Effective Methods for Volunteer Management to Attract New Volunteers to an Organization

Volunteer rates can change from year to year and from looking at the past couple of years it seems to have started trending downwards. One of the biggest years for volunteerism was back in 2017, with nearly a third of Americans volunteering. As that number goes back down, it’s key to consider what type of acquisition strategies should have implementation by the volunteer management of an organization to ensure that quality volunteers are always available.

Have a clear roadmap and strategy with your volunteer management

Make sure to be data-driven with previous information you've collected from volunteering activities. Having the right type of volunteer management program to track the data and produce reports will let you know exactly the kind of volunteers you're looking for. This way, while the organization has a focus on the number of volunteers, it can also concentrate on quality and motivated volunteers.

Use your existing volunteers

The first place to start is the volunteer database. Those who have volunteered before are an excellent option to go to first to get fresh recruits. They are already familiar with the organization and have already offered up their time in the form of volunteer hours to give back. Therefore, they’re more likely to be one of your best options when it comes to organizational advocacy.

You can even add a sense of gamification with existing volunteers who can help you recruit new volunteers. Gamification can include leaderboards and rankings, prizes at the end of the recruitment run, and even appreciation and accolades that you can share with everyone. Also, there's a strong possibility that volunteers could work for a company that offers time off for volunteer work. About 60% of companies already offer this perk and it’s always a good reminder to use as a recruitment point.

Get online

Social media platforms are a way to build awareness for a volunteer organization. Not only that but can be used to grow a digital community that could also include the possibility of new recruits. So as the organization promotes its activities, it helps open up online channels to get new recruits. This will help to ensure that there’s an ample supply of willing volunteers.

Going online, especially with a sophisticated website, helps streamline the overall acquisition process. Giving you the ability to create volunteer forms digitally and is simple to complete. So this enables a smooth general volunteer onboarding which can help with future recruitment.

Volunteer management should always involve appreciating and recognizing your volunteers

New or existing volunteers wouldn’t mind a bit more appreciation from time to time. It helps to build that sense of community that is a key component when it comes to retention as well as getting new volunteers in through the door.

Check out more information about the continuous benefits of a thriving volunteer community here. Celebrate new intakes of volunteers or milestones of existing volunteers who have been volunteering consistently for years. Having everything digitized via a volunteer management app helps to track those anniversaries and milestones as well.

Feel free to reach out to us to know how our platform can help with your retention and recruitment efforts. With this you will always have the right number of volunteers that are needed.