The document discusses effective volunteer recruitment strategies in the Washington DC metro area, highlighting the importance of understanding recruitment needs, creating clear position descriptions, and utilizing various advertising methods to attract diverse applicants. It outlines the trends in volunteering, such as long-term, short-term, family, and virtual opportunities, and emphasizes the need for retention by matching volunteers' motivations with appropriate roles. Overall, it provides a comprehensive approach to enhancing volunteer engagement and commitment to community service.

1. STEPUPVOLUNTEERING: RECRUITMENT
Takoma, it's time to step up volunteering!
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2. DID YOU KNOW…
In the Washington DC Metro Area...
 1.4 million volunteers
 31.7% of residents volunteer - ranking them 9th within the
51 large cities
 189.3 million hours of service
 44.3 hours per resident - ranking them 4th within the 51
large cities
 $4.0 billion of service contributed
 *Data from Volunteering In America Report
www.volunteeringinamerica.gov
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3. OBJECTIVES
During this session we will learn about…
 identifying recruitment needs,
 creating position descriptions,
 advertising and marketing volunteer positions,
 recruiting for retention, and
 recruiting online - using social media and technology.
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4. IDENTIFY YOUR RECRUITMENT NEEDS
 Because volunteers give their time only if they are motivated to
do so, recruitment should not be viewed as a process of
persuading people to do something they don't want to do.
Rather, recruitment is the process of showing people they can
do something they already want to do.
 Effective volunteer recruitment begins with a volunteer program
that is well-planned and executed and that offers meaningful
work.
 For many volunteer opportunities, it is advantageous to identify
volunteer assignments that will help advance the goals of the
program.
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5. IDENTIFY YOUR RECRUITMENT NEEDS
 Clarify the work that needs to be done to achieve the goals
of the project/program; then segment the work into
components that reflect the reality of the potential volunteer
force.
 Consider the type(s) of volunteers needed. During the
planning stage, think beyond traditional or long-term
volunteers. Do you need someone with many hours to devote to
the project, or people who want to serve only one afternoon? Is
the project appropriate for children, seniors, or other people
with different abilities and needs?
 Determine volunteer needs by developing a task
list. Consider what you want to accomplish and the steps
required to get there; then create a comprehensive list of the
assignments and the number of volunteers needed for each
task.
 Create volunteer position descriptions to outline what the
volunteers will be doing. 5

6. SOME TRENDS TO CONSIDER...
 Long-term volunteering provides volunteers the opportunity
to commit to a project or program that spans an extended
period of time. This is volunteering as people traditionally think
of it.
 Short-term or episodic volunteering provides opportunities
that include those of short duration and those that occur at
regular intervals, such as annual events.
 Family volunteering provides volunteers the opportunity to
participate in meaningful service while spending time with their
families.
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7. SOME TRENDS TO CONSIDER...
 Student volunteering provides the opportunity to volunteer
with schools and youth groups, so that young people gain
valuable knowledge and skills.
 Internships, fellowships, and apprenticeships, offer students
and others the ability to gain beneficial experience while
assisting the community service organization.
 Virtual volunteering allows anyone with access to a computer
and the Internet to contribute time and expertise without ever
leaving his or her home.
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8. IDENTIFY YOUR RECRUITMENT NEEDS
 Start by defining volunteer roles and assets
 Understanding what you expect your volunteers to be able
to do and what they will get out of the position will help you
find and evaluate candidates.
 Start by identifying:
 The number of volunteers needed
 The role of each volunteer
 The skills, knowledge, attitudes and aptitudes needed for
each position
 The opportunities and benefits a member will get through
the assignment
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9. CREATE A POSITION DESCRIPTION
 Find the volunteers best suited to your program and sites
 Before you can begin to recruit, be certain about the tasks that
need to be accomplished, where the volunteer will serve, what
resources the volunteer will need, volunteer supervision and
communication, and other important details of the position.
 During the recruiting process, a properly prepared position
description will aid you in:
 Crafting your recruitment message to target potential
volunteers who possess the skills your program needs
 Writing appropriate interview questions (yes, you should
interview volunteers!)
 Determining whether a person is qualified to perform the
essential functions of the position
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10. CREATE A POSITION DESCRIPTION
Seven steps to a great position description
The best position descriptions are concise, use action verbs, and
avoid jargon. Include these seven elements, and you'll be on your
way to attracting the right members for your program:
 Ensure an accurate service assignment title is included.
 Write a 1–2 sentence summary of the assignment's general
purpose and primary service assignment functions.
 List 5–8 essential duties in descending order of importance.
 Identify skills, interests, methods, and tools member will need
or use to complete the work.
 Explain the position's relationship with others in the
organization; address supervision and collaboration with
partners.
 Provide other pertinent facts, such as required travel, physical
requirements, working conditions, etc.
 Include other responsibilities or requirements, such as
mandatory training, hours of service, etc. 10

11. EXERCISE
 Create your volunteer positions descriptions
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12. ADVERTISE AND MARKET YOUR POSITION
Target your audience to attract members best suited for your
mission
 Once you know who you are looking for, you can target your
advertising and marketing efforts to reach the most qualified
and diverse applicants. Keep the following tips in mind:
 Determine target populations. Identify potential
populations for the types of volunteers you want.
 Research communication channels. There are many ways
to communicate your opportunities to potential volunteers
—choose strategies and media used by your target
populations.
 Use your partners. Identify individuals, organizations and
networks that can reach out to your target populations.
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13. ADVERTISE AND MARKET YOUR POSITION
 Don't limit yourself. Develop varied recruitment tools and
introduce them over time to build momentum.
 Look for opportunities to increase diversity. Working with
people from different cultural, ethnic, educational, and
socio-economic backgrounds is one of the most important
aspects of service. Look for ways to increase diversity to
make a richer team for everyone.
 Make retention a recruiting goal. Understanding the vital
connection between how you recruit and the experience
your volunteers will have helps you recruit volunteers who
embrace service for the duration of the position and
beyond.
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14. RECRUITING FOR RETENTION
Making a match that lasts
 Being upfront about both the benefits and challenges can help
you place volunteers who are more likely to stay.
 Provide position descriptions that are accurate
 Posting success stories online on program web sites

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15. RECRUITING FOR RETENTION
Seasoned program directors offer these tips about responding to
volunteer inquirers:
 Send a response within 24 hours of receiving an application or
inquiry
 When potential volunteers call, answer their questions fully and
make them feel you'll give them all the time they need
 Give them info that tells them what your mission is and what
their role would be
 Send a volunteer description that details responsibilities and
needed skills
 Ask current volunteers to review the applicant materials to see
if they cover what they would have wanted to know
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16. RECRUITING FOR RETENTION
 Reaching the most qualified and diverse applicant pool leads
to more successful placements. You'll want to get the word
out in a number of different ways to reach many different
audiences.
 Identify community leaders who can help you spread the
word about your service positions to different constituencies.
This could include members of professional associations,
religious leaders, local politicians, and community activists.
 Identify individuals and groups that can help you reach out to
specific populations. Inform similar programs about your
program's position and look for opportunities to post the
opening on free listservs and volunteer boards.
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17. RECRUITING FOR RETENTION
Brainstorm with current volunteers...
 Get members' perspective on where to find the best candidate
 What makes this program/organization so special?
 What skill sets/qualifications should volunteers have?
 What is the time commitment/workload for volunteers?
 What is the ideal volunteer like?
 What is our selection process? Who should we involve in the
selection of volunteers?
 Where does this ideal volunteer come from? How do we
reach them? Who should be involved in recruiting? 17


18. RECRUITING ONLINE
Using the Web to attract new members
 Your organization’s Web site, e-mail distribution lists, and
newsletter are great ways to publicize your positions! Make sure
they are easily accessible from your homepage. Post in the job,
internship, or volunteer opportunities sections.
 Encourage your community partners to link to your
organization’s Web site. Doing this will help your site become
more prominent in the various search engines.
 Craigslist (www.craigslist.org/) is an online bulletin board that’s
well known nationally. Craigslist sites are organized by city
(usually large cities) and postings are free.
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19. RECRUITING ONLINE
Idealist(www.idealist.org) is another site that is fairly well known
nationally. You can list an organization description and volunteer
positions for free. Idealist also hosts several very visible
nonprofit volunteers fairs around the country.
Use Yahoo groups and other community listservs. Many
organizations use listservs that they have set up on their own or
through free services such as Yahoo groups to distribute job
information to job seekers.
Check out your local college and university web sites. Most
provide an opportunity to post positions for free through a
volunteer center. If you know of other colleges or universities
that have degree programs that closely match your position’s
focus, be sure to check out those sites, too.
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20. RECRUITING ONLINE
 Volunteermatch.org, justvolunteer.org and serve.gov are three
volunteer boards that are fairly well known. Typically, in any
given area, there are one or more volunteer-based web sites.
 Use your organization’s social media presence to advertise your
volunteer positions and let people know more about what you
are doing. (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).
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21. USING THE STEPUP TAKOMA SITE
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22. QUESTIONS?
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