There are many common threads amongst downtown and Main Street organizations. One of those is the need for volunteers. Volunteer recruitment can often turn into “who’s left”, rather than “who’s right”. Organization’s have a lot to do, from running events to updating the website, and don’t forget recruiting and helping new businesses. Spending time to recruit volunteers is often done on an as-needed basis rather than with a formal recruiting plan. For example, you find out you need three volunteers for a project and you think of who you can call that will come and assist. You probably call the same three people you called the last time, and they probably show up happy to help.
The problem with this method of volunteer recruitment is two-fold. First, you tend to burn out the volunteers you have. Volunteers want to do good, and when we continually go to the same ones, they take on more and more roles within your organization. When they finally decide they need to move on for any reason, you are faced with massive holes in your organization because that person was doing so many tasks. Secondly, you aren’t growing your volunteer base and building your list of people that will be able to grow into larger volunteer roles over time.
Taking time to plan your volunteer recruitment may seem like another chore, but rest assured it will be time well spent and your organization will be stronger for it. Having a well-organized recruitment plan will continue to keep your organization growing and ensuring that you have a list much longer than three people the next time you need some help. So what does that plan look like?
To help you in this process, we’ve created “Volunteer Recruitment & Retention For Your Downtown”. This free e-book provides you with a proven process to make your recruitment efforts successful, as well as offering plenty of helpful suggestions for retaining the quality volunteers already in your organization. Download the e-book today.
