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Volunteer Fairfax
- Sara Chapman
- Volunteer Fairfax is building a better community through service. As a respected leader of volunteerism for more than 32 years, Volunteer Fairfax connects individuals, youth, seniors, families and corporations to volunteer opportunities at more than 700 organizations in the Fairfax County area.
1 comment:
How to Write an Effective Volunteer Announcement
There are thousands of volunteer opportunities for any prospective volunteer to browse at the click of a mouse. How can agencies distinguish their opportunities from the others and recruit the right candidate for the position? Here are some tips and tricks for writing an electronic volunteer announcement.
An effective volunteer announcement answers five main questions:
•Who?
oAre there age restrictions?
oIs this an opportunity for a group, a few individual volunteers, or only one volunteer?
•What?
oThe tasks should be outlined clearly and concisely. This is not an opportunity to orient the volunteer, but to provide enough information for the volunteer to determine if s/he is right for the position.
•When?
oIs the opportunity one time, or ongoing?
oWhat is the required time commitment?
oIs the schedule flexible?
oAgencies should distinguish between night/weekend opportunities and daytime opportunities.
•Where?
oAn exact address does not need to be provided, but if the opportunity takes place in a particular region or city, this should be indicated.
oIf there are multiple sites, consider posting the opportunity multiple times, once in each location, in order to recruit area-specific volunteers.
•How?
oDoes the opportunity need specific skills, such as computer skills, or a second language?
oDoes the volunteer need to provide his/her own equipment, such as a vehicle, or gardening supplies?
oWill the volunteer be expected to lift heavy items? Are there other physical restrictions?
oWill the volunteer be working with a vulnerable population? If so, this should be clearly indicated, along with expectations.
oBriefly describe the application requirements when appropriate, such as interviews, references, and background checks, for example.
Why not answer “why”?
When writing an electronic opportunity, often agencies use their entire space to explain the benefits of the volunteer opportunity. This is unnecessary. Potential volunteers are already willing to give their time to a cause. Furthermore, volunteers searching by mission are already interested in the specific cause. Don’t waste their time by telling them what they know; give them the information they need in order to make an informed decision. It is acceptable to include a sentence about the effect the volunteer will have, but the details will make or break a good opportunity. Provide interested volunteers with a website or contact information so they can research the cause and read a detailed description themselves.
More Tips
•Keep it short. Lengthy opportunities will be edited and/or unread. Electronic communication should be kept very short and concise. The trick is to be creative in a few sentences. A good announcement is fewer than 100 words.
•Opportunities should be written in complete sentences, not as if they are being posted as bullets. Remember: Presentation counts.
•Don’t post tentative opportunities, or instruct volunteers to check back later for details. Post opportunities when they’re ripe, and not before that.
•The opportunity title should be written like a job title; it is not a description, or a call to action.
oGood title: “ESL Teachers”
oBad title: “Come teach with children!”
•Use special characters and upper case letters sparingly, if ever. Using capitals is considered “shouting” and is generally regarded as offensive. Opportunities with exclamation points throughout are not taken seriously and are unnecessary.
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