Developing a Volunteer Recruitment Campaign: 5 Tips

This article was provided by Better Impact.

In a 2025 survey of volunteer managers, one in four respondents said recruitment was their biggest challenge. While the reasons they cited for this difficulty vary (lack of time, low response rates to outreach, etc.), it’s still a significant issue in the nonprofit sector, especially among smaller and newer organizations that are just starting to seek out passionate, skilled volunteers to support their work.

The study mentioned above also found that approximately 70% of nonprofits recruit volunteers year-round. Although this approach can encourage applications because it’s convenient for supporters, conducting one or a few dedicated recruitment campaigns throughout the year often allows you to attract more and better talent to your volunteer program.

In this guide, we’ll discuss some tips for conducting a volunteer recruitment campaign that increases application numbers and sets the stage for positive experiences at every step of the volunteer management process. Let’s dive in!

Like with any of your nonprofit’s initiatives, you should always begin a volunteer recruitment campaign by creating a guiding framework for it. Some decisions you need to make during this planning process include:

• How many total volunteers to recruit. This metric will form the foundation of your campaign’s primary goal, which you’ll flesh out using the SMART method (meaning the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) once you’ve gone through all of your key planning considerations.
• Who your target audience is and how they impact your strategy. For example, you might try to engage younger generations in your work, which means you’ll promote your campaign heavily across digital platforms. Or, if you want to expand your nonprofit’s geographic reach, you may end up creating more virtual volunteer roles.
• What volunteer roles you need to fill. This factor will vary heavily depending on your organization’s purpose. For instance, an animal shelter may need volunteers to walk rescue dogs and assist with adoption events, while a church might be looking for Sunday School teachers and nursery workers.

Make sure to also discuss your campaign timeline and budget with your team at this stage so everyone is on the same page about the resources you have available to achieve your goals.

Minus the compensation element, volunteer role descriptions are very similar to job descriptions in that they should lay out qualifications and set expectations for each position. Better Impact’s volunteer recruitment guide recommends including the following elements in each role description:

• The official position title
• Information about how the role connects to your nonprofit’s mission
• Key responsibilities
• Any necessary skills or qualifications
• Expected time commitment
• Location and format (e.g., in-person or virtual)
• Benefits to the volunteer (e.g., impact or community-building)

Publish your descriptions on your organization’s website alongside a streamlined application form so volunteers know exactly what they’re applying for and can do so quickly and easily.

Once your role descriptions are public, you’re ready to start sharing them with your community. As Getting Attention’s nonprofit marketing guide explains, “While you don’t need to leverage every platform, a multichannel marketing approach allows you to connect with as many supporters as possible” and thereby recruit more volunteers.

Consider promoting volunteer opportunities through:

• Dedicated email blasts and mentions in recurring newsletters
• Social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even TikTok
• Text messages that provide quick updates and reminders
• Other digital ad formats, such as paid search advertising or website pop-ups
• Print communications like flyers and direct mail

In every marketing message, include a link or QR code to the page on your website that hosts your volunteer role descriptions and application form so supporters can learn more and sign up while your program is top of mind.

In addition to mass marketing, you may also reach out directly to individuals and organizations in your nonprofit’s community to recruit volunteers. For example, you could contact:

• Businesses. Companies in your area may offer employee volunteer programs like volunteer grants, paid volunteer time off, or team volunteer outings. Especially if these businesses share similar values to your nonprofit’s, their staff might be eager to participate in these programs in partnership with your organization.
• Educational institutions. High schoolers sometimes need to fulfill a community service requirement to graduate, and college students in sororities, fraternities, or other philanthropically-oriented organizations may be interested in incorporating your volunteer opportunities into their calendars. These groups are more likely to hear about your offerings if you leverage direct promotion.
• Current volunteers. People tend to trust recommendations from their loved ones more than anyone else. Encourage your volunteers to share your online application and volunteering-related social media posts to see if any of their friends and family would want to serve with them.

Leveraging your nonprofit’s network to recruit volunteers helps you tap into new audiences you may not have reached otherwise. Also, getting more individuals and groups involved in recruitment can lighten the load for your team.

Every aspect of volunteer recruitment becomes easier when you have the right tools for the job. If your nonprofit hasn’t already done so before you launch your campaign, consider investing in a volunteer management solution that includes the following features:

• A user-friendly application form builder that allows you to customize the fields you include and embed the form directly into your website.
• A robust volunteer database where you can track application statuses and create individual profiles to store data on each current and prospective volunteer.
• Built-in communication tools that streamline outreach and decision notifications via email and SMS.
• Reporting and analytics so you can easily review recorded data and refine your recruitment processes accordingly over time.

To maximize your software’s value, look for a platform that also supports other aspects of the volunteer management lifecycle—i.e., onboarding, engagement, appreciation, and retention. That way, you can centralize all volunteer program operations in one place and prevent important data from falling through the cracks.

By adapting the tips above to your organization’s unique needs and goals, you can maximize the effectiveness of your volunteer recruitment efforts through strategic, focused campaigns. In addition to collecting quantitative data to track your progress toward your goals (e.g., applications received or conversions from different marketing channels), survey new volunteers about their recruitment experience to get firsthand perspectives on what’s working and what you could improve about your campaigns going forward.