Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues �“Leagues Alive” Conference

Attracting and Retaining Volunteers

Presented by Amanda Sokol

What is a volunteer?

• vol-un-teer �(noun)
• A person who does work without getting �paid to do it

Statistics about volunteers in Alberta

Women volunteer more than men (58% vs. 51.6%) Women also volunteer more hours (142 vs. 137)

People who attend religious ceremonies volunteer more hours (243) than those who do not (114)

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People with no children volunteer the most hours (151) compared to people with school aged children. Those with preschool aged kids volunteered the least (62 hours)

Statistics about volunteers in Canada

Volunteers aged 15-24 had highest volunteer rate (58%) 16-19 years olds (66%)

Youth gave fewest hours – seniors gave the most

Separated or divorced individuals volunteered 237 hours – 96 hours more than those who are married or common law!

In Canada, 13.3 million people over 15 volunteered in 2010

They gave 2.1 billion hours.

Barriers to volunteering

• 69% no extra time
• 46% too long of a commitment (year round)
• 38% give money instead
• 37% not personally asked
• 25% no interest
• 24% health problems
• 22% already volunteer enough
• 20% don’t know how
• 19% cost of volunteering
• 8% bad previous experience
• 7% legal concerns

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Motivations for volunteering

• 95% believe in the cause
• 81% use skills or experience
• 69% you/someone you know affected by cause
• 57% explore own strengths
• 26% fulfill religious obligations or beliefs
• 23% improve job opportunities
• 8% required to

Planning for volunteers

Volunteer Role Descriptions: the backbone of a volunteer program!

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Volunteer Role Description

• Title of Volunteer Role: Something creative and eye catching but not ambiguous
• Description of volunteer position: State the purpose and description of the positon
• Key responsibilities: List all of the duties and tasks hat volunteer will perform
• Time of commitment: How many hours, what time, duration of commitment
• Dates required: Start and end dates
• Qualifications: List all of them – include MUST have and nice to have
• Best suited for: What kind of person would be successful in this role?
• Supervisor: Who will this volunteer report to?
• Resources, Training and Support required: What will volunteer need in order to complete tasks successfully?
• Benefits to the volunteer: List all tangible and intangible benefits

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Recruiting volunteers

…are we just looking for warm bodies?

A targeted approach

• Who would have the qualifications for this volunteer role?�
• Who would be best suited for this position?�
• Who would enjoy the benefits offered by volunteering for this role?

When recruiting, always focus on the volunteer, they want to know…

Places to post volunteer opportunities

• Go Volunteer
• Get Volunteering
• SCiP Program (Volunteer Alberta)
• U of A InfoLink
• Linking Boomers
• Goz Around
• Action Generation
• Visit www.volunteeredmonton.com for links to these sites.

Off line places to find volunteers

• Community newsletters
• Recreation centres
• Local businesses
• Local schools
• Print publications such as: Vue Weekly, Metro, Edmonton Examiner
• Media spots on TV or radio
• SHAW 10 Cable Crawl (Go! Edmonton)

Recognizing volunteer’s contributions

Top two ways volunteers want to be recognized

• 80% stated that they would like to be recognized or thanked by the organization they volunteer for by hearing about how their work has made a difference.

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• Close to 70% stated they would like to be recognized by being thanked in person on an ongoing, informal basis.

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Least preferred ways volunteers want to be recognized

• Volunteers indicated that their least preferred forms of recognition include banquets, formal gatherings, and public acknowledgment in newspapers, radio or television. Interestingly, these methods are common methods for many organizations, with 60% citing banquets and formal gatherings, and 50% using public acknowledgement as their recognition strategies.

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Volunteer Recognition

You must thank volunteers in a way that is meaningful for the volunteer!

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Knowing motivation for volunteering helps you to thank volunteers in a meaningful way

• Look at volunteer role description – what are the benefits listed? Who is best suited for the position?
• Ask volunteers how they want to be thanked
• Always let them know the impact of their contribution!

Evaluation

What do you want to know?

• What will you ask?
• How will you ask?
• When will you ask?
• What will you do with the information you gather?

Evaluate the volunteer program as well as individual performances.

Thank you for attending this session and for all that YOU do for Edmonton!

Amanda Sokol, Program Coordinator,

Volunteer Edmonton

asokol@volunteeredmonton.com

780 732 6649