One of the biggest needs of nonprofits are volunteers. Their hard work and passion keeps the business running without draining the extremely limited budget with wage expenses. But, finding and recruiting enough volunteers can be a challenge. That’s where volunteer sites come into play.
What are Volunteer Sites?
Volunteer sites are databases of volunteer opportunities that potential volunteers can search through. They can search openings based on proximity, type of cause (working with children, pets, etc), type of commitment (how many hours per week, one time projects), etc. It’s a common resource for people to use (in fact, one site has placed over 11 million volunteers nationally) and a great opportunity for nonprofits.
Benefits for Nonprofits of Using a Volunteer Site
Volunteer sites offer a host of benefits to nonprofits wise enough to take advantage of them.
- Little setup work– All nonprofits need to do is create a free account and describe the volunteer opportunities, which usually takes about 15 minutes per site.
- Little maintenance work– The only maintenance would involve updating branding if your logo changes and adding/removing volunteer opportunities as applicable. Some sites set opportunities to automatically expire after a year, so before the deadline lapses the user can re-set the end date.
- Volunteers come to you After setting up your volunteer opportunity descriptions, you’re done. There’s no pitching directly to possible volunteers or posting frequently like with a social media profile.
- Weed out unqualified applicants You can describe in the volunteer opportunity description qualifications (such as age, ability to pass a background check, and needed availability). Potential volunteers can see this and self-select, choosing to only apply to opportunities that they qualify for.
- Expand your digital footprint A volunteer site is another place where people can stumble onto learning about your organization. Even if someone decides not to volunteer, they still may follow your organization on social media or check out your services.
The bottom line is volunteer sites require little time in return for an evergreen recruiting strategy.
Volunteer Sites
There are a number of volunteer sites out there for nonprofits to utilize. They all function essentially the same with minor differences in design and set-up.
Volunteer sites are one of many resources for supporting your nonprofit’s infrastructure. If your nonprofit is struggling with administrative tasks, social media management, or some other key aspect of business building, consider outsourcing to a virtual assistant! It will cost less than paying a staff member to do it (virtual assistants don’t require you to pay for office supplies, vacation days, health insurance, etc), and free up time within your organization to focus on other pressing tasks. To discover all the ways Quick Business Resolutions can aid your organization, check out our services page or shoot us an email today.