Charities often struggle to find great volunteers. Part of the problem is that for some reason, many charities have the idea that there are a legion of people out there just waiting to do dull, routine clerical work.

How can you effectively find the good volunteers who are keen to help you?

• Have you posted your volunteer ads with your local Volunteer Canada centre?
• Are you working your networks (like LinkedIN) to find volunteers who are a match for what skills you actually need? A broadcast posting is a poor way to narrow down and find specific skills.
• Is there a contact person on your website (and does the link work?) for volunteers who want to volunteer for you?

Do you waste volunteer time?

Just because someone is donating their time doesn’t mean you have the right to waste that time. You appreciate your cash donors – make sure you respect your time donors. This handy guide from Volunteer Canada can help you cover all the bases like

• Do you run an inclusive volunteer program?
• Do you screen volunteers before they work with vulnerable people?
• Do you ensure each volunteer has a supervisor to give them information and help if they need it?
• Do you evaluate volunteers to ensure they are a good fit?

Are you grateful or greedy?

Finally, it is important to keep those wonderful volunteers. In the words of William Arthur Ward “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” So ask yourself if you have a great (not good, GREAT) volunteer appreciation plan? If not, the upcoming holiday season is a great time to say “Thank you SO very much” to your volunteers.
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Quote via http://www.quotegarden.com/volunteer-apprec.html