It doesn't matter if you are a nonprofit agency, community center, school, church, Temple or Mosque, we could all use some help from volunteers. But if your organization isn't equipped with the staff time to recruit volunteers it may feel like a daunting task. The big suggestion is to call the local school, but guess what, everyone is calling them. Therefore it is a challenge to make your agency their priority. The solution; tap into people that already have an interest in the work your agency does.
•Use Your Fellow Staff: Ask staff at your organization to reach out to their friends, family and to any groups they may be involved in. Maybe their book club wants to volunteer, or their spouse's company is looking for a team building activity. Provide staff with a sample recruitment e-mail, facebook post and Tweet that they can share and forward. This makes it as easy as possible for your fellow staff to help you recruit. Plus the people they are reaching already have a personal connection to the agency since they know the dedicated staff working there.
•Use all communication channels: Make sure that on every communication given through the Agency has a reminder to sign up for volunteer opportunities. All you need is a short tagline, a short sentence, a simple button "click here to volunteer" in all communications including e-blasts, fundraising letters and e-mail signatures.
•Use Your Neighboring Tenants: There are probably hundreds of people that work around you every day. They might have seen your signs, the agency logo on a bag or t-shirt, but they probably know very little about you and even less about your need for volunteers. Building tenants often participate in a blood or toy drive so why not a volunteer drive. Figure out a way to connect with your neighbors and get out a volunteer ask, either as individuals or as a company. If you're in a large building work with building management to reach out to other tenants, maybe set up a table in the lobby to sign people up, invite other tenants to breakfast in your office, be creative.
•Use your Facebook page wisely: Don't just post and wait for people to come to you, reach out to them. No matter what your Facebook presence is, a page or a person or a group, you can individually message people that are associated with your Facebook presence. Let them know they are needed and try to put in a little something personal about why they match what you are offering. This is a bit more time consuming, but creates a personal connection between you and the potential volunteer.