Volunteer Opportunities
Make volunteer opportunities stand out on your website
Like any non-profit, you might depend on volunteers to help your organization run smoothly. How can you make volunteers jump at the chance of working with your organization? Here’s a list of the top 7 things you can do:
Example of a great volunteer page CLICK HERE
1: Make it easy for volunteers to find your opportunities
- Ensure volunteer opportunities are prominently featured on your homepage for easy access.
- Cross-promote them across various sections of your website to increase visibility
- Ensure your search function pulls up your opportunities.
- Add your volunteer positions to Volunteer Match and Catch a Fire.
2: Your volunteer opportunities should have easy-to-use forms.
- Simplify the process of filling out and submitting forms for potential volunteers.
- Streamline the form layout and minimize unnecessary fields to enhance usability.
- If your website doesn’t have built-in forms, we recommend either Type Form or Jot Form.
- Your CRM might have form-building capabilities but what we like about the two mentioned above is their ability to integrate them into WordPress.
3: Flexible Orientation Options:
- Offer a range of orientation times to accommodate the schedules of full-time working volunteers.
- Provide options for both weekday evenings and weekends to maximize accessibility.
4: Compelling Video Testimonials: Have video stories of your volunteers. A picture speaks 1000 words a video speaks a million. This also gives people a great idea of what they can expect when volunteering for you. It is a great idea to add your impact statistics to these pages so people realize what they can accomplish.
- stories of your volunteers to provide a more immersive experience.
- Utilize testimonials to showcase the impact of volunteering and inspire others to get involved.
5: Corporate Volunteerism Initiatives:
Example of a great Corporate Volunteer Page
- Stand out by offering corporate volunteerism opportunities to businesses.
- Position these initiatives as team-building experiences, fostering camaraderie and community engagement.
- Include sponsorship packages to attract corporate partners and support your organization’s mission.
6: Detailed Volunteer Opportunity Information on Your Website:
- Ensure your website provides comprehensive details and requirements for each volunteer role.
- Clearly outline the responsibilities, time commitments, and any necessary qualifications.
- This ensures potential volunteers can make informed decisions and find the best match for their skills and interests.
7: Volunteer opportunities should be easy to understand
- Orientation: A perfect time to educate your volunteers about your mission, values, and additional expectations
- Detail boundaries: What does that mean? What can a volunteer say and do in your name and what they can say about you during their tenure as a volunteer
- Outline exactly what they are doing, what their responsibility is, and the days of the week.
- Ensure there is a clear communications policy — how they can communicate with you.
- Outline your social media policy when they speak about your organization
- Have a list of expectations and responsibilities.
- Recognize and appreciate! How you do that is up to your organization but it is extremely important.
Advertising your volunteer opportunities*
If your website isn’t enough to drive more people to your volunteer opportunities, here are some ideas to get the word out:
We hope that this article has been helpful to you. We Are Immediate offers many services to non-profits. Click here to see them all. If you would like a pro-bono consultation, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!
*Please note that this is a partial list of databases that offer volunteer opportunities. A search may uncover more ideas in your local area.
