Giving Compass' Take:

• Basil Sadiq guides us through various strategies on how to recruit and retain great volunteers that believe in a nonprofit's mission and will seamlessly integrate into that organization's culture.

• Has your org tried any of these methods? VolunteerMatch is a good place to find some tools to get you started, but these tips can also be implemented easily on your own.

• It also helps to know why people are motivated to give their time. Here are several reasons techies volunteer.

As a nonprofit, it’s likely that you don’t have a massive budget. And hiring professional event staff to man every aspect of your event can get costly very quick.

You’ll want to recruit volunteers almost as carefully as you would recruit employees to ensure they’ll keep your event running smoothly and make it a great experience for attendees. You need to find people who believe in your cause as much as you do, and also offer them an experience that keeps them coming back to help.

Here are a few of the best ways to find, recruit, and retain top-notch volunteers.

Use the right tools. VolunteerMatch makes it virtually effortless to find people who believe in your organization’s mission, ensuring that you start off with a foundation of common interests and beliefs. You should also consider setting up a separate, free online event registration process to help streamline volunteer management. You can use a platform like Eventbrite’s nonprofit event software to create multiple event pages, including a separate event page that’s used solely for volunteer RSVPs.

Pre-qualify. While you don’t need to necessarily interview volunteers the same way you would prospective employees, invest some time pre-qualifying them to help ensure they’re placed in a role that suits them. After you’ve pre-qualified your volunteers, choose some of your top internal people to train and provide a great onsite orientation that allows for Q&A and ample hands-on practice time.

Promise perks. Given the philanthropic nature of nonprofit events, the sense of volunteering for a cause is rewarding enough for most people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t throw in some extra bonuses for those who give you their time for free. These perks can include anything from free admission, free access to the event’s food and performances, or free limited membership to your organization and whatever comes along with that.

Read the full article on strategies to recruit and maintain event volunteers by Basil Sadiq at Social Good News.