Recruiting Volunteers

Outcomes from the presentation

• Sharing good practice from across the charity and voluntary sector

• Sharing great examples from across our Mencap network

• Opportunities to think about how we can work together to get volunteer recruitment working well

• To give something back to their community

• Personal connection (family member / friend has learning disability)

• To gain confidence

• Skills development (new and existing skills)

• Try something new

• Meet new people

• To find out whether it might be something they would be interested in doing as a career in the future

• Experience for their CV

• To get out of the house and keep them busy

• Religious beliefs

Why do people want to volunteer?

“In your opinion, what are the motivations of volunteers in your organisation? ”

5

Base: 516 RespondentsSource: Managing Volunteers Survey 2013, nfpSynergy

Motivation of volunteers by age

Develop a checklist

•In what part of the group do you need help and support from volunteers?

•How many volunteers will you need?

•What tasks will they need to do?

•Where will they be volunteering?

• What days / times will they need to be available?

– Is this flexible?

• How long do you want them to volunteer for (one-off / weeks / months)?

• What skills and experience do they need?

– Do they need to already have them or will they be trained in these?

What sort of volunteers do you need?

When you have answered all of these questions, you’ll be able to

start writing a description for the role(s).

Make sure that, as well as detailing all of the key points of the role, you also “sell” Mencap – recruiting volunteers can be a competitive business.

• Spell out why someone should give their time to your organisation.

You might want to think about…

• Including some inspiring quotes from existing volunteers.

• Explaining how volunteers can learn skills that can then help them in their professional careers.

Producing a volunteer role description

• Who will manage the volunteer(s)

• References for volunteers

• Volunteer expenses

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

What's your group’s policy on these issues?

Key things to think about at this stage…

It is good practice to make sure people are not out of pocket throughvolunteering.

BUT you need also to make sure you only pay expenses people have directly

incurred.

• See RMS volunteer expenses policy

• Find out more at the NCVO Good Practice Bank

Expenses policy

You can’t blanket DBS check all volunteers.

You must DBS check volunteers if they undertake certain tasks or work with

certain groups of people.

What do you do currently?

Disclosure and Barring Service checks (DBS checks)

In true Blue Peter style, we have:

• A Role Description template with tips for completing it

• A blank template

• Completed examples from across our Mencap network

Role Description template

Volunteering traffic light system…

So….

• You know the sort of person you need, what you’d like them to do, and you have an inspiring role description.

The next step is getting your request out to your possible markets for

volunteers.

Depending on how many volunteers you need to recruit, there might be

some easy, and free, ways.

Recruiting the right people

• Ask people who are already connected with your charity in some way if they know of anyone (friends, family, professional colleagues etc.) who might be interested in volunteering. You could ask:

– Staff– Trustees– Donors– Existing volunteers– The people you support

• If you have a social media presence, put a request out to your followers, and ask them to share it.

– Facebook– Twitter– LinkedIn– Google+

(Make sure you include a link to the role description / application page on your website)

Where to find your volunteers

• If you have a corporate partner, you might already have an arrangement with them to supply you with volunteers.

– If not, you could explain that having an employee volunteering programme is seen as an increasingly attractive feature for a business.

– It can also serve as valuable training for their employees’ professional development.

• Local advertising. This could include:

– Universities (notice boards and websites)– Colleges (notice boards and websites)– Libraries– Women’s Institute– Religious buildings– Supermarkets– Local notice boards– Newspaper articles about events

Where to find your volunteers (cont.)

• On your website

– The likelihood is that people who are visiting your site are more prone to want to volunteer with you

• Third Party websites, such as:

– Royal Mencap Society– Do-it– Your local Volunteer Centre – Reach (professional skills-based volunteers)– Team London (London-based volunteers)– Volunteer Wales (Wales-based volunteers)– Mums.net– Universities– Colleges– Career Volunteer– Charity Job

Where to find your volunteers (cont.)

• Use social media to engage with other local volunteering organisations and promote volunteering opportunities and good news stories.

• (Could be a volunteer role)

• Using the volunteer role profiles, RMS can advertise local opportunities using the online recruitment platform.

Working together

• Make sure all staff and volunteers know there is a vacancy and what to do if they are asked about it.

• Check your phone messages and online enquiry box regularly

– This includes any external adverts you have placed (e.g. Do-it, Team London, university websites etc.)

• Have application forms ready for people to collect or direct them to an application form on the website.

– Do you have an easy-read version of this application form if needed?

• Be clear in the advert when the closing date for applications is, and remove any adverts on (or before) this date.

Handling enquiries

• Informal interview / guided conversation (dependent on role):

– Talk through their skills / experience / interests– Talk through the role– Work alongside another team member to undertake a task (e.g.

photocopying a leaflet and addressing an envelope, visiting the group they would volunteer at)

• Sometimes it may be helpful to include the people we support

– This could be as part of the interview panel, or by allowing them to have an input into the type of person they would like in the role

• Settling in periods

Selecting the right people from the applicants

• Getting the most out of your new volunteers requires them to be both motivated and informed.

• The most effective volunteers are often those who:

– Know what is expected of them– Know how what they are doing is contributing to the charity

• Volunteers should be continually reminded of these, but it is especially important when they first join you, so a well thought through induction process is crucial.

– Regardless of the specifics of the role, every new volunteer should receive some sort of induction.

• This can be as simple as a welcome email, letter or telephone call, or a more detailed and formal training course, perhaps with an element of shadowing.

Getting your volunteers ready

• Take time to remind your new volunteer about the charity’s mission.

• Provide written information which clearly spells out:

– The proposed duties of the volunteer– Their expected time commitment– Who will support them and be a point of contact for any problems– This should also include your policy on reimbursing expenses

• Buddy up your new recruit with a seasoned volunteer.

– This shouldn’t replace the need for a member of staff to manage the volunteer, but serves as additional support.

– Often existing volunteers will remember important bits of information you might not think of from their own induction.

Getting your volunteers ready (cont.)

How can we better work together to get

volunteer recruitment working well for us

all?

#mencap_volunteer_challenge

Any Questions?