A Guide to Volunteer Recruitment

The following information is excerpted from www.serviceleader.org, please click on the link for the full-text.

A Guide to Volunteer Recruitment

Finding volunteers to meet your agency's or organization's needs requires careful thinking and planning before an appeal is made. Prior to actually going out and asking people to help, you must

• clearly identify volunteer needs and position descriptions
• know what you have to offer - the "costs" and benefits of volunteering
• plan a recruitment approach based on volunteer needs and position descriptions
• implement your plan

Once the groundwork has been laid, you are ready to implement your plan and make the appeal.

Clearly identify volunteer needs and position descriptions

A volunteer program that is well planned and executed and offers meaningful work lays the groundwork for successful recruitment.

        Texas Department of Protective
        and Regulatory Services'
        Volunteer Manual, p.12 

Identifying Meaningful Assignments For Volunteers

The volunteer manager - in concert with staff, board members and volunteers - helps clarify the work that needs to be done by volunteers to achieve the goals of the organization and then segments that work into components that reflect the reality of today's volunteer work force.

Almost any work that needs to be done to meet the objectives of your group, agency or organization can be done by volunteers. There is no rule that says that only certain assignments can be done by a volunteer! Remember, physicians regularly staff 'free' medical clinics and board members often provide professional services at no cost. If the person is qualified for the task and is interested and willing to perform the work without monetary compensation, then the task can be performed voluntarily.

Several strategies can be used to identify meaningful service opportunities in your organization or agency, including:

1. Cross Agency and Advisory Teams

Advisory teams of employees and volunteers can be very helpful with the design of appropriate volunteer tasks and the integration of volunteers into the staff team.

The Arc of the Capital Area, for example, has an advisory team of staff, volunteers, and volunteer leaders from other organizations that discusses possibilities for volunteer service and recognition. In addition, the volunteer coordinator sits on several cross-agency planning teams. The planning results in broad descriptions of client, agency, community needs. From there, program leaders, in consultation with the volunteer coordinator, develop volunteer positions geared towards addressing specific needs.

2. Formal Needs Surveys

Surveys can also be used to identify volunteer assignments that will help advance the goals of the organization. Here are some sample staff surveys that can be modified for use at your organization or agency:

• Job Development Report,Texas Department of Health Volunteer Health Corps This report is generally used with programs that the volunteer staff has never worked with or in areas of high staff turnover. It elicits information that is critical not only to task development but to volunteer matching and placement. Sometimes program staff members have a specific volunteer request but they haven't had the time to consider other ways that volunteers can support their goals and objectives. The Job Development Report helps the volunteer coordinator and the agency staff flesh-out new areas for volunteer involvement.
• Request for Assistance, Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) Volunteer Program This form is sent out to all volunteer liaisons (3) times per year. The OAG asks liaisons to fill out the form even if they don't want any volunteers. This forces liaisons to think about what tasks they want a volunteer to do, instead of just saying "send me one and I'll find a position for them." It makes them consider what qualifications and skills the task really requires and how much time it will take.

3. NOAH Process by Ivan Scheier

NOAH stands for the Need Overlap Analysis in the Helping Process. Essentially Scheier advocates a process whereby staff members are each asked to identify the tasks that they perform on a regular basis. Next they are asked to identify a list of tasks that they wish they had time to perform. The lists are then analyzed to ferret out those pieces of work that the staff member either must perform or most enjoys doing. Items of work that remain on the list become starting points for a discussion about assignments that could be performed by volunteers.

In the final analysis, elements of enjoyment and challenges must be present in both staff and volunteer positions. Be sure that your discussions with staff don't lead only to volunteer assignments that are considered unfulfilling and/or menial. The same process can be used with clients and volunteers to identify additional service assignments.

This process is the basis for the discussion of "Creating Volunteer Jobs" in Essential Volunteer Management (1989) by volunteer management experts McCurley and Lynch.

Informal Mechanisms

It is very important to listen to the needs of your organization. Exciting new volunteer opportunities can emerge from informal conversations with colleagues, volunteers and customers. Here are a couple of tips from professionals in the field:

1. Insert yourself into settings or meetings where the needs of your organization are articulated - the cafeteria, cross-agency teams, staff meetings, after-hours get-togethers, etc.
2. Get a grasp on larger trends within the organization by talking with colleagues and clients and reviewing agency publications and correspondence.

It's then up to the volunteer manager to translate identified needs into volunteer task assignments.

Meeting The Realities Of Today's Volunteer

When designing volunteer positions to meet your organization's needs, its important to take into consideration the realities of today's volunteer workforce. Create a diverse portfolio of volunteer opportunities. Different pieces of work or types of service attract different types of people. Some volunteers are looking for positions that tap their creativity, present a challenge or provide the opportunity to learn new skills. Other individuals may want to support your cause, but need a break from the demands of their 'day' jobs. By identifying a range of positions requiring different skills, abilities, inclinations, backgrounds and levels of commitment, you can appeal to a wider array of potential volunteers.

Trends and groups to consider when designing service opportunities include:

• Short-term or Episodic Volunteering

In the past few decades, researchers and practitioners have recognized the demand among volunteers for short-term or episodic assignments. Episodic volunteer opportunities include both positions that are short in duration - with definite start and end dates - and positions that occur at regular intervals such as annual events. (MacDuff 1991, pp. 7-8) While some volunteer positions require a long-term commitment on the part of volunteers, many assignments can be successfully completed on a short-term basis. In addition to allowing time-crunched people to serve, short-term service opportunities "provide the volunteer with the opportunity to see how they like working with the agency, its staff and its clientele". (McCurley 1991, p. 10, full citation) Try breaking up a long-term commitment into several short-term placements that can build on one another.

Resources:

• MacDuff, Nancy. Episodic Volunteering: Building the Short-Term Volunteer Program. Walla Walla, WA: MBA, 1991.
• College Volunteers and Interns

"About 25% of American Colleges and dozens of high schools have recently instituted volunteer work in the curriculum" (Brudney, 1990, p. 161). In addition, most institutions of higher education have offices that coordinate on-campus student organizations and activities, including service groups. Some tips for recruiting college volunteers and interns are:

1. Find out the campus' policies with regards to flyers and on-campus recruitment before you begin.
2. Contact the campus' office on student activities or volunteer center to find out how to get in touch with volunteers, student organizations, and clubs on campus. Student government, Greek organizations and on-campus clubs/membership groups are generally registered/coordinated through a central office.
3. Post flyers and recruit volunteers where students hang-out, such as the student union or local campus restaurants. Similarly, residence halls may coordinate volunteer opportunities for their students.
4. Students are most likely to initiate new volunteer activities at the start of the fall and spring semesters. As the semester progresses, it can get harder to recruit volunteers. Remember: many students leave town during holiday breaks and the summer months.
5. Colleges and universities often sponsor volunteer fairs where you can recruit support. These are generally organized by the campus' office on student activities or volunteer center. Some classes and departments have well-established internship/field-study programs and classes. Find out what types of placement opportunities they are looking for to determine if there's a match with your organization's needs.
6. If you are recruiting students with a particular expertise, initiate contact with the school or department that is most consistent with your volunteer needs. If your agency needs help with Web page design, for example, you might contact the campus' school of library and information science. If your agency needs volunteers to help with health screening, you might contact the nursing or medical school.

Resources:

Lowenthal, Phil, Stephanie Tarnoff, Lisa David, Eds. Recruiting College Volunteers: A Guide for Volunteer Recruitment and Management, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, 1995 (28 pages).

Virtual Volunteering

Many people are looking for volunteer opportunities that they can complete via their home or work computers and the Internet. Family commitments, personal time constraints, a disability and other factors can all make it difficult for individuals to volunteer their services. Virtual volunteering allows anyone to contribute time and expertise to not-for-profit organizations, schools, government offices, and other agencies that utilize volunteer services, without ever leaving his or her home or office.

Although still a relatively new trend, there are numerous examples of both technical assistance and direct service Virtual Volunteering. Here are just a few:

Individuals "visiting" via electronic mail someone who is home-bound, in the hospital or in a nursing home.

People helping design Web pages, newsletters and brochures using their home computers. Volunteers answering managerial questions and conducting online outreach for nonprofit organizations.

Volunteers with Disabilities

People with disabilities are an excellent yet often underutilized source of volunteer talent. 19.1% of the U.S. population has a disability and "of all people with disabilities, 66% are unemployed; 79% of them want to be engaged in meaningful work." (Taylor 1995, p. 15)

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides for full participation in and access to all aspects of society, including volunteering. Many reasonable accommodations can be made with little effort and expenditure. Other agencies and organizations can sometimes lend adaptive equipment for the use of a specific volunteer.

Know what you have to offer - the "costs" and benefits of volunteering

An increasing number of organizations are recognizing the added value of volunteer involvement. Service programs are more sophisticated and volunteers are being regarded as customers to be satisfied, not just community persons to share the workload. As emphasized by Fischer and Cole,

[Volunteer Managers] need to satisfy the interests and needs of prospective volunteers, who, like discriminating consumers, can choose from a multitude of alternatives in the volunteer marketplace. Simply having a worthwhile cause and meaningful volunteer activities to offer are no longer sufficient.

Source: Fisher, James C. and Katherine Cole. Leadership and Management of Volunteer Programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993, p. 81.

To attract and hold volunteers, you need to determine what you have of value to exchange with the volunteer for time contributed. Specifically, you need to know:

the benefits of volunteering: why people serve and what they gain through volunteer service

Many factors motivate people to volunteer and individuals may decide to serve for several of these reasons. People may be moved to volunteer by the cause or client being served, the type of work being performed, the opportunities provided to meet new people - or all of the above! People may decide to volunteer to:

improve the quality of life of members of the community

do something useful or enjoyable

support something in which they believe

because it's fun

explore new career options and network

receive professional experience or training

maintain skills during an interruption in paid employment

acquire new skills to enhance their marketability

fulfill the service requirement of a club, school, church

complete mandated community restitution requirements

be creative, solve problems, perform challenging work

make new friends and affiliations, join peers, belong to a group or community

repay what they have received

develop and grow personally, cultivate new interests

contribute to a cause that is important to them

explore their own strengths

relieve boredom and monotony

feel like they are needed

While some volunteer positions may clearly relate to these concerns, others positions may require that you articulate the relationship between the work and the benefit to either the consumer or the volunteer. For example, the fact that well maintained clothes build the self-esteem and pride of the client may be an important piece of motivating information for a group that comes to sew and mend on a regular basis.

the costs of volunteering: what the volunteer position requires of potential applicants (time and resources)

• Like the benefits of volunteering, the perceived "costs" of volunteering can vary according to the individual involved. Whereas "time away from family" may be viewed as a 'cost' to some individuals, a stay-at-home caregiver may perceive "time away from family" as a benefit. With that caveat in mind, some of the potential 'costs' of volunteering include:
  • Time away from family and friends, hobbies and career-related pursuits
  • Travel, parking, childcare, meals and other expenses
  • Expenses related to the volunteer position (gasoline and mileage for the delivery of hot meals; xeroxing of instructional materials for tutoring sessions; the purchase of boots for use in trail maintenance programs; and so forth)
• In most successful volunteer initiatives, the benefits of volunteering outweigh the costs for both the organization and the volunteer.