Associations run on volunteers. Depending on your industry, however, volunteers might be hard to come by. People are often working full-time jobs, taking care of their families, and maintaining a social life outside of all of that. This schedule does not always leave much time to volunteer additional time to an association, not to mention that members might belong to multiple associations!
If you are consistently on the lookout for new volunteers, it’s important to take a moment and think about it from the volunteer perspective. What do those volunteers want/need out of volunteering? Do they want to help? Do they want recognition? Are they looking to develop new skills? Do they hope to build connections? There’s no right or wrong answer. It is dependent on the member but understanding that for each volunteer might help you to provide them what they need and place them in the right role within the organization.
In order to provide volunteers with what they are looking for and to keep too big of a burden off of each volunteer’s back, it is important to offer a large variety of volunteer positions. Larger volunteer positions might intimidate members and keep them from helping out altogether. Rather than just naming a Marketing Director, have a marketing committee and break up the newsletter, social media, and website updates. Not only does this make the workload lighter, it also allows volunteers to hone in on exactly what they are interested in and good at.
When creating these various positions within your organization, it is important to keep everything organized, clear, and easy to get involved. Have a page on your website that lists all of the open volunteer positions, including job descriptions of each position, and have an online signup option.
Job descriptions are an important piece of the puzzle. These should be updated regularly in order to provide members with a clear picture of what they are getting involved with.
Still not getting the volunteers you need? Regardless of the steps you put into place, this might continue to be a problem within your organization. Luckily, there are association management companies like Impact to fill the gaps of what your organization needs while continuing to provide strategic planning and processes.
Contact us with any questions on how our team can help!