You may have heard some volunteer horror stories circulating around the organization. Or even conversing with peers, you may have discovered the struggle of recruiting qualified volunteers. Needless to say, volunteers are essential to a nonprofit organization as they assist organizations in fulfilling its mission and purpose. As a result, recruiting dedicated volunteers has become essential to the functionality of many nonprofit organizations.
Creative Approaches to Locate Great Volunteers
It’s time to get rid of the old, passive, traditional means of recruitment and implement more creative and innovative approaches to find the volunteers your organization requires. Depending upon your target audience, there are many options available to attract volunteers. Here are some creative sources that are great recruitment tools that will assist your animal welfare organization in the implementation of effective recruitment techniques:
VolunteerMatch – A website specially designed for nonprofit organizations in the recruitment and management of volunteers. This website navigates organizations through the steps in the development of personalized volunteer postings specifically identifying volunteer opportunities and creating a personal profile of the organization. Furthermore, VolunteerMatch offers online support and training tutorials to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer opportunity postings and in the overall recruitment efforts of volunteers.
Develop Partnerships – Partnering with local youth organizations, service groups, sports clubs, pet supply stores, groomers, veterinarian offices, animal clubs and churches are great ways to find dependent volunteers. Networking with local businesses is also another great way to recruit volunteer groups. Many employers will partnership with nonprofit organizations allowing employees to fulfill various volunteer projects during work hours.
Idealist – Another great website to promote animal shelter volunteer opportunities within your organization, Idealist attracts potential volunteers from all backgrounds. Through this easy to use website, volunteers are able to search for opportunities by type, keyword and location.
Social Media – Engage prospective volunteers by incorporating social media into recruitment efforts. Social media websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are useful websites to get the word out about available volunteer opportunities, requirements and how to apply. In addition to this, social media is a great source to inform potential volunteers about upcoming animal shelter volunteer fairs.
There is no doubt, animal welfare organizations are challenged in recruiting quality, passionate and dedicated volunteers. However, these helpful resources can assist your organization in finding credible animal shelter volunteers to ensure the mission of your organization is fulfilled.