Finding the Right Volunteer: Be Easy to Find
“How do I find volunteers?” Throughout the CALP system, this is one of the most common questions. What’s been discovered is that there is not one way that works for everyone. Each community is unique in its demographics, resources, and culture of volunteerism; something that works for one may not work for another.
"We're doing similar things in two cities and having dramatically different result - so success may be more dependent on local factors than anything else." - CALP Practitioner
It’s probably not what you were hoping to hear, but the good thing is there are simple steps to find out what is going to work for you in your community. Try some of these tips and strategies shared by others in the system to see what works for you!
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- Be easy to find
- Recruit with a plan
- Act quickly! Someone is interested
Be easy to find – self-motivated volunteers research and directly contact organizations - how do they find you?
- Make sure you are easy to find on the internet – what keywords bring your organization up in an online search? To learn more check Chris Singleton’s May 2019 blog, “Six Simple Ways to Make Your Site More Visible in Google Search Results”
- Organize your website so it is easy to find out how to volunteer.
- Post the roles you’re looking for
- Explain the process to become a volunteer
- You may want to post the job descriptions and initial application forms as well
- Use other resources in your community (partners, local communications, etc.) that will reach those who do not use the internet to search.
"If it's really hard to find out how I can volunteer for an organization, they don't reply to my calls or emails relatively quickly or they just seem disorganized, it feels like I'm wasting my time and I won't volunteer there." - Volunteer