Attracting volunteers: Best practices to create an engaging volunteer opportunity

First and foremost, attracting volunteers is made possible with an engaging volunteer advert that provides all of the key information that a prospective volunteer is looking for. From the outset, the respective opportunity role should be at the forefront, accompanied by a detailed description of what the role entails, potential shift patterns and the location.

With this information forming the foundation of the volunteer advert, it can be enhanced further with relevant imagery, your company logo, and a colour scheme that represents the branding of your organisation. These elements are crucial, as it enables the prospective volunteer to immediately associate the role with your organisation.

Lastly, as attracting volunteers is the aim, there’s no harm in encouraging them to apply and share your content. Strategic call to actions can be the difference between a prospective volunteer applying or not, while making your volunteer advert shareable via social media is a proven method of raising visibility! 

Find out how volunteer recruitment functionality can enhance your adverts

Establishing a consistent house style to promote your opportunities is essential to make your volunteer adverts stand out from the rest. Here, we’ve identified and featured key steps of how to write, design and display a compelling volunteer recruitment opportunity with some serious bang!

Each step is intended to guide you through an on-brand experience that is engaging and informative from start to finish – a way to minimise drop-off rates and get you recruiting volunteers in no time!

Step 1 - Create an opportunity

When creating and listing a volunteer opportunity, the most sensible place for this to live is on your website. Your website is trusted, credible, and often the first place a volunteer would look to find how to get involved. It also offers easy access for applicants to learn more about your organisation and can be measured via analytics. For best results, each opportunity should have a unique page with a shareable URL. Wherever you promote this opportunity, the URL should appear and point volunteers back towards your recruitment page to register interest.

Step 2 - Name your role

Keep the name of your roles simple and to the point, such as ‘Cafe Volunteer’ or ‘Retail Volunteer’. Extra detail can be added at a later stage. The title should form the main header text for the web page, predominantly so that it stands out, but also to rank well from an SEO perspective. You may wish to add a location in cases where national roles are repeated across different locations, e.g. Cafe Volunteer (Trent Bridge).

Step 3 - Display a location

Besides a role that requires you to work from home, location is naturally one of the most important deciding factors for a volunteer. The precise location of the opportunity will provide a good indication of whether it can be reached easily or is accessible by public transport. An embedded map would be a great addition, offering a user-friendly and eye catching visual to compliment an address. 

Step 4 - Offer a detailed role description

Taking time to elaborate and expand on any important information will be your point of difference here. What is it about your cause that will attract the right volunteer? Think carefully about the tone you use and if it represents your organisation. Don’t be afraid to get creative by using keywords or phrases to describe your ethos either! Finally, summarise the benefits for the volunteer, including what you can offer that will give them purpose and fulfilment.

Step 5 - Specify a day, time and duration

Outlining the time commitment is a necessary and binary factor in most cases. Integrating this information into the design can make the process of elimination straightforward. Including whether the role is a one-off position or an ongoing process would be hugely beneficial too. Getting the topline information clearly accessible at a glance – and with an orderly design –  will help navigating your opportunities easier for potential volunteers.

Step 6 - Use a compelling image

Whilst copy is important to an advert, a picture can tell a thousand stories! From a design perspective, it sets the tone for the page and creates an immediately polished and professional feel, bringing the role to life. Put yourself in the shoes of the prospective volunteer -  will the image enable them to visualise themselves in the role?

Step 7 - Make your content available to download

Make a printable download of the role information available – this could mirror the opportunity advert or include additional information. A PDF is great for sharing with others that don’t have regular access to a computer and will always print in a tidy format exactly as it was intended to be viewed.

Step 8 - Get mobile ready

What works for the big screen doesn’t always translate to a mobile device. As much of what we do today is on-the-go, don’t make this the barrier to entry. Prioritise getting mobile ready. Use a responsive design that looks as good on a mobile device as it does on a computer screen.

Find out more about Access Assemble’s mobile app

Step 9: Enable users to share

It won’t be a surprise to hear that volunteers are some of your best recruitment ambassadors and will rally the support of friends, colleagues and other like-minded peers to volunteer. Make it easy for friends, family or other supporters of your organisation to promote an opportunity to their favourite social media channels by including share buttons on your page. And don’t forget to check the links are working before publishing! 

Step 10: Provide a strong call to action

The aim of the game is to make suitable volunteers hit that button and register their interest, so let them know exactly where it is. Provide a clear actionable instruction of what to do and highlight this as best as possible, for example, with a call to action button in a single, consistent colour that aligns to your brand. 

Step 11 – Report on the data

Volunteer management software provides a central location to key data and analytics. You can therefore report on this data and make informed decisions to improve the recruitment experience going forwards.

Read Dorothy House Hospice’s thought leadership article on how volunteer management software can enhance recruitment processes

Investing in suitable volunteer management software can support your organisation to build engaging volunteer adverts that are more likely to recruit volunteers.

Maybe you’re looking to increase your chances of attracting volunteers with the support of a VMS or maybe just wish to find out more? Either way, our experts are happy to answer any questions you have and guide you in the right direction.