How to recruit volunteers for an event (+ expert tips)

Organizations such as companies and non-profit organizations rely on volunteers to carry out or facilitate their operations. Volunteers can be recruited for both long-term commitments and occasional engagements. Today, we'll discuss the recruitment of short-term volunteers. 

Why and how do you recruit volunteers for an event? What tips should you pay attention to when gathering volunteers? How to do forms.app assist in volunteer recruitment? If you're ready to learn the answers to these questions and more, let's get started!

Why recruit volunteers for an event?

Recruiting volunteers for an event serves as a cost-effective strategy, as their services are often provided without financial compensation, ultimately reducing the overall organizational expenses. 

Beyond financial considerations, involving volunteers fosters community engagement by establishing a positive relationship between event organizers and the local community. Volunteers bring diverse skill sets to the table, enhancing the capabilities of the event team, and their increased manpower ensures tasks are executed more efficiently. 

7 Tips to get volunteers for an event

Since you've learned why finding volunteers is important for organizing an event, we can discuss how to recruit volunteers for your nonprofit organization. How can you get volunteers for your event? In this part, you will learn some creative ways to recruit volunteers.

7 ways to get volunteers for an event

1. Announce on your social media accounts

Today, reaching people is faster and easier thanks to the Internet. You better use social media if you are looking for volunteers for your event. By sharing posts on your organization's social media accounts, you can attract a larger number of volunteers for your event, and some of those who volunteer for just one event may even be interested in long-term volunteering with your organization.

2. Create a basic application form

Even if a volunteer you recruit will be involved in an event for your organization, it is important to know their volunteer experience, roles, specific skills, and interests, such as driving abilities or proficiency in foreign languages. You can quickly learn by asking candidates to fill out a basic application form. Do not forget to ask for the prospective volunteer’s  contact information (like phone number or e-mail address)

3. State your expectations

For everything to go smoothly during the event, it's essential not only for you to know your volunteers but also for them to be aware of your expectations. Therefore, to avoid any issues after recruitment, it is crucial to clearly outline what you expect from volunteers in your announcement posts on social media and your website. 

These expectations may include qualities such as proficiency in a foreign language, good diction, or adherence to the dress code during the event.

4. Distribute flyers

While modern methods, such as announcing through social media, prove to be effective in recruiting volunteers, traditional approaches still contribute significantly. One of the most effective conventional methods is distributing flyers, which helps find volunteers for your event and promotes the awareness of your non-profit organization.

5. Notify the organizations you cooperate with

You can seek assistance finding volunteers for your event from organizations you once collaborated with or are currently partnering with. Collaborative organizations may help you reach a wider audience by sharing your announcement on their social media accounts or redirecting some volunteers to support your cause.

6. Use current volunteer's contacts

People often seek the comfort of a familiar face when engaging in something new. Therefore, encourage your current volunteers to reach out to those in their circles and invite them to become volunteers for your organization’s event.

7. Send reminders

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, people may need to remember that they applied for volunteering. Therefore, a few days before your event, send a reminder email to your volunteers. Include details such as the event venue address, contact numbers, dress code, and other relevant information. Also, try to send the reminder promptly, allowing your volunteers to plan ahead for their commitments.

💡If you want to recruit permanent volunteers and don't know how to reach them, you can check out our article titled Proven Strategies to Recruit Volunteers we have prepared for you.

How can forms.app help with you?

Now that you have learned why and how to find volunteers for your event, it is time to learn how forms.app helps you in many areas. So, how does it help?

With the best volunteer recruitment website forms.app's form creation feature, you can create a volunteer application form to ask potential volunteers to fill out whether you want to create it from scratch or use forms.app templates, these forms allow you to gather detailed information about your volunteer candidates, helping you select the most suitable volunteers.

Step 1: Login and start to create your form from scratch on forms.app. You can easily find a lot of free online volunteer forms.

Creating a forms.app account

Step 2: You can use the ready-to-use volunteer recruitment form template prepared by forms.app, and with the AI option, you can also create a form in the style you want with just one click.

Choosing a beginning option

Step 3: Add some questions or edit the template ones. You can ask about the candidate's roles, skills, or licenses.

Adding questions and fields to your form

Step 4: Visuality is important, so customize the look of your volunteer application form. You should add some pictures or change the design of your form.

Customizing the design of your recruitment form

Step 5: The last and most important part is sharing with the audience on your website. Also, if you share the form’s link on your organization’s social media accounts, you can reach more people and get more volunteer applications.

Choosing a sharing option for your recruitment form

Final words

In summary, even for a simple event, you may need volunteers to ensure things run smoothly. Organizations or companies often need volunteers to work together. However, you may need more than your existing pool of volunteers.

In this article, you learned how to recruit volunteers for a nonprofit for a short term. We discussed tips on attracting more volunteers for your event. Now, armed with this knowledge, you can begin finding volunteers for your event.