Volunteer recruitment: A complete guide
From the past to the present, there are numerous unresolved issues worldwide. Unfortunately, states fail to address or provide sufficient solutions to these problems. This is where non-profit organizations come into play. Non-profit organizations, operating regionally or internationally, focus on a wide range of areas, including health, education, environment, and social support etc.
Do you know how to recruit volunteers for your nonprofits? If not, after reading this post, you will have learned creative ways to recruit volunteers, the benefits of using a form for recruitment, how to create a volunteer recruitment form, and more about volunteer recruitment. Start reading now and increase the engagement for volunteer recruitment by finding the target audience!
What is a volunteer recruitment?
Volunteer recruitment involves non-profit organizations enlisting volunteers to participate in diverse projects and tasks.
These organizations focused on areas such as social support, environmental conservation, education, and healthcare depend on volunteers due to their non-profit status and fluctuating income. Regular recruitment efforts are essential to maintain a pool of volunteers for ongoing and upcoming initiatives.
Benefits of using a volunteer recruitment form
Now you know what volunteer recruitment is. So, what are the benefits of volunteer recruitment for your organization? You will learn about them under this heading.
Advantages of using volunteer recruitment form
- Efficient Data Collection: Streamlines the process of gathering essential information from potential volunteers, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
- Customization: Allows organizations to tailor questions to specific needs, ensuring they receive pertinent details about volunteers' skills, interests, and availability.
- Time-Saving: Reduces administrative workload by automating the collection and organization of volunteer data, saving time for both volunteers and staff members.
- Accessibility: Enables easy access to volunteer information, making it readily available for reference, planning, and communication.
- Targeted recruitment: Facilitates targeted recruitment efforts by helping organizations identify volunteers with skills and interests aligned with their specific projects or initiatives. Targeted recruitment can either be carried out by the organization directly or indirectly through the support of recruitment agencies' specialists.
- Consistency: Ensures a standardized process for collecting volunteer information, reducing potential errors, and enhancing overall data consistency.
- Communication: Provides a platform for clear communication between organizations and volunteers, fostering a more organized and transparent volunteer recruitment process.
- Legal compliance: Helps organizations comply with legal requirements by collecting necessary information, such as consent forms and emergency contacts, in a structured manner.
Top 20 questions to ask in a volunteer recruitment form
Asking the right questions is crucial for proper volunteer recruitment. Knowing candidates' information, skills, etc., will facilitate your hiring process. Additionally, with the acquired information, you can directly match the individuals you hire to specific tasks. Here are some fundamental questions for you:
1. Have you had any volunteering experience before? If yes, please provide details.
2. How much do you know about our organization and our work?
3. What specific skills or talents do you possess that could benefit our organization?
4. Are there specific areas within our organization that interest you the most?
5. Are there specific tasks or activities you would prefer to be involved in?
6. Are you looking for short-term or long-term volunteer opportunities?
7. How many hours per week can you commit to volunteering?
- 5 hours
- 10 hours
- 15 hours
- 20 hours
- 25 hours
8. Can you provide the names and contact information of two references who can speak to your character and work ethic?
9. What is your educational background?
- High school diploma
- Associate’s degree
- Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree
- Doctoral degree
10. Do you have any relevant training or certifications?
11. Do you have any special needs or considerations we should know to ensure a comfortable volunteering experience?
12. Name and contact information of an emergency contact person.
13. Are you active on social media? If yes, which platforms?
- X
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- None
14. What languages are you proficient in?
- English
- Spanish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Portuguese
- Turkish
- Other (please specify)
15. Do you have reliable transportation to and from the volunteer site?
16. What are your expectations for volunteering with our organization?
17. How do you prefer to be contacted?
- Phone
- Text message
- Social media
18. Are you available for any training sessions or orientations before starting your volunteer work?
19. Have you read and do you agree to abide by our organization's volunteer policies and code of conduct?
20. Is there anything else you would like us to know or any specific questions you have?
How to create a volunteer recruitment form
You learned profitable information about the volunteer recruitment forms, like the benefits of using them or lots of questions that you ask in a form. But do you know the first step of a volunteer recruitment process how to create a volunteer application form? In this part, you will learn the best way to create a volunteer recruitment form.
1. Choose a free template, start with a blank form, or create with AI
Choosing a beginning option
You can create your online volunteer form from scratch on forms.app. Yet, the forms.app has a lot of free, ready-to-use forms, including a volunteer recruitment form to save time. Additionally, you can utilize the forms.app AI feature to generate your forms effortlessly by providing a single prompt.
2. Edit the questions or add your own
Adding questions and fields to your volunteer recruitment form
You should determine the specific skills, time commitments, and roles needed for volunteers within your organization. So, craft questions directly related to the volunteer roles, skills, and interests needed, like driver skills, foreign language knowledge, etc. Plus, you can use or edit the questions on the volunteer form template.
Also, do not forget to ask for the candidate’s contact information.
3. Customize the looks of your volunteer application form
Customizing the design of your recruitment form
How you form look is crucial. Users may lose interest if the form is text-heavy or monotonous with just questions. It's better to incorporate images or modify the design to make the form more engaging, preventing candidates from abandoning it halfway.
forms.app offers various manual customization options and pre-made themes, enabling you to adjust your form's visual style and design to suit your preferences. Additionally, you can improve the form's attractiveness by including images.
4. Share your form online to gather applications
Choosing a sharing option for your volunteer recruitment form
Now, you are ready to share your volunteer application form on your website. After that, if you share the form’s link on your organization’s social media accounts, you can reach more people and get more volunteer applications.
7 tips for a better volunteer recruitment form
So far, you learned questions to ask in a volunteer recruitment form and create a new one. Yet, if you want to create a more efficient and applicant-friendly volunteer application form that attracts and retains the right volunteers. If you wonder 7 key points on how to recruit volunteers for an event, you should have a look at these volunteer recruitment strategies below:
Tips for a better volunteer recruitment
- Clearly outline the organization's expectations: Clearly communicate your expectations from potential volunteers before they fill out the form, specifying the volunteer position you are seeking. This helps filter out ineligible individuals, saving time during the decision-making process.
- Keep it simple and concise: Avoid unnecessary or overly detailed questions to prevent applicants from becoming disinterested and abandoning their application. Stick to essential inquiries to efficiently identify qualified candidates.
- Inquire about the volunteer's expectations: Gain insights into volunteers' expectations regarding your organization or project to assess their suitability. Understanding their enthusiasm and what they can contribute enhances your ability to select the right candidates.
- Explore volunteers' skills and experiences: Gather information about applicants' skills and experiences to match them with specific roles or categorize them based on qualifications. Requesting certificates can help verify their claims.
- Adhere to legal requirements: Ensure your volunteer registration form aligns with data protection laws and avoids soliciting unnecessary sensitive information.
- Diversify question formats: Instead of relying solely on multiple-choice questions, include open-ended queries to allow flexibility in responses. This provides a more comprehensive understanding of applicants' personal information.
- Collect contact information: Incorporate a section for email addresses, phone numbers, and other details to facilitate easy communication with selected volunteers for your program.
Frequently asked questions about volunteer recruitment
So far, you learned what volunteer recruitment is, what are the benefits of using volunteer recruitment forms, how to create a recruitment form, and what you can ask about it. You might still harbor some reservations even after obtaining responses to these inquiries. We've made an effort to alleviate a few of these concerns on your behalf.
Maintaining your current volunteers is as crucial for your organization as attracting new ones. Enhance the connection between your volunteers and the organization by occasionally offering small rewards, including financial incentives and gestures that convey your heartfelt gratitude.
Nonprofit organizers can make volunteers feel welcome by creating a warm and inclusive environment through personal introductions, clear communication, and regular recognition. Providing training opportunities, fostering open communication, and celebrating milestones contribute to building strong relationships.
Offering flexibility in scheduling, hosting social events, and expressing gratitude helps volunteers feel valued and motivated to contribute to the organization's mission.
While organizations may seem to benefit from volunteering, volunteers also experience numerous advantages despite not receiving any financial gain. Just some of these benefits are listed below:
- Personal development
- Community contribution
- Networking possibilities
- Enhanced mental well-being
- Purposeful living
What we refer to as volunteering is not a single and clearly defined concept. While names and types may vary from organization to organization, here are some common types: Occasional, regular, skilled, virtual, group, emergency, and youth volunteers.
Final words
In a world grappling with issues like violence against women, animal slaughter, and life-threatening diseases, non-profit organizations dedicate themselves to addressing these problems without seeking any monetary compensation. While these organizations heavily depend on volunteers to carry out their initiatives, recruiting highly qualified individuals can sometimes pose a challenge.
In this article, you learned what volunteer recruitment is, how to create a recruitment form, what you should ask on this form, and more. Every step of finding volunteer process forms.app always with you. Let’s find some volunteers for your organization!
