Summary of network members discussion held on 9 May 2023

There has been a significant change in the way organisations recruit their volunteers. Before the pandemic many organisations received a steady flow of applications to volunteer without heavy advertising. During the pandemic many who hadn’t volunteered before helped in their local community or at vaccination hubs. Now that there are no longer restrictions and people have returned to work and once again have busy lives there are fewer new people coming forward to volunteer.

Earlier this month a number of network members from a variety of health and care organisations joined us for a conversation on ‘Marketing your volunteer roles’ sharing and discussing options.

Top Tips from the discussion

• When creating a marketing plan always look at the audience first.

• Think about the carers and families who would like to give back to the hospital.
• Look out for people who are preparing to retire including health professionals.

• Have a focus group and find out what people are looking for from volunteering by talking and gaging what attracts them to volunteering.
• When you know who they are, think about the channels that they would use to gain information about volunteering and how you promote it to different types of demographics.
• Think about your key messages.
• It doesn’t have to be a big budget exercise.

• Look at how other departments can display or give out the messages for you.

• If you have a shuttle bus service display a poster about volunteering in the bus. Or budget permitting, a decal sticker on the outside of the bus.

• Work with your Comms team.

• Offer them good stories about your volunteers.
• Local TV may also be interested in these stories.
• Showing the impact of volunteering on an individual could really help to attract people to your organisation.

• Advertise on social media.

• Work with your recruitment team.
• Keep your existing volunteers engaged with a private Facebook Group. Use it as a noticeboard for activities and encourage them to spread the word about volunteering.

Useful links

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpsukSkw-h8 - Short film made on a volunteer trip to Beamish outdoor museum last October.
• https://youtu.be/ezEx4eO6kj0 - Silver talk video
• Forum – 20 October 2022 summary of a previous network discussion on volunteer recruitment
• Forum – 8 September 2022 summary of a previous network discussion on volunteer recruitment
• NHS Retirement Fellowship
• The Women’s Work Lab - Support for Mums trying to get back into work