2022 is here! Is your organization struggling with online volunteer recruitment? If so, here are 5 engaging techniques for recruiting volunteers in the new year.
According to a 2021 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study, conducted by NonprofitPro and Hustle, two of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits in 2021 were lack of resources (40%) and staff turnover (20%). If your organization is dealing with these challenges moving into 2022, recruiting volunteers can help provide much-needed support for your organization’s initiatives, and be a valuable resource towards your mission.
Currently, it is estimated that a volunteer hour is worth $28.54. Leveraging volunteerism is something that your nonprofit cannot afford to miss, especially if you are dealing with reduced resources in 2022.
Chances are that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the methods your organization is using to recruit volunteers. For most organizations, the pandemic has limited some traditional ways of recruiting volunteers. Some of the most common recruitment strategies in 2021 included:
- Volunteer recruitment platforms
- Word-of-mouth marketing
- Social media channels (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram)
- Community events (online)
- Email campaigns
- Corporate volunteers and sponsorships
- Print advertising
- Paid media (examples: digital banners, commercials, pay-per-click advertising)
As you can see, the events of 2020 and 2021 have forced many nonprofits to leverage online platforms and digital strategies to recruit and retain volunteers. Over 67% of volunteers found opportunities online before the pandemic, a number that has surely gone up since. If your organization is struggling to recruit volunteers online, here are 5 engaging techniques you should consider deploying in 2022.
Make Signing Up for Volunteer Opportunities Easy
Before investing too much time and money in various recruitment channels, your organization needs to have an online volunteer registration process. Today’s volunteers want to be able to quickly view current opportunities and sign up whenever and wherever they are. Investing in volunteer management software, like VolunteerHub, can help your organization optimize your registration process, and allow volunteers to sign up for opportunities online, quickly and efficiently.
Implementing volunteer management software will allow your organization to easily organize, store, and leverage volunteer data, automatically.
Provide Volunteer Prospects with Virtual Opportunities
Virtual volunteerism is another trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic and does not appear to be slowing down. If your organization has needs that can be accomplished anywhere, promoting virtual volunteer opportunities is a great way to recruit volunteers in 2022. Fulfilling virtual opportunities is appealing to volunteers in 2022 because of social distancing, flexibility, online networking, and the opportunity to leverage their skills for the greater good.
Check out how these 4 tips for recruiting and engaging virtual volunteers from Nonprofit Pro.
Leverage Existing Volunteer Contacts
If your recruitment strategy does not include engaging existing volunteer contacts for new roles, your organization is missing out. Volunteer retention and leveraging existing constituents should be a component of your volunteer recruitment strategy for 2022. By keeping up-to-date volunteer records, you may find that existing volunteer constituents have the skills you are looking for when recruiting for new roles. To leverage your existing volunteer contacts, your nonprofit needs to have a strategic process for organizing data and communicating opportunities. Investing in a volunteer management solution can help automate and take the process online.
Your organization can use VolunteerHub to engage existing volunteer constituents quickly and efficiently.
Here is some information about automating your volunteer database.
Post Volunteer Opportunities on Your Website
If your organization wants to recruit volunteers online, it is essential to have a well-optimized website. Your nonprofit website should act as a central hub and provide visitors with information about your mission, programs, and ways to become involved.
As part of your website strategy, make sure that you provide prospects with information about your organization's volunteer program and how to sign up for opportunities. Investing in a volunteer management platform, like VolunteerHub, makes this process easier because you can link to a branded landing page that lists out all of your up-to-date opportunities, and allows volunteer constituents to register/sign up.
Here is an example of a branded VolunteerHub landing page:
Promote Volunteer Opportunities on Social Media
According to a recent study, performed by Nonprofit Source, 55% of people who engage with a nonprofit on social media end up taking some kind of action including volunteerism. Social media is a great online channel for promoting volunteer opportunities, telling stories that showcase your mission, providing updates, requesting donations, and engaging with supporters.
As you can see from the graph below, the amount of people on social media continues to grow year over year, making it a great channel to recruit volunteers online in 2022.
Source: Pew Research Center
What are the top social media channels for nonprofits?
Not sure what social media platforms to use? According to a HubSpot report, the most leveraged social media channels by nonprofits are Facebook (98%), Twitter (70%), LinkedIn (55%), YouTube (45%), Pinterest (25%), and Instagram (15%). The same HubSpot report cited that 40% of nonprofits use these social media channels for volunteer recruitment (see chart below).
Source: HubSpot
Not sure where to start with social media?
Hootsuite has created a great resource for nonprofits who want to get the most value from social media. Check out their 11 essential tips for success.
Bonus Tip: Contactless Check-In
You may find that volunteers are still reluctant to provide their time in 2022 and prefer to remain socially distanced. Offering a contactless check-in option for volunteers fulfilling opportunities is a great way to reduce contact and make them comfortable. VolunteerHub is the only volunteer management solution that offers contactless check-in as a software feature.
Learn more about Contactless Check-in
Takeaways
With COVID-19 continuing to be a factor going into 2022, many organizations are still struggling to effectively recruit volunteers. If your nonprofit is looking to increase volunteer recruitment, you will need to optimize your entire process. First, make signing up for opportunities easy. Second, post new and existing opportunities on your organization’s website and social media channels. Third, investigate offering virtual volunteer opportunities and contactless check-in for onsite volunteers.
