Recruiting new volunteers is very important to any successful nonprofit; however, the process can become tedious. To spice things up, use events to recruit volunteers to your nonprofit. Different events are a fun way to reach out to the community, and may even result in a large pool of brand new volunteers.

Recruitment Events

While posting flyers and online posts about your nonprofit is a great way to raise awareness, it doesn’t have the same impact as seeing your efforts in person. Add a human element to your recruitment campaign by meeting with people one-on-one at events and fundraisers.

Recruitment events don’t have to require a lot of time or preparation. If possible, try to incorporate recruitment into the events that you already have planned. Be sure to let those in attendance that you’re always on the lookout for fresh volunteers for various jobs and positions, and bring it up when interacting with the people who come to the event.

You can also have a gathering that is specifically meant for recruitment. Invite all of your current volunteers and try to get as many people to attend as possible. Make it fun and engaging and use it as an opportunity to sell your organization and all the good you do for the community. Focusing your attention on recruitment at an event will yield substantial results.

Fun Challenges

Part of the recruitment struggle is raising awareness for your nonprofit. A great way to spread the word is to host or promote viral challenges that will get people involved, even if they’re not volunteering directly.

Remember the ice bucket challenge? So much money was raised for ALS research because the challenge was fun to do and it was a for a good cause. While we can’t promise that your efforts will be as widely recognized, it’s a great example of how to incorporate today’s viral culture into nonprofit promotion.

Adding some fun and creativity to your nonprofit’s message will make it resonate more with people and will inspire them to take action. Don’t focus only on the seriousness of your cause, make it engaging and exciting. One example would be to create a contest with prizes so that people will be more interested in participating.

Bottom Line

As a nonprofit, you need volunteers. If your current methods of recruitment aren’t working, then we hope that these suggestions will yield better results. When coming up with a new campaign, remember these strategies:

Engage Personally – talk to people and find out more about who they are and what they’re interested in. Establish a personal connection to the organization, and you will create long-lasting loyalty to the cause.

Highlight the Positives – regardless of the problems that your organization is trying to solve, you should focus on the benefits of working with your team. Talk about how many people you’ve helped and how rewarding the experience of volunteering can be. Putting a positive spin on the work will make it a lot more appealing.

Recognize Your Volunteers – usually, people will stop volunteering when they feel like their efforts are going unnoticed. Take the time to celebrate your achievements and show your volunteers how much they mean to you. A little recognition can go a long way.