It is inevitable that volunteers will come and go in your organisation. In order to manage this, it is important to make sure you have enough resources all the time. This may mean:
- having a large pool of volunteers who contribute on a needs basis or
- having a small number of volunteers that provide a regular commitment.
Having the right number of people and blend of skills is very important and there's a number of ways of finding volunteers:
- talk to your existing volunteers – they enjoy what they do and may be able to suggest a family member or friend who would enjoy it too
- advertise your position for free using on-line organisations such as Volunteering SA & NT and GoVolunteer
- advertise your vacancy in the press, daily or local paper.
Benefits of using online methods
Organisations are beginning to realise the potential benefits of using online methods to promote themselves to prospective volunteers. The internet offers an opportunity to advertise volunteer positions and in some instances can provide opportunities for virtual volunteering such as through the
United Nations.
Information about
virtual volunteering is provided on the Our Community website.
Before you advertise online
Written job descriptions and an established process for handling prospective volunteer enquiries should be prepared beforehand, taking into account the immediacy of internet marketing. Within minutes of posting the position you may receive inquiries.
Unless you are prepared to deal with these inquiries at the time, you could be turning away potential volunteers. Online advertising should supplement your organisation’s regular recruitment methods, not necessarily replace them.
Attracting people from diverse backgrounds
Organisations and the community can benefit significantly by involving people with a range of skills and abilities from diverse backgrounds in volunteering. For more information see the
Volunteering is for everyone page on this site.
More information
On this site
Managing recruitment
Induction and training
Volunteer retention
Legal considerations for the volunteer sector
Police checks