Three Tips for How to Find (and Keep) Great Volunteers
Volunteers can be such a great resource for nonprofit organizations. They can save your organization a lot of money and time, and volunteers are priceless when it comes to marketing. They rave about your organization to people they meet because they’re so passionate about the work you do; they are walking advertisements.
But it can be difficult to recruit and retain reliable volunteers , so I have some tips for how to do this based on my fantastic personal volunteer experience with The Right Step, a therapeutic horseback riding program that couldn’t exist without dedicated volunteers.
Horse Leader and Side Walker volunteers helps a rider dismount during the yearly Hoedown fundraiser, where riders can demonstrate their skills to event-goers.
Messy Fred is up to his usual tricks.
TIP #1: POST YOUR VOLUNTEER POSITIONS ON AN ONLINE VOLUNTEER WEBSITE.
This might seem obvious, but Volunteer Match (volunteermatch.org) has been such a great resource for me that I had to mention it. They are #1 in browsers when you search for “volunteer Denver” with 1.3 million monthly visitors. The website is incredibly easy to navigate, you simply type in your location and “get started” to pull up a page with volunteer opportunities organized by category icons like “Education & Literacy” or “Environment.” A couple of years ago, I was looking for a volunteer opportunity, searched under “Animals” and have been volunteering for The Right Step ever since!
Voluteermatch.org
TIP #2: MAKE SIGNING UP FOR VOLUNTEER EVENTS OR TIME SLOTS STREAMLINED AND ONLINE ACCESSIBLE.
I loved this about The Right Step when I was getting started. They use Volgistics.com and integrate it right into their website, where I can easily look through all of the available time slots on the calendar and pick one that works best with my schedule. And this way the Volunteer Coordinator can easily see which slots need to be filled and ask for help in advance. Every riding lesson at The Right Step requires two volunteers, one in charge of the horse, and one to focus on the rider. On an average day, up to 16 volunteers work at the barn. This program is a lifesaver.
Volgistics.org integrated into The Right Step’s website
The Right Step also recently started tracking volunteer hours on Volgistics instead of on a sheet of paper and clipboard at the barn. This is a HUGE help to the Volunteer Coordinator, saving her six hours this past month. Instead of going through messy handwritten paperwork to add up each volunteer’s hours, they are automatically added on a web page for each volunteer. Here’s my page below:
TIP #3: A LITTLE THANKS CAN GO A LONG WAY.
Even if you think you thank your volunteers enough, thank them again. And then one more time. I have a million things I could and should be doing every day, so I need to hear that my time matters to you and is appreciated. The minute I hear, “Thank you, we couldn’t do this without you” it makes me want to sign up to volunteer again, because I believe so whole-heartedly in what The Right Step program does for kids.
Your organization can also show thanks by giving back to volunteers in a way that doesn’t even cost a dime. About two years ago, The Right Step offered volunteers with 50+ hours accumulated a chance to ride. This is about the best gift you could give a horse-lover without a horse!
I had so much fun it inspired me to take up riding lessons again after a 30-year break. This has not only made me stronger, braver and happier than I’ve been in years, it’s helped me understand the perspective of kids in The Right Step program, and how to be a better volunteer for them.
A riding lesson with Nightlife, a six-year-old retired racehorse who lives up to his name and always kept things interesting for me.