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Volunteers are among the most important assets when it comes to organizing events. This is especially true for professional event management agencies that often work with NGOs, charities, non-profits, and the like.
Despite the importance of having a good number of volunteers for your event, this doesn’t mean you should play it by the numbers. Any Professional Events Management Program will tell you that having the right type of volunteers on your team is far more valuable than having thousands of volunteers who are not engaged with your client’s cause. This can be a big problem if your client’s volunteer database is relatively slim.
Fortunately, there are many ways to reach out to fantastic volunteers who would love to work with you over and over again. Here are a few tips to help you recruit the right volunteers:
Leverage Social Media
It is incredibly important to find volunteers who are aligned with your client’s cause and the reason behind staging the upcoming event. The easiest way to find such people is to reach out to the people who support your client over on social media. After all, these people are likely to be very familiar with what your client stands for as a whole. These people are also the most likely to actually turn vocal support into actionable support as volunteers, especially if they truly believe in and align themselves with the mission of your client.
Reach Out to CSR Programs
One place that is often overlooked in the volunteer recruitment process is the corporate sector. It’s no secret that many of the biggest corporations have active Corporate Social Responsibility programs or even Employee Volunteer programs that actively conduct outreaches and other ways to help their local communities. In many cases, CSR programs are happy to partner up to assist in events, especially if the issue at-hand is something that the company and its employees are passionate about.
Outline Roles and Descriptions Clearly
It’s highly likely that you already have a detailed list of roles and responsibilities written down before you even think about recruiting volunteers. In this case, be transparent about what you’re looking for in your volunteers. Clearly defining and describing roles that you need filled can make it much easier to find qualified volunteers for those roles. It’s similar to a well-written job description when looking to hire a colleague at your agency. This is also a good place to list down any incentives volunteers may receive if they sign up.
Make Volunteer Registration Quick and Easy
In today’s fast-paced world, everyone wants to get things done as quickly as possible. This applies to a lot of things, including volunteer registration. Registering as a volunteer, both pre-event and on the day of the event itself, should be a very quick and easy process. You’d be surprised by how many people decide not to push through as volunteers because the registration process was too long or unnecessarily complicated. Making the registration process simple also works in your favor since you’re likely able to expand your volunteer database faster and identify which volunteers were the most effective.