Do you need more volunteers for your sports club or organisation?
Volunteer roles, more often than not, are filled by members, families and ex-members, as they are easy to get in touch with and they can see or enjoy the benefits of the club first hand.
While we encourage you to involve your club community, you may need to start looking outside of this circle for volunteers as your club continues to grow. But before recruiting new volunteers, you need to ask yourself a few key questions:
Why do you want to recruit new volunteers?
- What roles do you want them to do ?
- How much time will they need to spend volunteering?
- Which skills do you need your volunteers to possess?
The answers to these questions will help you work out what it is you need and how they will be managed at the club.
Here are some top tips to help your club with recruiting and retaining committed volunteers:
Set expectations at sign up or at induction
Most people don’t mind helping out, they just need to know when and how. Is it once a week? Twice a season? Helping out at three events a year?
Remind people
Promote the need for volunteers on your club’s website and in newsletters. Comments like “your contribution makes a difference” or “help us at our next event” continually reminds members that there is a culture of helping out and volunteering at your club.
Role descriptions
People are more likely to volunteer when they are asked to fill a specific role with an outline of the time commitment required. You can find example role descriptions for the key positions here
Focus on positive contributions and achievements
Keep a positive attitude and thank those who were involved. It’s more likely to change behaviour than pointing out those who don’t help, as people will often become defensive.
Keep a skills register
This is very rarely done but is very useful. The register is simply a list of members with any specific skills. This helps you to be more specific about who to ask to fill which roles. For example, if you have a carpenter at your club and a door is starting to come loose they are more likely to be able to help quickly and efficiently, with little stress.
Train the people at your club
The opportunity to learn new skills, such as First Aid, can often motivate people to get involved in the running of a club. So be upfront about the training opportunities you offer.
Reward and recognise contributions
A simple pat on the back, token gift or rebate on membership is a great way to say thank you to your club’s volunteers. Volunteers are the lifeblood of our sports clubs and need to be recognised for their efforts.
Help from Sport RCT
If your sports club needs volunteers and you would like our help please complete this form.