Behind the Headlines

By Paula Wethington

Does your non-profit organization or club need volunteers? As a reporter for the Community Page at The Monroe Evening News, I get a lot of questions from local organizations on how to advertise their need for volunteers. This is the time of year when many community projects get started, and clubs resume meeting after their summer breaks. So we’re right at the start of recruiting season for members and volunteers.

Here are some volunteer recruiting tips that seem to work well in this community:

• If you send a “volunteers wanted” notice to The Monroe Evening News’ Community Page, we can run it one time. You will want to provide as many details as you can about the requirements and date, time and location for training and assignments. An announcement that “an orientation session will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 14 and volunteers can expect to be on duty once a month” will get a better response than “call this phone number for details” or “we can only provide this service if volunteers step up and help out.”
• Use the Internet as much as possible to post details about your organization such as who the contact people are, what your mission is, dates of special events, and what you are seeking in terms of donations and volunteer hours. A director of a local organization whose activities are frequently listed in Community Page told me her organization’s web site reduced the number of phone calls they get from the public because the most frequently asked questions are answered on the web.
• Provide both an e-mail contact and phone number for the public, in order to stay in contact with both the computer-savvy and those who prefer “real person” communications. You may be surprised at how the responses arrive. I was a co-hostess for a social event this summer, and all of the reservations that came to my attention arrived via e-mail. I do have voice mail, so I would not have missed a call. I can only assume people “didn’t want to call at a bad time.”
• Come up with a list of assignments or projects that junior high or high school students can do for you. Local students often need to volunteer a certain number of hours to meet requirements for confirmation ceremonies, a class or a club; and high school students are particularly looking for leadership experience to list on college or scholarship applications. You’ll get a better response from students if you offer to sign their community service paperwork, allow for flexible schedules and encourage carpools.
• Start recruiting several weeks in advance of your need if you will rely on classroom teachers, scout troops or youth clubs to recommend or provide student volunteers. There could be a lot of logistics for the officers and teachers to work around — such as permission slips, carpools and test schedules.
• Get your request listed with 211 / First Call for Help service at the United Way of Monroe County. This program is designed to help local residents make connections with local non-profits, whether they need assistance or are able to offer assistance. The Helping Hands volunteer recruiting page that runs once a month in The Monroe Evening News is coordinated through the United Way. For information, call 242-1331 or 211.
• Encourage your existing and new volunteers to bring a friend or family member along to an event or training session. Word of mouth is a very effective advertising approach. And you might attract interest from people who have concerns that volunteering on your project will take away time they to spend with friends or family.