Nonprofits thrive off of volunteer commitment, yet, many nonprofits do not know how to identify the right volunteers for various roles or how to train them effectively. This principle of “right people in the right seats” is communicated in Jim Collins’ book Good to Great and the Social Sectors. While this applies to staff, nonprofits also have to apply this principle to volunteers because they are such a large part of accomplishing the mission of the organization.

Organize and Identify

While nonprofits may be faced with the challenge of identifying talented staff and volunteers with limited or no resources but this does not mean that they are at a disadvantage. Actually, the opposite is true. Those who work in the nonprofit or social sector benefit from having people who are passionate and committed to the mission, not the bottom dollar. Volunteers are ultimately coming to organizations because they are wanting to find meaning and make a difference.

However, just because a volunteer is passionate, this does not mean they are the best person for a specific role. In order to maximize the opportunities they have for getting people to serve, nonprofits must put together volunteer job descriptions for the roles they need. Create benchmarks and expectations around the position. This will create a funnel in which to direct the best opportunities for people to volunteer. Having clear expectations is the first step to attracting the right volunteers.

Recruit

Flyers, tabling and social media campaigns are all valid forms of recruitment but can also attract volunteers that don’t match the specific criteria of the role you need. This does not mean they should be turned away. All organizations should have opportunities for people to serve that meet the capacity of the individual volunteering. However, for high-capacity volunteer roles, nonprofits must be much more targeted in their approach.

In order to target the people and groups that represent the type of individual that the organization would want to volunteer for your organization, reference the characteristics from the volunteer job description mentioned above. Brainstorm as an organization about who the “prototype” volunteer would be for the roles and then discuss where these kinds of individuals would be available for recruitment. Once this is established, begin to implement a strategy that would give the organization face time with these kinds of individuals.

Train

Identifying and bringing on the right people is not enough for attracting the right volunteers. There must also be a robust process in place at your organization to onboard and train these individuals to utilize their skill set in the organization. This could be as simple as creating a handbook and having them shadow a staff member or as robust as video training seminars prior to coming in for the first time. Regardless of how it is implemented, volunteers must know the expectations around the role and how to execute them.

Communicate Value

Once someone begins volunteering (after being onboarded and trained), the nonprofit organization must reiterate the value that the volunteers adds to the organization from what they do. This means communicating the impact that they are making by being a part of the bigger picture. Sharing value and impact are vital, but demonstrating the value volunteers bring is a great way to show appreciation. Getting to know volunteers personally, writing them thank you letters, and asking their opinion on how to make something run more effectively are easy ways to communicate value without spending money.

MyDonors.info has many resources to help you attract the right volunteers to your organization. It’s part of MyCommunity, which exists to build relationships and tools that equip organizations so that they can maximize their impact. Our suite of tools is designed to help organizations of all sizes focus on their mission without worrying about the logistics. We understand the importance of building strong relationships, so we provide the necessary tools to maximize impact and make a difference like our easy-to-use platforms MyDonors and MyVolunteers. Likewise, MyNonprofitCoach equips nonprofits with the training they need to be successful. Schedule a demo for any of our solutions here.

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Source(s)
https://vialogue.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/good-to-great-and-the-social-sectors-notes-review/
https://gracelead.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/good-to-great-social-sectors-summary.pdf