Eight Easy Ways to Recruit Younger Generations of Volunteers
Posted Thursday, August 23rd, 2018 by Lisa Bott, Offero Volunteer Management System
Sterling Volunteers is pleased to have a strong partner community that consists of non-profits, technology companies and services organizations of all sizes. We are committed to creating collaborative partnerships that help streamline efficiencies, provide resources, connect people, strengthen the volunteer community and safeguard non-profit organizations.
Offero and Sterling Volunteers Partnership
One of our partners, Offero, a volunteer management system with features such as automated hour tracking, feedback tracking and the ability for participants to sign up for the activities that your volunteers are helping with, allows educators and volunteer coordinators to spend more time with people, not paper. The Offero and Sterling Volunteers’ integration gives volunteer managers a single platform to recruit, screen and onboard their volunteers.
With our partnership, we are excited to share thought leadership with Offero. Today, we are sharing a blog post written by Offero’s Lisa Bott.
Eight Ways to Recruit Younger Generations of Volunteers
Ah, volunteers. Your M.V.R. (most valuable resource), saving your organization an average of $24.14 per hour. With the percentage of volunteers in America on the decline over the last two decades, it’s important to look beyond traditional methods and demographics for volunteer recruitment.
Young people are energetic, flexible, and passionate—three qualities we love to find in volunteers. Here are strategies for reaching them and recruiting them as part of your team:
- Recruit volunteers through their existing relationships. Do you have an all-star volunteer on your team? They probably have friends who would make all-star volunteers as well. Birds of a feather flock together. Recruiting friends of current volunteers also help improve engagement and retention.
- Offer shorter, flexible opportunities. Between school, activities, sports, family, friends, etc. it’s hard for young people to find the time to volunteer. By offering a variety of schedules and shift lengths, they are more likely to find something that works for them.
- Reach out to the programs they are involved in. Connect with leaders of local church youth groups, sports teams, and school clubs to see if they are willing to round up their group to serve. Often, this act of dipping their toes in the water makes them want to come back to serve again.
- Allow for position sampling. When talking to a prospective volunteer, lay out a variety of position options for them to select from and encourage them to try out new areas.
- Establish a social media presence. Meet your prospective volunteer base where they are at—on social media. Keep a regularly updated social media profile and post volunteer opportunities often.
- Make it mutually beneficial. Help younger volunteers by offering to provide them with position titles, help with admissions letters, and development of job and life skills.
- Focus on the cause. Gen Z is a passionate group. You’ll best relate to them by focusing on your mission and highlighting their ability to make a difference for your cause.
- Return emails and phone calls within 24 hours. In this fast-moving society, instant communication is a must. Fail to respond to your prospective volunteer within 24 hours and you risk losing them to another organization.
Manage the Volunteer Hiring Process Easier with the Integration
Both Offero and Sterling Volunteers support a high quality, effective and ethical approach to volunteer coordination. Through the integration, volunteer managers can communicate with prospective and current volunteers throughout the entire onboarding process and beyond, keeping them engaged, satisfied and active with their organizations. Look for more Offero blog posts to come.
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