As a volunteer coordinator, you know how important volunteers are for helping your organization complete critical daily tasks and projects. At the same time, you understand the challenges of keeping volunteers engaged.
That’s why it’s important to offer exciting volunteer opportunities. But how can you make volunteering more enticing?
Start with this simple rule of thumb: Consider what makes you take the time out of your day to volunteer. For example, would you be motivated to volunteer if the opportunity involved five hours of stapling packets or stamping postcards? While volunteers support necessary tasks like these, there are ways to make your volunteer opportunities more valuable and exciting to keep supporters engaged in your mission.
By taking the time to determine your volunteers’ motivations and what they hope to gain from volunteering, you can craft can’t-miss opportunities that meet supporters’ needs and complete necessary tasks for your organization. You might even be able to gain new volunteers and reengage lapsed supporters in the process.
Start planning your exciting, impressive volunteer opportunities with these tips in mind:
Whether you’re looking to start a brand-new volunteer program or build out your existing offerings, these tips will help you design intriguing, exceptional volunteer opportunities that engage and excite supporters.
Your nonprofit or charitable organization likely has a strong group of passionate supporters willing to volunteer their time and energy to push your mission forward. Even so, you may struggle to find volunteers to fill monotonous roles, no matter how passionate they are about the cause.
So, you’ll want to find ways to make even your most tedious volunteer opportunities more fun. When your volunteers are enjoying themselves, they’ll be more likely to work with your organization again. Plus, they may tell their friends and family members about the great time they had volunteering, which can bring in even more helping hands!
Make your volunteer opportunities more fun with these tips:
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to transform your volunteer opportunities into exciting events that make supporters feel as though they’ve helped the community and had a great time while doing so.
Volunteers donate their time to help your nonprofit, but what if you could also help supporters in return? By offering valuable perks and incentives alongside your volunteer opportunities, you can draw in supporters who may be on the fence about getting involved.
Here are a few perks you can offer your volunteers:
In your marketing efforts, let volunteers know about these added incentives. Promote your volunteer opportunities by offering sneak peeks of your beautifully designed T-shirts or valuable CPR class. You can generate lots of excitement before volunteers even walk through the door to give their time.
As a volunteer coordinator, it can be hard to judge how volunteers feel about each activity when they’re in the moment. Throughout the volunteer opportunity, you’re likely dashing from place to place to ensure everything stays running smoothly. You may not have time to check in with volunteers about how they’re doing.
However, it’s important to gather volunteer feedback. When you gather volunteers’ opinions on your volunteer activities, you can adjust your opportunities moving forward to better incorporate their preferences.
After each volunteer opportunity, be sure to send out volunteer surveys asking specific questions, such as:
Let’s say you hear feedback from volunteers that they enjoyed the experience, but felt it was a little too hot. For your next outdoor volunteer experience, you can ensure that you host your opportunity in the cooler morning hours or offer resources such as plenty of water bottles, outdoor misting fans, and air-conditioning breaks.
When volunteers note that you’ve taken the time to incorporate their preferences, they’ll feel more positively toward your organization and more inclined to volunteer again.
Even if you develop exciting, valuable volunteer opportunities, the experience won’t be successful unless you get the word out. Your marketing channels play a major role in informing supporters of your volunteer opportunities and encouraging them to sign up.
To sufficiently spread the word about your volunteer activities, use a communication strategy that combines digital marketing with more traditional marketing efforts. This virtual marketing guide mentions a variety of effective online communication channels that will help you promote your opportunities, including:
You should also use a direct mail campaign to supplement your digital marketing strategy. Send postcards or letters highlighting upcoming volunteer opportunities and providing all the information supporters need to get involved. You can even include a QR code in your direct mail that sends supporters directly to the online registration page.
Connecting your digital and direct mail marketing efforts generates more touchpoints between your organization and its supporters, making it more likely that supporters will see at least one of your appeals and sign up to volunteer.
Volunteer grants are a form of corporate philanthropy wherein businesses donate a specified amount of money to organizations where their employees frequently volunteer.
This volunteer grants guide states that these grants are “essentially ‘free money’ that is often overlooked” Generally, there is a lack of awareness about volunteer grant programs.
Volunteer grants can be a powerful motivator for supporters to sign up for volunteer opportunities. Those who work for companies that offer these grants see how donating their time and energy to your cause translates into real money earned for the mission. This can lead to a sense of fulfillment and pride.
Ensure you promote volunteer grants ahead of each volunteer opportunity using your marketing platforms. Encourage supporters to investigate whether their employers offer such programs. These activities can provide the extra push needed to influence a supporter to become a volunteer.
With these tips, you can transform your volunteer opportunities into can’t-miss experiences that encourage volunteers to continuously support your mission. You can complete the necessary tasks to keep your organization running smoothly while offering your volunteers valuable experiences in return. Good luck and have fun!