Recruiting Volunteers for your PTA Events
/Did you know that two-thirds of volunteers continue to contribute their time to future events if they are recruited well and made to feel appreciated? Half say that volunteering inspires them to give more. This in itself is worth putting the extra effort upfront into recruiting those all elusive PTA volunteers!
I hope to share some tips which will help you engage and successfully recruit volunteers for your PTA events.
Build it and they will come… er no!
It’s simply not enough to put a call out for volunteers and hope they will come. More often than not, they will see your generic call out, convince themselves that they’re not eligible, or that someone else is better placed to volunteer and WOOHOO - they are off the hook!
When surveyed, most people say they don’t respond to volunteer requests because they don’t think the call is directed at them, or they don’t understand why they should give up their time.
This is why I urge you to do a bit of work upfront and have a clear strategy for sourcing your PTA event volunteers.
Start by answering the following questions:
1) What are your goals for this particular event?
2) How will having volunteers help?
3) What are the roles required?
4) What is in place to support new volunteers? Help oversee their concerns.
5) Might there be something in it for them?
It is unlikely, but there may be no need for volunteers for a particular task or event so don’t waste time trying to recruit! However, most events will need volunteers and therefore a strategy.
A good tip is to say your are looking to recruit a ‘volunteer team’ rather than individuals. That way, an individual is not put off by thinking they may have to do all the work themselves. The volunteer ‘team’ should be made aware of:
The common purpose - why the event is being organised in the first place
The specific goals - targets that evolve from the purpose and why volunteers are required
The mix of skills required - technical, inter-personal, problem solving
The commitment - seeing the volunteer task or role to completion
What’s in it for them - appreciation and recognition of their time
Having clear goals and defined roles to start with will help you define your strategy
Define your target audience. Who do you want to volunteer?
What words and pictures will appeal to them. Grab their attention.
What is the best way to reach them. Online, social, book-bags, posters?
You need to let them know that you will overcome their concerns, help them make decisions and warn them of any risks. They need to feel they will be supported.
For volunteers to spend their time, the experience must be worth their time.
If you can make your volunteer team feel supported, empowered and appreciated upfront, it will be easier to retain them for the next event or get them recruiting friends or family as volunteers for the next event. This is well worth remembering if you feel that defining a volunteer recruitment strategy is a bit boring and pointless. It brings the old adage ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ to my mind anyway.
Look out for the free video we made for you to share with your school community. It should help grab the attention of those elusive PTA volunteers! It’s available for free in our PTA Hub resources.
TIp: Use Ticket Tailor to recruit your volunteers. You can request volunteers up for different tasks or time-slots by setting them up as events ticket types.
We hope you found this information useful. We have lots of helpful resources in our membership hub. It’s completely FREE to join and just look at what you get :
❤️ Editable PTA resources - posters, free to use images, sponsor templates
❤️ Online training - 'PTA event how to' videos
❤️ Topical PTA videos to share with your school community (intro to new parents, zero waste initiative, etc.)
❤️ Automatic entry to our Go Green and Fundraise competitions to win a reusable event party-ware pack
❤️ PTA Hub bulletin with the latest PTA tips and tricks
❤️ Partner offers and discounts
❤️ Exclusive PTA online ticketing rates
