Give each volunteer role its own page with what the role involves, the time it takes, when and where, and how to start. List it locally, and reply to every enquiry within a day.

One line on the home page

A community non-profit needs three drivers for its weekly deliveries and a dozen helpers for its spring fundraiser. It also needs two new board members before its annual general meeting.

Its website says, in one line near the bottom of the home page, that volunteers are always welcome and should get in touch.

Nobody does. The people who might have written were looking for something specific, and that line gave them nothing to say yes to.

What volunteers are searching for

People looking for volunteer work tend to search by the kind of work and their town. They type volunteer drivers in Kamloops, or volunteering in Nanaimo.

When they find a role, they want to know what it involves, how much time it takes, when and where, and how to start. A line on a home page answers none of that.

A page for each role

Give every role its own page, and give each page the same parts:

The second item decides more than any other. Someone with two free hours on a Saturday needs to see at once that a role fits two hours on a Saturday.

Titles that match the search

Google reads a page's title and main heading to judge what it is about. A page titled Volunteer drivers wanted in Kamloops matches that search far more closely than a home page carrying only the organisation's name.

One page per role also gives each role its own address. It can be shared by email, on Facebook or in a newsletter, and it lands people on the right page.

A general volunteer page can then list every role in a sentence or two, each linked to its own page.

Where to list it locally

Many towns have a volunteer centre that lists roles from local organisations. List each role there, with a link to the role's page instead of the home page.

Community calendars in local papers, notice boards at the library and recreation centre, and the organisation's Facebook Page all reach people nearby. Members sharing a role with friends reach further still.

Students who need volunteer hours are a ready audience for event roles. A note to school counsellors, with the page's address, reaches them directly.

A worked example

A figure skating club in a small Interior city has about two hundred skaters, from learn-to-skate classes to competitors. It runs almost entirely on parent volunteers.

Each spring it hosts a regional competition and a year-end carnival. These need timers, music operators, registration desk staff and people to run the concession, along with a full board.

Its site said volunteers were welcome and to ask at the rink. New parents had no idea what the roles were or how long they took, so the same few parents did everything.

The club now has a page for each competition role, with the shift length, the training given and the dates. Board roles have their own page, with meeting nights and the length of a term.

Each role is listed with the local volunteer centre and on the arena's notice board. The volunteer coordinator answers every enquiry within a day, offering a shift to shadow at the next session.

A parent with one free evening can now find a role that fits it. The first reply then turns a vague offer into a date on the calendar.

The first reply matters more than the form

Interest in volunteering is strongest the moment someone writes. A reply the next day meets it while it lasts; a reply two weeks later meets someone who has found something else.

A well-built form cannot make up for a slow answer. Name the person who replies, and make sure enquiries reach them, not a shared inbox nobody checks.

An automatic acknowledgement is not a reply. It can say when a real answer will come, which helps, but only a person can offer a role and a date.

What the first reply should say

Thank them, answer what they asked, and offer one specific next step with a date: a phone call, an orientation evening or a shift to shadow.

Say who they will meet and where. A volunteer who knows who will be waiting at the door finds it easier to walk through it.

Board roles need more detail

Board seats are the hardest roles to fill, because people cannot picture them. Say what the board decides, how often it meets and how long a term lasts.

Name the skills the board needs this year, such as bookkeeping for a treasurer, and say how much help the outgoing person will give.

A candidate who can see the commitment can say yes to it. One who cannot will assume it is more than they can manage.

The counter-case

A small group with a waiting list of volunteers, or one that fills every role through its own members, may not need a page for each role.

For it, one page listing the roles, the time each takes and a named contact is enough. It also spares the board from keeping pages nobody visits.

But any role that has to be filled by someone new needs to say what it involves. And every enquiry still deserves a reply within a day.

Filling this year's roles

  1. List every role the organisation needs filled this year.
  2. Write the time involved for each, honestly.
  3. Give each role a page titled with the role and the town.
  4. Name one person who answers volunteer enquiries.
  5. List each role with the local volunteer centre.
  6. Reply within a day with a specific next step.
  7. Take down roles once they are filled.

Step six matters more than the rest put together. The pages and listings bring people to the point of writing; the reply decides whether they ever arrive.

LinkedIn endorsements for skills you never listed shows how board members, and anyone else found through LinkedIn, can make a profile say plainly what they do.

Frequently asked questions

Why does each volunteer role need its own page?

Each role has its own hours, tasks and requirements. A page per role answers those questions, carries a title that matches searches and can be shared on its own.

What should a volunteer role page include?

What the volunteer does, the time involved, when and where, what the role requires, what the volunteer gets, and exactly how to start, with a named contact.

Where should volunteer roles be listed?

With the local volunteer centre, in community calendars, on library and recreation centre boards, and on your Facebook Page, each linking to the role's own page.

How quickly should a volunteer enquiry be answered?

Within a day if possible. Interest is strongest when the person writes, and a reply offering a specific next step meets it while it lasts.

What should the first reply say?

Thank them, answer what they asked, and offer one next step with a date, such as a call, an orientation or a shift to shadow, and a name.

Do board roles need a page too?

Yes. Say what the board decides, how often it meets, how long a term lasts and which skills it needs now, such as bookkeeping for a treasurer.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Volunteers welcome, but doing what?

Tell us the roles you need filled this year, and we will outline a page for each one and where to list it.

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