Volunteer recruitment

• Some areas are still struggling to recruit new volunteers.

• One guest mentioned that out of 12 people showing an interest at an event only one is likely to become a volunteer.

• Ad hoc volunteers - a WhatsApp group can be useful for volunteers to respond to one-off tasks.

• A big recruitment campaign only attracted 35 applications for one organisation - this time last year there were 84 applicants.

• It was felt that the current economic pressures are a barrier to attracting volunteers.

• In some areas there is an oversubscription of students wishing to volunteer. The challenge is finding suitable roles to accommodate student timetables.

• Experienced volunteers can help with interviewing and inductions, both face to face and online.

Managing volunteer expectations

• “People ring up on a Friday and expect to be volunteering the following week.”

• Establish information sessions for people who show an interest in volunteering.

Comms

• Use short videos on social media.

Training

• It can be challenging to encourage ad hoc volunteers to complete training, especially if they feel the training is not relevant to their role.

• Training for staff and staff champion roles to support the volunteers.

DBS

• Some are able to turn these around within a week.

• Charity Back Room Solutions may be a useful way for some to speed up the process. They handle DBS checks, bulletins and newsletters.

• TRAC has been really useful to some as it can help to streamline the DBS process.

Demographics

• There has been a notable change in the demographics of volunteers over the last two years which has been highlighted in a number of our focused discussions.

TOP TIPS - If you are struggling to recruit

• Talk to your HR Team

• Ring up or email local job centres and ask for the employment engagement partner / business partner. There will be someone who is responsible for engaging with businesses.

  • Example: Kent has a pool of 33,000 unemployed people who may be looking for volunteering experience.

• Volunteer to Career: For more information take a look at our service guide.