The Art of Volunteer Coordination Volunteer Engagement
Karla Steen
Team Leader of HBNC’s Social Prescription Program
Recruiting Volunteers and Participants
• Leverage Social Media Use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach potential volunteers. Social media can help you connect with younger generations.
• Partner with Corporates: Collaborate with corporate sponsors to encourage their employees to participate in volunteer days.
• Engage Local Schools and Universities: Reach out to educational institutions that may have volunteer requirements for students.
• Promote your cause or organisation stories – pull at the heartstrings.
4 Key Principles of Volunteer and Participant Engagement
1.Clarity
• Start Early: Begin recruiting volunteers as soon as you know how many positions need filling. Identify the areas where volunteers would be helpful, such as setup, registration, or cleanup and how much time they will need to keep free to work with your organisation or group.
• Clear Volunteer Requirements: Define the skills and attributes your ideal volunteers should have. Create a position description. Be transparent about physical requirements or language skills needed.
• Avoid Disorganisation: Managing volunteers involves juggling multiple tasks. Streamline administrative tasks using volunteer management rosters to stay organised.
Body
2. Care
• Create a Positive Experience: Ensure that volunteers enjoy their time by providing clear instructions, a friendly atmosphere, and opportunities for social interaction.
• Value their time: While volunteers aren’t getting paid they are still giving their time, energy and skills
• Avoid Volunteer Burn-Out: Like in any role, volunteers can experience burnout. Address this by regularly checking in, conducting surveys to identify issues, recruiting more volunteers to share the workload, improving reward and recognition programs, and providing mentorship or counseling
3. Inclusion
• Create a welcoming environment: make the volunteers feel like they are part of the organisation or team.
• Offer Training: Provide training sessions or orientations to help volunteers understand their roles and responsibilities.
• Keep in Touch: Maintain communication with volunteers even after the event. Invite them to future workshops or events to foster long-term engagement. Invite them to provide feedback.
4. Recognition
• Show Appreciation: On the event day, express gratitude and thank volunteers for their service. Gather feedback afterward and follow up with a heartfelt thank-you message or gift.
• Recognize Contributions, Skills and Talents: Acknowledge volunteers’ efforts publicly during the event or through certificates and awards.
