Entertain the Young at Heart in Baldock

In this episode of our Volunteering Spotlight Series, we're talking to Hertfordshire Health Walks. They operate a free, volunteer led, countywide initiative which aims to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get outdoors, get more active and reap the benefits. You can apply for their roles here . Watch the full episode below!

So, you’ve successfully recruited volunteers for your organisation – great! Just as important is volunteer retention – making sure they are happy and motivated and want to continue volunteering with you for as long as possible. Here are some tips and suggestions to help with volunteer retention. People volunteer for different reasons – and these don’t always remain the same. A young person might start volunteering for something to add to their CV or to gain experience in a sector where they are looking to make a career. They might stay on as they enjoy the social aspect. Understanding the motivations of your volunteers can help you help them stay happy! As motivations change, so might interests and competencies. It’s a great idea to have regular check-ins with your volunteers and ask how they feel they are getting on. Maybe there’s a new area that you think would be a good fit for their skills? Maybe they feel they are ready to take on more responsibility? Volunteering roles don’t have to be static, and while change might not be for everyone, it could be exciting and motivational for others! Ensure that there are clear channels of support – do your volunteers know who they can go to if they need some extra support or have questions? Ensure that volunteers are included in decision making. They can sometimes offer a different perspective, so this is not only useful but also can make them feel more a part of your organisation. While you can’t pay your volunteers – they could then be considered employees – you can, and you should, ensure that reasonable out-of-pocket expenses are covered. This should be easy for them to claim, and everyone should be encouraged to claim! Be sensitive to the individual circumstances of your volunteers too – you may have volunteers on lower incomes where having parking or transport costs reimbursed on the day will be enormously helpful, whereas others may be happy to submit a monthly claim. There are other ways that you can reward your volunteers other than financially. This could be as simple as a Certificate of Recognition. Some volunteers may be shy and not want to be specifically highlighted for their contribution, but you can always consider celebratory ‘thank you’ events to include all your volunteers. You might also want to look at volunteer recognition schemes, such Room to Reward – click here to read about how we used this to say a big thank you to Opal, our GoVolHerts admin volunteer! Finally bear in mind that real life happens, and for whatever reason, your volunteer may need at some point to cease volunteering for you. Make sure you accept their decision gracefully and keep the relationship positive – they may come back to volunteer with you again when circumstances change, or could be a great ambassador, telling others about their fantastic experience with you and the great work that you do! Want more? Try the following: This article from NCVO talks about how you can support your volunteers: Supporting volunteers | NCVO This is a comprehensive article on Volunteer Retention from Deedmob, the company who provide the software for GoVolHerts: Volunteer Retention | Deedmob

So, you need volunteers? Of course you do! Here are some of our top tips for volunteer recruitment by ensuring your roles are clear and attractive to potential volunteers. Make a plan before you start: What exactly are you looking for in a volunteer? Have some clarity on the ideal commitment, responsibilities, required skills etc. for each specific role. You can be flexible, but a potential volunteer wants to know up-front if a role would suit them – or not. Who are you? Give some detail on your organisation. What is it that you do and why should someone consider volunteering for you specifically? How can they make a difference? Keep it simple: Too much text can be overwhelming. Consider bullet points, or short sentences with key information. If there’s enough information to give a clear idea if they are interested in the role, they can then contact you for more details. What’s in it for them? You need to be clear on what you are looking for from a volunteer, but you also need to be clear on what they will get out of it! It could be social, skills, improved mental health…. Different people will be looking for different things from their volunteering, so think about who you are trying to appeal to. Think flexibly: Plenty of people would like to volunteer, but struggle to find time or don’t want to make a big commitment. Can you get people to join your cause with flexible or micro-volunteering opportunities? If they find they are getting a lot from volunteering, this may well turn into a longer-term commitment! Follow up! If you’ve got your setting correct on GoVolHerts, you’ll get an email when you receive an expression of interest (assuming you are the organiser of the opportunity). Make sure that you contact the applicant in a timely manner and give the impression that you are interested in them! Follow up and onboarding should be as quick and efficient as possible. It may be that they are not quite right for the role you have. Do you have other roles that might work better, or do they have skills you could use in a way you hadn’t considered? Review, review, review! Remember to review your volunteering roles on GoVolHerts regularly. If you aren’t getting applicants, or the right applicants, do you need to tweak things? Consider talking about your organisation at one of our Virtual Volunteer Fairs or taking part in the Volunteer Spotlight series to give you some extra publicity. Optimise your use of GoVolHerts! The GoVolHerts Team run regular training sessions on-line to help you get the most from the platform – keep an eye on the Events page to see what’s coming up!