Volunteer Recruitment and Coaching Ideas from the Specialists

In search of higher methods to recruit volunteers and domesticate these relationships? With the worth of a volunteer hour climbing to $34.79 in 2025, volunteers are impactful individuals your crew ought to spend time stewarding.   

We’ve introduced collectively a panel of companions, bursting with concepts that will help you each navigate these relationships and get extra volunteers invested in your mission.  

We requested our panel, “What tip(s) do you wish to share for volunteer recruitment and coaching?” Specialists from our on-site occasion administration and donor engagement companions shared suggestions for guaranteeing you may have the fitting occasion volunteers, methods to assist your friends have high-level experiences together with your volunteer teams, alternatives for company volunteer grants, and extra! 

Senior Employees at Volunteer Issues

Volunteer coaching is not only about imparting abilities; it’s also a possibility to construct relationships and foster a way of group. A considerate coaching program can lay the muse for a optimistic volunteer expertise, serving to people really feel extra linked to the group’s mission.

Efficient volunteer coaching will not be a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It requires a strategic method that balances flexibility, scalability, and engagement. By implementing numerous coaching strategies, leveraging trendy expertise, and optimizing scheduling, nonprofits can create a strong coaching infrastructure that empowers volunteers and drives their mission ahead.

Grace Inexperienced, Senior Partnership Specialist at Double the Donation

These packages function a singular and highly effective incentive for company workers to take part in volunteer actions with their favourite nonprofit causes. After they do, they know their employers will provide beneficiant grant funding to the organizations with which they volunteer. Realizing that their volunteer hours may even lead to monetary help for the nonprofit encourages volunteers to commit their time and vitality to the trigger⁠—in the end resulting in extra impactful volunteer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction. 

One other technique includes partnering instantly with corporations organizing crew volunteer alternatives. This fashion, you recruit new volunteers instantly out of your companions’ worker bases! 

Ryan Scanlan, Co-Founder at GOAT Occasions

In terms of volunteer recruitment and coaching in your occasion, it’s essential to match volunteers with roles that go well with their personalities and abilities. As an example, a volunteer with a bubbly and fascinating character makes a superb greeter or line supervisor, making a heat and welcoming first impression in your friends. Consider people who find themselves acquainted with a very good variety of attendees or possess the allure to spark conversations simply. 

For roles like registration, you’ll need people who not solely have these people-centric gentle abilities however are additionally organized and tech-savvy, particularly when utilizing platforms like GiveSmart for check-in. This ensures a clean and environment friendly course of in your friends proper from the beginning. 

At GOAT Occasions, we place a powerful emphasis on hands-on coaching for our volunteers. We conduct face-to-face classes the place volunteers can apply important duties, corresponding to checking themselves into the system, swiping bank cards, and putting bids. Our purpose is to construct their confidence in utilizing the system, empowering them to excel of their roles and contribute to a profitable occasion. This method has confirmed to be invaluable in getting ready our crew to deal with any state of affairs with ease and professionalism. 

Kelly Rio, Founder and CEO at Ace the Occasion

Set your volunteers up for fulfillment by having clear volunteer roles and expectations. Clearly defining volunteer roles, and duties for the occasion corresponding to particular duties, time commitments, and any required abilities or {qualifications} will enable for a smoother Run Of Present. It additionally permits volunteers to take delight of their contribution to the success of the occasion and the group’s mission.

Allison Geisinger, Vice President of Improvement and Occasions at Powered by Professionals

Be sure you discover dependable volunteers who you recognize you may depend on to point out up and who’re devoted to studying their position. It’s higher to be brief volunteers quite than to only tackle any particular person, with out making the expectations and duties clear. Additionally, don’t overlook to assemble their day-of-event contact info to achieve them if you want to.

Lauren Batterby, Founder & CEO at LIFE Occasion Staffing

Take into consideration your group and the issues that matter to you. If you happen to heart your volunteer recruiting efforts round your group’s imaginative and prescient, you might be more likely to seek out individuals who will 1) present up (let’s be sincere, that’s a combat in itself), however 2) spend money on your occasion as a lot as you do. For instance: if you’re a corporation that builds properties for unhoused individuals, how about reaching out to your native faculty and recruiting their structure college students? These college students know the worth of a very good dwelling and are already investing sooner or later to provide them for individuals identical to you might be.

Volunteers are a vital to nonprofit organizations, from occasion day help to board members. Investing time in recruiting and coaching the fitting individuals fills your pipeline for sturdy volunteer (peer-to-peer) fundraisers and high-level supporters, corresponding to committee and board members. 

Like all type of nonprofit help, most volunteers donate their time as a result of they wish to make a distinction. When aiming to ramp up recruitment efforts, highlighting alternatives for company volunteer grants can go a great distance, too!