Meeting Your Potential Volunteer Applicants

Meeting your potential volunteer 

It always best to meet potential volunteers and have a chat.

It is better to avoid using the term 'interview' when describing meeting with a potential volunteer for the first time. Over formalising the selection process will put some volunteers off and can create unnecessary pressure. An 'interview', like an application form, is a method of filtering, which is not always appropriate to volunteers.

Meeting with your applicants should be a chance for:

• You to offer a welcoming experience into your organisation

• Potential volunteers to see what you do, who you are and possibly meet some of your beneficiaries

• Potential volunteers to ask questions about volunteering with you and your organisation

• You to find out about them

Finding out about your applicant

Use this opportunity to find out about your applicants and ask them questions.

What you need to ask should be dependent on the role, but some basic areas to cover should be:

• What skills, experience and knowledge they have

• What interests them about volunteering with your organisation

• What they hope to gain from volunteering with you

• What time they can commit to 

You should also consider the things that your applicant might want to know about you and your project or organisation. Consider what points you want and need to convey to your applicant during your discussion that will help them to understand the role and your organisation.

You will need to let them know:

• About your organisation, who its beneficiaries are, its projects and its future plans

• What role your volunteers play

• Specifics about this volunteer opportunity (if applicable)

• Details of any training support and expenses offered to volunteers

• Time commitment

• What happens next 

A potential volunteer will want to know:

• What your organisation is about

• What they will be doing if they volunteer with you

• Who their contact person is

• That you value their involvement.