How to Recruit Nonprofit Volunteers through the Internet
Finding volunteers for your nonprofit may be as easy as booting up your computer. Besides posting volunteer listings on your organization’s website, you also can post on other sites. Several organizations maintain databases on the web where your organization can list its volunteer needs. The databases can be searched by prospective volunteers by zip code and the type of volunteer work available. Here are some sites you can check out:
Volunteer Match invites nonprofits to set up accounts identifying the kinds of volunteers they need.
Idealist and craigslist are other widely used tools for finding volunteers.
Virtual Volunteering Project is especially helpful if your organization can use volunteers who aren’t physically located near your office. Maybe you can use online volunteers to answer questions via e-mail, help write grants and press releases, or get consultation on designing your website.
Youth Service America helps you involve young volunteers in your work. It organizes an annual National Youth Service Day and other opportunities for volunteers between the ages of 5 and 25. It also operates servenet, a database of volunteer jobs for persons of all ages.
Nonprofit organizations also are becoming a growing presence on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. To get your name out there, you can create a page for your organization. More and more nonprofits are using social networking sites to raise funds and promote events.
