Initial enquiries and application forms
The application process that you have for volunteers will depend very much on your organisation and the work that volunteers undertake within it. Some organisations have more people wanting to volunteer than they can take on so need to be selective; some organisations need to screen potential volunteers carefully because of the work that they are doing, and some organisations take on anybody who is interested in volunteering with them.
Whatever an organisation’s recruitment approach, it is important to develop a system that suits their needs but also does not put off potential volunteers or place unnecessary barriers in people's way. In the past many organisations have just adapted application forms and interview techniques from the way that they recruit paid staff. However, this is rarely appropriate and overly formal application processes discourage many people who otherwise may well be interested in volunteering.
Many volunteer managers forget that the application process is as much about the volunteer deciding whether they like the organisation, as about the organisation deciding to take on the volunteer. An ideal application process will reflect both. Organisations put a lot of time and effort into recruiting volunteers, but the wrong kind of application process may well mean that many people who show an interest in volunteering are put off before they even start.
Initial enquiries
All too often organisations launch recruitment campaigns without properly considering what they will do when people respond to them. Most potential volunteers will make initial contact via the telephone so it is important that their enquiry is dealt with in a way that will make them want to find out more. Make sure that whoever is answering the telephone knows what to do and who to pass the call on to. If possible, avoid asking people to call back, as the chances are that they won't. If no one is immediately available it is better to take a contact number and explain that someone will get back to them.
Potential volunteers won't necessarily call within office hours so, if possible, remember to include instructions for people interested in volunteering in your answerphone message, so that they know they have come through to the right place. If you say that you are going to call back make sure that you do. It is very disheartening for people to offer their time and then to feel that the organisation could not be bothered with them. Not only will they not contact you again but it’s also quite possible they will not contact any other organisations to volunteer with either.
Avoid asking potential volunteers too many questions over the telephone; they will not be expecting to be interviewed so it is not really fair on them. Remember that many people find this method of communicating quite difficult. However, you may want to check that they know about anything essential, for instance if you only need volunteers on a Wednesday afternoon then there is no point in them continuing with the application process if they work in paid employment all day Wednesdays.
It is a good idea to have an information pack available to send to people interested in volunteering. The pack could contain a welcome letter, information about the organisation, the volunteer role, practical information about expenses and training, and maybe information from existing volunteers about what they get out of volunteering with your organisation. Avoid including formal policies as it is better to deal with these in the volunteer's induction. You should view the information pack as an extension of your recruitment materials. You need to provide information for the potential volunteer to decide if your organisation is right for them but at this stage you are still selling volunteering with your organisation.
If you have the resources it can be helpful to invite potential volunteers to come and visit your organisation and talk to existing volunteers before deciding whether they want to apply to volunteer with you. Not everybody wants to, but for some people an informal visit with no strings attached is a good first step and makes them feel in control of the situation. Remember that for many people who have never volunteered, applying to an organisation is a nerve-wracking experience and they do not know quite what to expect. Anything that you can do to put them at their ease will be much appreciated and should ultimately result in more committed and informed volunteers who really feel that they have a stake in the organisation.
Application forms
Application forms are an integral part of the recruitment process for paid staff because they help to identify the strongest candidates. They can also be useful tools when recruiting volunteers. In some cases, though, organisations will want to recruit several volunteers at a time, so won’t necessarily be choosing one person over another.
Firstly, application forms can be a good way of recording basic information such as the person’s name, address and other contact details. Secondly, they can provide a more rounded picture of the applicant’s background.
However, most volunteer application forms are based on forms used for paid staff and many ask for more information than is needed or indeed appropriate. If you are going to use an application form to record details be clear about what information you need and why. For example, many organisations ask for a volunteer's date of birth when all they actually need to know is if someone is above or below a minimum or maximum age (for insurance purposes, for example). But if you do need to produce monitoring data on your volunteers by age (for instance, for a funder), it is probably best to ask for a volunteer’s date of birth because different monitoring forms often contain different age ranges to fill in. If in doubt about the information you need to gather, the Information Commissioner’s Office website contains further information.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Filling in the application form
Some organisations find that it is possible to obtain the information they need when they meet the volunteer in person, rather than asking them to fill out a form themselves. The disadvantage of asking someone to fill out a complex form is that you may be unintentionally putting barriers in the way for people who have visual impairments, for whom English is not their first language, or whose level of literacy is not high (all of whom may have lots of other skills and experience that you would not want to lose). Remember that the overall aim of any fair selection process is to allow all potential volunteers to give the best of themselves, and application forms do not allow everybody to do this.
Another disadvantage is that application forms can also be off-putting for some people. They look very formal, take a long time to fill out and have definite associations with applying for paid work, which is generally a daunting experience. Remember that at this stage potential volunteers are still making their minds up about your organisation, and an unnecessary or overly complicated application form could easily put them off. You may find that people are much more forthcoming about why they want to volunteer and their skills and experience when chatting to you, rather than on paper.
Monitoring and evaluation
Any information you need for equal opportunities monitoring purposes should be asked on an additional form which should be kept separate from other personal details and the volunteer application form. The reasons for asking for this data should be clearly stated, along with information about how the information will be used by the organisation, how it will be securely stored, and how long it will be kept for.
Monitoring and evaluating the recruitment aspect of your volunteer programme can be a useful way of finding out your most effective methods of advertising for volunteers, and can help you plan future recruitment campaigns.
Last reviewed: May 2009
Disclaimer
We have made every effort to ensure that this article was correct at the time of publication. It is intended as a summary of relevant issues to help you plan or develop your work with volunteers. Volunteering England is unable to accept liability for any loss or damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of the use of this information.
Copyright
Please note that this article is subject to copyright, which is owned by Volunteering England. Further information on Volunteering England’s Copyright can be found at: http://www.volunteering.org.uk/aboutsite.htm
