Recruiting and selecting volunteers

"Volunteers are ambassadors for the organisation - if they are passionate about the cause of the organisation, they end up spreading the word to friends, family and social media."

Founder of Volunteer Organisation

Case Study

Red Cross

Centralisation of recruitment portal

Singapore Red Cross is dedicated to relieving human suffering, protecting human lives and dignity and responding to emergencies.

For a well-known organisation like Red Cross, the is a great need to frequently update their volunteer database. With new applicants coming in from different avenues, it can get difficult for the volunteer management team to track and and monitor their recruitment channels. Red Cross decided to centralise their recruitment portal where new applicants can sign up at, and this helped to streamline recruitment efforts for easy tracking and monitoring.

Check out their centralised recruitment portal here.

Lowering the barrier of entry

ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR) is a Singapore charity that aims to build bridges of integration between migrant workers and residents of Singapore.

To increase the number of volunteers to support their mission and programmes, IRR takes a vastly different approach in its recruitment procedure. Instead of filling in any application form to officially sign up as a volunteer, anyone can head on to IRR's website or social media platforms to contact the organisation, and join a Whatsapp group where all of IRR's volunteers are in. Opportunities to volunteer with IRR will be blasted out in the Whatsapp group from time to time, and more information about the volunteers will then be collected by IRR through the sign-up forms of the particular events.

In this way, volunteers who are curious about the opportunities that IRR have can first join the Whatsapp group, before deciding to fully commit to going through the administrative processes of becoming a volunteer.

Case Study

ItsRainingRaincoats

Case Study

Safe Place

Making things relatable

Safe Place is an organisation which supports mothers of unsupported pregnancies.

To become a volunteer at Safe Place, applicants have to fill in an application form before being contacted for a casual chat to align expectations. Potential volunteers will then be asked to join an orientation call where the volunteer management team and founder will share about the vision and brand story behind Safe Place. Additionally, current volunteers will share about their experiences volunteering in Safe Place, as well as answer any questions which new volunteers might have. The inclusion of current volunteers in the orientation process can help new volunteers feel more welcomed, and also demonstrates the close relationships between Safe Place and its volunteers.

If you want to make the onboarding and orientation process feel more friendly, try including current volunteers in the process!