By Shoghik Mikayelyan

1. What is volunteerism and who can be a volunteer?

2.Preliminary work before recruiting volunteers

Content

3. The three main methods of recruiting volunteers

4. Evaluation and monitoring of volunteer work

5. Benefits to the volunteers and organization

6. Which organizations to apply to get volunteers from abroad and to volunteer abroad?

1.What is volunteerism and who can be a volunteer?

Volunteerism is non-paid realized activity in the sake of others’ well-being.

Volunteerism is a vital and important part of the nonprofit sector.It increases the reach and effectiveness of the organizations.

Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in the development of the social life and it can transform the pace and nature of development.and it can transform the pace and nature of development.

The three main principals of volunteerism are:1. Financial benefit is not the main purpose of the volunteerism2. Volunteerism is the expression of free will3. Volunteerism benefit both to the third party and to the volunteer

Both young people, skillful people, pensioners and elder people can be a volunteer, even a person with special needs can be a volunteer, if we provide him with necessary equipments and space. To recruit volunteers we should take into consideration the culture, tradition and the social life of a person.

Volunteers are compassionate people. Not only do they feel compassion towards people in need, they believe they can take personal action to help improve the welfare of others. Volunteers give their time to all kinds of organizations.

The work of volunteers should be organized in an effective way. Before assigning The work of volunteers should be organized in an effective way. Before assigning the volunteers a task, the organization should take into consideration the personal abilities of the volunteers. To have effective result the organization should include people with different age, specialties and abilities.

2. Preliminary work before recruiting the volunteers

1. Make sure you understand your nonprofit’s culture and workenvironment

2. Make the match between culture and volunteer

3. Make sure your organization is prepared for volunteers

4. Prepare the staff

5. Volunteer position description

1. Make sure that you understand your nonprofit’s culture and work environment

Each organization has a certain personality, that is set up by the director of the nonprofit. For instance there are formal organizations, that set up boundaries and chains of command and the employees are cold. There are organizations that have friendly environment.

2. Make sure to match culture and volunteer

Your organization’s culture will determine the type of volunteer you recruit.For instance, if your organization is hierarchical, you may want to find people who are comfortable following procedures and policies of your organization. If it is loosely organized, you may want to look for individuals who are self-starters and enjoy working when they don’t get any commands.So, analyze your organization before you recruit volunteers, so you will be able to make a better match between volunteers and organization.

2. Make sure to match culture and volunteer

3. Make sure your organization is prepared for volunteers

In this case you should answer the following questions:1. Does top management support volunteer work and appreciate the value the volunteers can bring?2. Are the staff prepared and willing to help with training and supervising volunteers?3. Is there a place for volunteers to work with necessary supplies and available equipments?4. Have you prepared recruitment materials such as brochures, flyers, volunteer handbook?

It is very important for the staff to be able to answer the questions of volunteers and to speak knowledgeably about the missions of the organization. Make sure that everyone in the office who receives calls from people expressing an interest in volunteering knows who is in charge of volunteer management and to whom transfer the call or forward a message. And the most important thing: Never ask a volunteer to call back!

4. Prepare the staff

ԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորական գործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացի նկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություն5. Volunteer position description

Volunteer position desripction plays and essencial role in volunteer recruitment. It includes the assignments, skills, abilities and interests to perform the volunteer task successfully. There are many ways to write the position description but there are some components that you should cover. The basic components are:

1. Position Title2. Work Location3. Purpose of the Position4. Resposibilities and Duties5. Qualifications6. Commitment Expected7. Training

ԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորական գործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացի նկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություն1. Position Title

The specific, descriptive title ensures the volunteers that the staff and the orther volunteers understand his role in the organization.

2. Work Location

Can the work be done at home, or in the office or at a particualr site?

3.Purpose of the Position

How will the volunteer’s work effect the project’s outcome, clients or mission? It is important to identify the expected impact so that volunteer will understand thow important his work is.

ԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորականԿամավորական գործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացիգործընթացի նկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություննկարագրություն4.Resposibilities and Duties

Specifically identify the volunteer position responsibilities and duties. Define what is expected for the volunteers.

5. Qualifications

It is clrealy mentioned the required qealifications for any volunteer position. It includes education, personal charachteristics, skills, abilities and experience required.

6. Commitment Expected

It is necessery to mention what you expect from volunteers. Include theb length of service, hours per week, hours per day, and weekend work.

education, personal charachteristics, skills, abilities and experience required.

7. Training

List what training the volunteer will receive.

3. Three main methods of recruiting volunteers

1. Warm Body Recruitment

When you need a large number of volunteers for a short period of time and the qualifications of the task are minimal, you might engage in “Warm Body Recruitment”. This involves a broad engage in “Warm Body Recruitment”. This involves a broad dissemination of information, including.

• Distribution of brochures• Posters• Speaking to groups• Notices in appropriate media• Word of mouth

2. Targeted Recruitment

The targeted recruitment requires a carefully planned approach to a small audience. Use this method when you are trying to recruit volunteers with specific skills. The targeted campaign requires, at the outset, that you answer several questions:

• What do we need?• Who could provide this?• How can we communicate with them?• How can we communicate with them?• What would motivate them?

These questions will help you to identify and locate the volunteers that you need. Once you locate a source of such volunteers, simply take your recruitment message directly to them.

3. Concentric Circles Recruitment

This type of recruitment requires you to identify the population that are already in direct or indirect contact with your organization and then take your recruiting massage to them. This population includes:• Your clients, their families and relatives• Alumni of your programs

Friends of your current volunteers and staff• Friends of your current volunteers and staff• People in the neighborhood of your organization• People, who have been affected by the problem you are attempting to solve.

You will succeed in persuading them to volunteer than complete strangers.

Recruitment message

No matter which recruitment method you use, you should have a compellingmessage. It should explain why it is worth volunteer’s time. Your messageshould be short, simple, and show the need for the volunteer’s service and thegood he/she can do. Stress the need of the community for the service, but alsopoint out the benefits, skills and valuable experience that the volunteer willgain.

Asking

Finally, be sure to directly ask people to volunteer. Have your staff andvolunteers to ask their friends to volunteer. Provide them with necessaryinformation

4. Monitoring and evaluation of volunteer work

1. Volunteers want you to be prepared for them

If you want to send a volunteer to an office to work, you should prepare the office beforehand, provide with the necessary equipments, job description, have some-thing to do immediately, otherwise volunteer will see your organization as dis-organized and inconsiderate. organized and inconsiderate.

2. Volunteers want to feel welcomed

Show your volunteer around, introduce him/her with the staff and other volun-teers, have your executive director to drop by and say hello and thanks. Don’t let your volunteer feel uncomfortable. Show that your organization is warm, friendly and happy to see your volunteer.

3. Volunteers want good trainingEven if the task is a simple one, take a time to explain and demonstrate it. Ask another volunteer to help the new one. When training a group of volunteers, try to use group involvement, Volunteers don’t want to be lectured. They want to take part in the training. During the training mention the work that should be done by volunteers, indicate the aim of the work and the methods that you will use to evaluate their work.

4. Volunteers want to do interesting work.4. Volunteers want to do interesting work.Don’t use the volunteers to do the tasks your staff doesn’t want to do. Think of your volunteers as extra staff who are capable of performing difficult tasks that take advantage of their skills and experience. Provide leadership opportunities to those volunteers, who are willing and have the time to shoulder more responsibilities.

5. Volunteers want to know up front how much time the job will take

Everybody is busy and many volunteers have time for short term assignments. That’s why it is very important to mention how much time your job will need, mention how many hours your volunteer should work per week, whether you need your volunteer to work on the week-ends or during the holidays. Think about offering “alternative” opportunities.

6. Volunteers want to be appreciated

Tell your volunteers frequently that they are doing a very good job. Come up with some creative ways of saying thanks, invite them for a launch, send them a small gift or a thank you card.

7. Volunteers what to be communicated with

Regular communication motivates volunteers, while the lack of it is the reason volunteers become dissatisfied. Volunteers like when somebody looks after them. If your organization doesn’t have a volunteer coordinator, assign someone who will do it. Be ready to listen to your volunteers and respond to their concerns immediately.Don’t just communicate with them via email, telephone them, invite to drop by the office, have meetings with them.

8. Volunteers want to know that they are helping to make the world a better place

Let your volunteers know how they are making a difference. Tell them successful stories. Show them their impact on the realization of the goals of the organization.

9. Volunteers want to get acquainted with new people

Provide them with this opportunity. If you think that a couple of volunteers can work together get them acquainted with each other, invite your volunteers to your events, provide them with these opportunities.

10. Volunteers want to learn something new10. Volunteers want to learn something new

Anyone who would like to volunteer is likely to have a willingness to gain new skills and acquire new information. Provide them with that opportunity. Turning the training into a mini-educational experience will be highly valued by the volunteers.

5. Benefits to the volunteers and the organization

Volunteerism benefits both to the community and the volunteer developing trust, peace and mutual respect towards each other

Benefits to the volunteers:

• Connect with the community• Connect with the community• Gain new skills• Expand their horizons• Improve communication skills• Gain new friends• Find out about social problems• Meet new people• Gain professional satisfaction

Benefits to the organization:

• The quality of the service of the organization will be improved

• New resources will be gained• The community will recognize the organization• The projects of the organization will be developed• New volunteers will be gained

6. Which organizations to apply to get volunteers from abroad and to volunteer abroad?

There are a number of organizations that you can apply to get volunteers from abroad. They are:

• http://armenia.peacecorps.gov/applyforpcv.php- Peace Corps

• "Youth Initiative Centre" NGO – yic_ngo@yahoo.com• "Youth Initiative Centre" NGO – yic_ngo@yahoo.comyic@info.am

• www.armenianvolunteer.org, www.avc.amemail: info@avc.am

• Amnesty international• OXFAM• World Vision

Volunteer opportunities in foreign countries

• www.worldvolunteerweb.org. • www.onlinevolunteering.org• http://www.unv.org/how-to-volunteer.html• Global Volunteer Network• United Nations Volunteers• United Nations Volunteers• World Volunteer Web• Global Impact• Global Service Corps• Transitions Abroad• GeoVisions• VolunTourism• i-to-i LifeChangingTravel