This does not mean that you have to wait on each volunteer hand and foot, but it is a challenge to ask yourself the following questions:
Tip 6: Cater to the Volunteer
What Experience Do I want Volunteers to Leave With?
How Can I Make Sure Volunteers Want to Come Back?
Once you know the answer to both of these questions. It's important to make sure that you create a warm and welcoming environment for volunteers. A few pro tips:
1.Offer Work from Home Options. (If applicable) Many students are technologically savvy and may be able to make a large impact from the comfort of their desks.
2. Don't Be Afraid to Reach Out. To increase the percentage of volunteers who show up. Don't rely on the auto-emails. Contact everyone who signed up or email volunteers after they respond to a need. Especially, if you have specific instructions related to parking, directions, etc.
3. Don't Shy Away From the Weekend (If applicable) Feel free to invite students to service events on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Especially, if you are recruiting large groups the weekends are great times to recruit.
4. Create a Follow Up Survey Once the programming service has finished. Feel free to encourage student volunteers to fill out a survey before they leave in order to get a better understanding of the community.
Each of these steps can help you cater the experience to the volunteers' needs which in return will allow for you to create the best experience for volunteers and make the largest impact.
