Giovanna Di Sauro

I have been following a discussion between Aaron (Ignitia Consulting) and Angela (from Resources ETC Ltd.) over the week-end. The crux of the discussion was how to best engage people who are willing to volunteer their skills for an organization, but who would generally not be willing to be recruited through the usual channels (“come to our meeting”, “here is a flyer!”, “let’s have a coffee”). The main point the discussion makes is that there are many people who are willing to volunteer, but the recruiters should be aware of their time concerns and of their interests. Aaron suggests that a good way to involve these potential volunteers is to focus on virtual volunteering.

I am currently working as the Communications Officer for a professional association, which needs to leverage the skills and interests of its members by recruiting them as volunteers, and this conversation is particularly relevant to some of the things I do as part of my job. If you are trying to recruit volunteers, here is what I think you should know:

Virtual volunteering works, and it will help you find the volunteers you already have.

All volunteer-based organizations are constantly looking for one thing: more volunteers. Sometimes they find them, often they do not. This does not mean that they do not already have a “core” group of committed people running their key committees: it simply means that they still hold on to an idea of “volunteer” that simply does not match reality. However, what it does mean is that they often ignored people within the organization or otherwise involved with it who would be willing to give their contribution if only they were approached differently.

Often, a lack (or perceived lack) of volunteers indicates that you still think of “volunteering” and becoming “a volunteer” means:

• attending all meetings in person
• being responsible for potentially everything at all times
• being responsible for an entire event or initiative, from A to Z
• being interested in every single thing the organization is doing, or planning to do
• attending in person all possible events

Let me break this news to you: this is not what being a volunteer means. In fact, someone who does or is all of the above is one of two things: a hero… or an employee of the organization.

How do you recruit and retain volunteers?

Use mailing lists, groups and e-mails, but do it wisely: do not bombard people with e-mails every week (unless this was something agreed with them in advance). Keep the lists and groups current. Always allow people to unsubscribe, either directly or through you. Keep the lists focused: they should only be for one committee, or even one specific task.

Try to find out what people are interested in doing: in this way, you will already have an idea of who will not volunteer for certain things, and of who you might want to contact directly for others.

Be extremely clear and specific when you ask volunteers to contribute their skills and time: what are your expectations? How long will the task(s) take? What kind of support are you willing to offer? Volunteers like specificity, but they also appreciate some “wiggle room”: the best way to provide both is to write some standard guidelines for your committee, or volunteer task. Circulate these through the groups/lists at regular intervals.

Never think of using volunteers. You are working with them, not using them! Often, organizations think of volunteers as “disposable people” (“we need… pens, pencils… ah, yes, we need volunteers for that event!”), and forget that volunteers are people. And they aren’t just people: you are either asking them for a favor (e.g. if you ask for advice to a consultant), or you are trying to give meaning to what you want them to be involved in, explaining why they should be involved. To do either of these things, you need to demonstrate a keen interest in the potential volunteers and figure out what they might be interested in contributing.

The last point is arguably the most important. If it sounds like a lot of work – you are right, it is. But think about it: if you are desperately looking for volunteers, and you consider them to be central to your organization’s goals, then you are fully justified in investing this time and money in them. And if you are unwilling to spend time on them, why should they invest time in dealing with you?

I like to think and say that volunteers are in fact harder to handle than paid employees and, if you can manage, recruit and retain volunteers, you will have no problems with paid employees: volunteers need to be treated well, understood, consulted and rewarded. Shouting and tirades won’t do; you can’t fire them (they do that themselves); and you cannot trick them. Basically, honesty, personal interest, integrity, passion, vision and consideration (all things which are absolutely needed in a “normal” workplace with paid employees) are fundamental to volunteer management and recruitment. And being considerate involves thinking of volunteers as people with skills, a need for meaning, little time and a whole life to live.

If you do all of the above, you will realize that, along the way, you will finally find all those volunteers you already had.