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Making the Most of your VolunteerMatch Account

Jennifer Bennett, Manager of Volunteer Programs, VolunteerMatch

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Agenda

• Introduction

• Partnership Information

• Making the Case for Online Volunteer Recruiting

• Best Practices for Recruiting Online

• Things to Remember

• Q&A

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Introduction to Partnership

• Registration Emails

• Get Involved, Powered By Your Library Initiative

• Support questions: californialibraries_support@volunteermatch.org

• Upcoming Targeted Trainings:– Focus on: Literacy Coordinator Advanced Training, April 14,

9:30am– Recruiting Boomer and Skilled Volunteers, April 15, 1:00pm

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Recruiting Volunteers Online

• Another Tool to Recruit Volunteers– VolunteerMatch User Survey

• VolunteerMatch Research– 100 High Referring Listings– 100 Listings with no referrals

• Best Practices– Applicable for any online recruiting site

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How VolunteerMatch Works

• Search Function– Basic, Keyword, Advances

• Organization Profile Page– Recommendations and Reviews

• I Want to Help!

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8 Easy Steps for Recruiting Online

• Make the Title Work for You – Catchy, Fun, Interesting

• Keep it Brief– One Opportunity, 100 words

• Word it Simply and Make it Easy to Understand– No Jargon, no acronyms

• Make an Impact– Include a Strong Call to Action

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8 Easy Steps for Recruiting Online

• Provide Direction and Support– Time Commitment, Training, Restrictions

• Make it Visually Appealing– Include Pictures, Graphics. Make use of White Space.

• Remember to Edit– Grammar, Spelling

• View your Listing as a Volunteer– Use a Critical Eye.

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Best Practices for VolunteerMatch

• Title Stands Out– Call to Action

• Make Good Use of First Sentence– Visible to prospective volunteers

• Brainstorm and Use Keywords– What kinds of volunteers to you want to find you

• Keep Referrals on VolunteerMatch– Information is only useful if volunteers click ‘I Want

to Help!’

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VolunteerMatch Account Dashboard

• Access My Account

• Enter/Review Listing– Basic Tools– Community Leader Tools

• Administrator/Contact Accounts

• Referrals & Reporting

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Remember…

Your VolunteerMatch listing may be the first time a volunteer learns about your organization:

• Use language that is welcoming

• Clearly state needs and impacts

• Outline any potential ‘deal breakers’

• Craft opportunities that will attract the volunteers you need

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Questions?

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Thanks for attending!

For any questions contact:

Jennifer Bennett

415-321-3639jbennett@volunteermatch.org

VolunteerMatch Support

415-241-6872

californialibraries_support@volunteermatch.org