How to Promote Volunteer Projects

Promoting volunteer projects isn't just about getting attention - it's about inspiring action through clear, informative, and engaging communication. This article breaks down practical strategies to help you attract the right volunteers and guide them toward meaningful involvement.

When promoting volunteer opportunities, organizations often focus solely on attracting attention. However, gaining visibility is only half the battle. Once you have someone’s attention, you must provide clear, compelling, and informative content to help them understand the opportunity and feel confident in signing up.

Let's dive into the key steps to effectively promote volunteer initiatives.

1. Educate, Don’t Just Advertise

Getting attention is just the first step. Once you have it, your job is to make the opportunity clear and approachable. Landing pages should inform the potential volunteer to ease their fear of the unknown and get them excited about the opportunity.

Here is information to include on an opportunity's landing page:

• Location & Time Commitment: Where and when the opportunity takes place.
• Volunteer Roles: What the volunteer will do and any necessary skills.
• Prerequisites: Any training, certifications, or background checks required.
• Benefits: What the volunteer will gain from the experience.
• Clear Call-to-Action: A direct link to sign up or learn more.

Skip any jargon or internal short hand in your descriptions. Make sure your descriptions speak to the potential volunteers.

2. Offer a Volunteer Catalog

A catalog of opportunities (digital or printable) lets volunteers self-select roles that best fit their interests and availability. It also helps you cross-promote opportunities and build momentum across programs. You never know when an opportunity will be of interest to someone viewing your catalog!

There are online tools you can use to build a well-branded catalog of opportunities to help promote your wonderful volunteer projects.

3. Use Email Thoughtfully

Email is still the king of communication, especially for older volunteers. Use email promotion to get the word out about your volunteer projects to existing volunteers, potential volunteers, and even lapsed volunteers.

Here are email best practices:

• Compelling subject lines to increase open rates.
• Concise content with bullet points for clarity.
• Personalization based on volunteer history and identified interests.
• Segmentation to send the right message to the right people - rather than spam everyone.

4. Leverage Social Media

Many younger volunteers will discover opportunities via social media. It makes sense to meet them where they are. Try behind-the-scenes photos or short videos of volunteers in action, volunteer testimonials or takeovers, or even creating a volunteer role specifically to help with social media.

There is great potential with social media these days, considering the potential audience you can reach. Start somewhere, but make sure you utilize it to help grow your volunteer base!

5. Collaborate with the Community

Your community is full of allies. Partner with local business to promote unique opportunities to their employees. Partner with other nonprofits for cross-promotion. You can also reach out to religious/faith-driven groups or civic networks to engage trusted individuals looking to do good in the world.

6. Don’t Forget Traditional Media

Print and local broadcast still exist and can be a great way to get the word out about your volunteer projects. Submit press releases and articles to local newspapers. Offer volunteer success stories to radio or TV segments. Set up tables at community events with a simple sign-up flow.

7. Use Text Messaging

Text messaging is an incredibly effective way to reach people of all ages these days. Everyone has a phone in their hand.

While texting is incredibly effective, it is highly regulated with the potential for fines if rules and regulations are not followed. You need to:

• Get opt-in consent.
• Keep messages short and actionable.
• Always include a way to opt out.

Conclusion

Great volunteer recruitment is part art, part science. Make every communication channel work harder by blending visibility with clarity. When volunteers understand how they can contribute and why it matters, they’re far more likely to raise their hand and get involved.

Ready to promote volunteer projects?

Listen to our latest podcast episode where we dive deep into how to effectively promote volunteer projects. Tune into the episode now:

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