How To Recruit And Keep Volunteers

After watching Video #2 in the Snowy Joey Fundraising Video Course, I got a comment from Rod, a fundraising volunteer in QLD.

I posed this question to Rod… “What is your biggest fundraising challenge?”

Rod’s response was…

“Our biggest challenge with fundraising is actually getting our people to turn up to sell raffle tickets or man a barbeque, etc.”

This is a common problem I hear among organisations who need to fundraise to survive.

So I did some research and found a short 4 minute video on some really great ideas and tips on how to recruit and keep volunteers. Check it out!

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4 Steps To Recruit Volunteers

Here are some of the key takeaways from the video:

1) Where do you start with volunteer recruitment?…. Make sure you know what you need volunteers for – how many hours do you need volunteers?, what skills do you need them to have?, where do you need them to be?, do they need to have a car?, do they need to be a certain age?, etc.

2) What kind of volunteers do you need?…. Cater your recruitment based on the kind of volunteers you need. Tell a story…

Example: Your going to make a difference THIS WAY
Example: Join us in the movement to change THIS

Don’t just say you need the person to work X hours on the weekend to flip sausages on the barbeque.

3) How do you get volunteers interested in your event?…. Recruit them by making your event sound exciting and fun. The biggest thing you can do for your volunteers is give them food and “swag”! If you give food and swag, you will be set with your volunteers.

Example: Information session with pizza and candy. If you come you get a free bag, free t-shirt, free pencils, free WHATEVER.

However people get through the door doesn’t really matter, because the reason they’ll stay and be a volunteer is because they’ll care about the work you are doing.

Allow volunteers to grow by offering skill-building opportunities, and a recommendation that people can put on their resume on top of it.

4) How do you keep your volunteers motivated?…. Show volunteers the impact they are making. Let them know they are making a difference and what they were able to make happen by volunteering. Do this by thanking your volunteers as often and as publicly as possible, at any opportunity you have.

Example: Post about the volunteers on your blog, do a Facebook shoutout, do a Twitter shoutout, mention them in your newsletter, write about them in your emails, etc

This will make volunteers feel more engaged and more connected to your organisation.

If you are looking for more fresh fundraising ideas, signup for our free Fundraising Video Course, just click on the button below.

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Tell me your biggest fundraising challenge after signing up for the course.