteer recruitment
Jo Thackwray shares her top tips for recruiting volunteers, for charity learning and development teams to share with their organisations.
5 questions to ask, before starting your volunteer recruitment campaign
1. Is your team, welcoming, knowledgable, empowering, inclusive and supportive?
2. Is the physical environment welcoming, clean, safe, fun, accessible & inclusive?
3. Are your Induction processes, policies & procedures fit for purpose?
4. Do you have agreed values and a clearly defined purpose for your organisation?
5. Have you created a volunteer recruitment plan and included a skills audit, so you know exactly whom you need to recruit to make the greatest impact?
6 tasks to complete before launching a successful recruitment campaign
1. Complete a skills & hours audit for your current team, to highlight what’s missing or where you need to strengthen your team’s capacity
2. Involve your team to ensure they know what you want to achieve
3. Identify your target audience for these roles, this will help you decide where and how to advertise for these in your community
4. Write a brief, fun and eye-catching role description to advertise the vacancies. Put a deadline on for applications, which will encourage people to respond quickly
5. Consider the value of short-term/seasonal vacancies and remote volunteering, to widen your pool
6. Consider recruiting a volunteer to focus on volunteer recruitment, which will free up some of your time to focus on managing your charity & team
How to recruit in your community
1. Host a virtual or physical open day and invite people to see your fantastic volunteer offer
2. Offer trial shifts, they really do give a flavour of what to expect. Ask your existing volunteers to speak with their wider networks and invite them in for trial shifts.
3. Reach out to your wider business community and offer corporate volunteering opportunities. This will help raise your profile and attract valuable skills you may not usually have access to.
4. Build relationships within the community such as schools, colleges, universities, job centers, churches, community groups, community payback, and youth groups.
5. Recruit a volunteer to focus on the many areas of recruitment, such as corporate volunteering. This will free up your time and also provide an exciting volunteer opportunity.
Watch a few videos from our free video platform:
The scripts for the volunteering series were written by Jo Thackwray
Volunteer recruitment plan
Diversity and inclusion in volunteering
Volunteer recruiter
About Jo Thackwray
Jo Thackwray is a Human Wisdom & EIA accredited Coach, supporting organisations, charities, and individuals to shine bright, find their superpowers, and grow positivity in life and business.
Jo has been leading and empowering teams in the third sector for more than 20 years with compassion, humour and positivity, with particular experience in volunteer management, recruitment, and retention.
She is an Ambassador for Investors in Community, supporting charities across the country. Jo also brings her wellbeing and self-development tips to the airwaves as the mid-morning presenter on Yowah Radio, a happiness & wellbeing station.
If you would like to know more about Jo, please find more details at www.jkcoaching.co
CL Consortium Ltd
Vine House, Selsley Road,
Stroud, GL5 5NN
The Charity Mentoring Network: A community platform that connects organisations, staff and volunteers together.
