Volunteers are the lifeblood of voluntary organisations. But why do they volunteer?  How can we recruit people to volunteer their time, skills etc.? 

People volunteer in many different roles in charities including being a trustee, helping with business activities such as assisting in a charity shop, fundraising, organising events, helping in the office, etc.

The importance of volunteering has long been recognised by charities many of which would not exist without unpaid help.

Why do people volunteer?

Understanding why people volunteer is one of the biggest topics of interest to charities. If you want more people to volunteer, then you need to understand what motivates individuals to volunteer their time.

There’s a personal tie to the cause.

For example: someone close to you has personally experienced hardship and the cause of the charity is aiming to minimize or eradicate.

Volunteering is a great way to build a CV.

Perhaps you are out of work and looking for something to bide your time and keep your resume fresh. Or maybe you have a job, but your current position does not allow for the training you seek

Volunteering sets a good example for others. Lots of folks “talk the talk”. But very few make the time and effort to “walk the walk”. By volunteering, you inspire others to get involved to make a positive change in the community. 

Volunteering sets a good example for others. Lots of folks “talk the talk”. But very few make the time and effort to “walk the walk”. By volunteering, you inspire others to get involved to make a positive change in the community. 

Volunteering can offer unique and exciting opportunities. Depending on the project, you may get “behind-the-scenes” views of large organizations. 

How to Recruit Volunteers

Recruiting and welcoming volunteers is not dissimilar to recruiting and orienting staff; however, unlike paid staff, volunteers have no reason to stay if they do not enjoy their work.

Before you start recruiting volunteers, you should understand the following:

You have a rough idea of what you want your volunteers to do ( their profession, talents, languages they may speak, passion, etc.) 

You have the organisational capacity to manage and support volunteers. To be more specific, you have paid staff ready to assist the volunteers. 

You have considered how you’ll make your organisation appealing to volunteers

You understand your volunteers motives

You have an idea of the laws which apply to volunteers and how they might affect your organisation

Your group has an involving volunteers plan or policy. This will also include a safeguarding policy. For details of  what policies should be in place you can find full details here

Volunteer’s Role(s) & Responsibilities

Once you have this in place,  you will need a clear role description. Having clear role descriptions will help keep your volunteers focused, motivated and will be the key to successful recruitment. 

Role descriptions (like with paid roles) should be appealing, setting out clearly:

Tasks that the volunteer is expected to do

Benefits: what the role will offer to the volunteer

Information about your organisation and where the volunteer fits into this

Location: where the volunteer will be based (this can be one or several locations)

Time: the hours the volunteer is expected to give

Restrictions ( age, driver, language, etc.)

How to Market a Volunteer Role

As with any recruitment you can look at several channels:

Your website or email correspondence with your supporters. Remember your supporters are already warm to your charity, so may be more liable to give of their time.

Your organisations social media and ask people to share amongst their networks

Posters in local your community hub (library, leisure centre etc) 

Advertising on volunteer noticeboards such as https://doit.life/grow which lists volunteering opportunities by geographical area and cause in the UK. It’s free to sign up and post your volunteering opportunity   

Responding to queries from people interested in the role

Creating and advertising a volunteer role is just the start of the recruitment process. Here are some top tips for responding to the queries and applications as they come in:

Remember to respond quickly to any expression of interest from a volunteer. If there is a delay in response, apologise and explain why you didn’t reply immediately. 

Answer all volunteer questions fully and give volunteers all the information they need to make an informed decision

The person responding to volunteers needs to be well informed, and able to both answer questions and tell volunteers what will happen next.

Explain any screening and selection procedures (e.g., references or DBS checks) what is involved, what information will be needed and why you need to screen volunteers. Guidance on DBS checks can be found at  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/basic-dbs-checks-guidance

Responding to queries from people interested in the role

Finally, you reach the interview/selection process. Every year thousands of people volunteer. Almost without exception, these volunteers are keen to give up their time and efforts simply because it helps others. However, just because most volunteers act altruistically doesn’t mean that volunteers don’t need to go through a similar selection process as any paid member of staff.

Lack of care in accepting volunteers can lead to dissatisfaction and disappointment for both the volunteer and your organisation. In a very small number of cases, lack of care in selection could lead to danger for service users.

Good selection procedures recognise that most volunteers deserve our best efforts to find suitable opportunities for them while also protecting vulnerable people.

You may not need to run a full interview process for volunteers, but all volunteers should supply the following information for a screening process:

The volunteer’s name and address with proof of identity

Contact details

Details of their next-of-kin or an emergency contact

Information about any medical conditions or allergies that a volunteer’s manager or colleagues might need to know about

DBS check if needed

If you need to conduct an interview process, you need to get the right balance between professionalism and informality. The interview should give the volunteer confidence that your organisation is efficient and well organised without intimidating them.

How formal your interview is depending on your organisation and the role. If the role is demanding and involves significant responsibility, you may want a more formal process. If the role is more casual, you may want to keep it informal and call the interview a ‘visit’ or ‘chat’.

Either way, before the interview, you should let the volunteer know what to expect and allay any fears they might have.

Saying No

Finally, it is worth noting that an area many organisations find difficult is saying no to a volunteer because you have no space, or you feel they may not be suitable for the role offered but if you do need to this here are some tips:

Do not ignore the issue and hope that the volunteer will lose interest. Tempting as it may be, this gives a bad image of your organisation and of volunteering in general.

The best way forward when it comes to saying no is to let the volunteer know about your decision promptly and explain why. Let them know that you appreciate their offer and be as honest as you can about why they aren’t suitable for the role. It’s important to handle this sensitively.