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Finding volunteers is difficult work. You need to do outreach in the community – starting with your organization’s existing networks and working your way out. You never know what kind of response you’ll get. Or if you’ll find the right kind of volunteers – those folks who have the skills, motivations, and attitudes that fit best with your organization’s volunteer program.

Thankfully, the payoff is huge. You get to introduce community members to the mission and good work of your organization. You are stewarding and supporting individuals in giving their time and energy, whether they already volunteer regularly or it’s their first time. To be grandiose about it, you are a gatekeeper to civic participation, a key piece of the infrastructure that supports every person’s opportunity to engage in their community. This is a heady responsibility! Guess it’s only fitting that the work should be tough, no?

Here are some tips and best practices for finding volunteers:

Also see Group Volunteering and Resources for Volunteer Management Professionals for population, organization, and volunteer position specific information.

Energize, Inc. - Volunteer Recruitment (includes Volunteer Motivation)

Also Worth Checking Out:

• Recruiting Volunteers – ServiceLeader
• Recruitment – Volunteering England

Crafting the Ask

• Characteristics of a Good Recruitment Message – Steve McCurley, VM Systems @ National CASA Association New to Field
• Recruitment Techniques: Speaking to Community Groups – National CASA Association
• Sample Volunteer Recruitment Messages – National CASA Association New to Field
• Use the Power of the Media to Recruit Volunteers – Volunteer Genie, TimeBank
• Volunteer Recruitment Brochures: How to Tap into the Marketing Potential of Testimonials – Katherine Khalife @ Charity Village Exp Paid Exp Vol
• Volunteer Recruitment Message – National CASA Association
• What's our Volunteer Recruitment Message? – Nan Hawthorne @ Volunteer Management Review, CharityChannel
• Where Should We Place Our Volunteer Ads? – Turning a Volunteer Job Description into a Recruitment Strategy,” Volunteer Program Management Mini-University @ Idealist New to Field

Population-Specific Recruitment

• Back to School: Recruiting Stay-at-home Parents – Nan Hawthorne @ Volunteer Management Review, CharityChannel
• Best Practices in Volunteer Management: An Action Planning Guide For Small and Rural Nonprofit Organizations (PDF) - Jennifer Ellis, Volunteer Canada Grassroots
• Choosing Appropriate Outreach Techniques for Different Generations - Campaign Consultation, Inc. @ Corporation for National and Community Service
• How Do I Find Daytime Volunteers? – Susan J. Ellis, The NonProfit Times @ CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
• Injured Employees: Tapping a Rich Source of Day-time Volunteers – Mary Beth Harrington @ Volunteer Management Review, CharityChannel
• Recruiting for Controversial Subject Areas – National CASA Association
• Recruiting Male Volunteers: A Guide Based on Exploratory Research – Stephanie T. Blackman, Corporation for National and Community Service @ Energize, Inc.
• Recruiting Volunteers for Hard-to-Fill Positions – Nan Hawthorne, CyberVPM and NonprofitSpace @ Charity Village
• Recruiting Volunteers for Hard-to-Fill Positions - Part I: Rethinking the Position – Nan Hawthorne @ Volunteer Management Review, CharityChannel
• Recruiting Volunteers at the Last Minute for One-Time Events - NSSCTalk, Corporation for National and Community Service
• Strategies to Improve Recruitment of Male Volunteers in Nonprofit Agencies – Leanne Kolnick, BA and John Mulder, MD, American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine @ SAGE Journals Online
• Tips for Creating a Successful Volunteer Group Project (PDF) – The Volunteer Center Serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties

Recruitment Models and Tips

• Essential Volunteer Management: Recruitment – Rick Lynch and Steve McCurley @ National CASA Association
• Focusing on the Health Benefits of Volunteering as a Recruitment Strategy (PDF) – Judy Looman Swinson @ The International Journal of Volunteer Administration
• Get Outside the 'Box' and Look In -- Take a New Look at What Your Program Has to Offer and Capitalize on it to Recruit Volunteers – Lisa Kay Schweyer @ Volunteer Management Review, CharityChannel
• How Do We Advertise Our Volunteer Opportunities? - "What's our Recruitment Message?”, Volunteer Program Management Mini-University @ Idealist New to Field
• Marketing and Recruiting Volunteers – Monika Penner @ Charity Village
• The Recruitment Guide – Volunteering England (Select Recruitment in the drop-down menu)
• Recruiting, Screening, & Matching: Recruitment Strategies – Volunteering in America: Resources for Retention, Corporation for National and Community Service New to Field
• Recruitment and Motivation – OzVPM
• Recruitment Strategy Worksheet (PDF) – Hands On Network
• Regular and Occasional Volunteers: How and Why They Help Out (PDF) – Institute for Volunteering Research
• Sample Volunteer Management Policies: Volunteer Recruitment and Selection – Steve McCurley, VM Systems @ National CASA Association
• Targeted Volunteer Recruitment (PDF) – The Volunteer Center Serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties
• Use the Power of the Media to Recruit Volunteers – Volunteer Genie, TimeBank
• Volunteer Involvement Tips – Steve McCurley @ National CASA Association New to Field
• New! Volunteer Recruitment – The Resource Center, Corporation for National and Community Service
• Volunteer Recruitment Campaigns – National CASA Association
• Volunteer Recruitment Tips – Community Services Council Newfoundland and Labrador New to Field
• Volunteer Recruitment, Supervision, Tracking – VolunteerResource.org
• Volunteer Recruitment: Tips from the Field – Sarah Jane Rehnborg, PhD. and Betsy Clubine @ ServiceLeader
• Volunteer Recruitment Worksheet (PDF) – Hands On Network @ Corporation for National and Community Service
• The Volunteer's Journey: A Step-by-Step Guide to Locating and Recruiting Volunteers – Volunteering Australia
• What Are Some Ideas for Recruiting Volunteers? – Susan J. Ellis, The Volunteer Recruitment Book, 2nd ed @ CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

Posting Volunteer Opportunities Online
Posting volunteer opportunities online can be a great way to find volunteers, whether they are new to the community or tech savvy locals. Of course we’d love if you posted your volunteer opportunities with us (hint, hint), but there are many great volunteer opportunity websites out there; many of them free like us!

• Can We Recruit Volunteers Via the Internet? – Jayne Cravens @ Idealist New to Field
• Marketing Volunteer Opportunities Online – ServiceLeader
• Websites Where You Can List Volunteer Opportunities – Energize, Inc.

Didn’t find what you were looking for? Let us know and consider checking out the following sites:
Energize, Inc.
The Resource Center (CNCS)
Volunteer Canada
Volunteering Australia
Volunteering England
World Volunteer Web