If you’re a volunteer manager, recruiting new help is often a constant task. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. Today, there are more tools to get the word out about your organization and your volunteer needs than ever before.

Here are a few tips to attract new volunteers and energy to your non-profit:

1. Ask! More than 50% of people who volunteer say they did it because someone asked them to. Think about all the people you know, and all of their friends, co-workers and family members. Hold personal conversations with community leaders, board members and business partners; let them know you’re looking for volunteers. Ask them to spread the word.
2. Speaking of spreading the word, take full advantage of social media networks. You can reach many more people in your community (and beyond) through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Set up pages on each social network, and post frequently to increase your reach and create a community.
3. Some people might be hesitant to commit to a volunteer gig. Take away their fear by offering a “free preview.” This gives volunteers a chance to check out your organization, as well as giving you the opportunity to assess their skills and attributes, so you can determine to which jobs they’re best suited.
4. Visit community service organizations and business networking groups. They often invite local non-profit representatives to speak at their meetings. Use these opportunities to further spread the word about your cause, events and need for volunteers.
5. Partner with local businesses. Many would jump on the chance to provide volunteers for a specific event or start an ongoing employee volunteer program—but are just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Business owners are busy people. Help them out by going to them.

As the elderly population increases in the U.S. and around the world, services to assist seniors continue to grow in demand. Senior citizens who wish to remain in their own homes can get help with meal preparation or transportation to doctor’s appointments. They can get rides to the grocery store or have their yard work and housecleaning taken care of. Or, they may just have face-to-face or telephone check ins to make sure they’re managing okay.

Often, these services are lifelines for seniors, and make the difference between the ability to remain at home and going into assisted living. Many of these services are provided by federal, state and local agencies. Private for-profit companies provide other services. And increasingly, senior services are provided by nonprofit organizations with volunteer labor.

One couple, both in their 70s, were unable to drive to their frequent medical appointments. With no relatives living nearby, they faced a difficult choice—until a local community outreach organization sent volunteers to pick them up, take them to the doctor and then deliver them back home. Another needs help with keeping their home clean. Volunteers who come to clean can also check up on the elderly and report on any concerns for follow-up by appropriate agencies.

Matching volunteers with seniors is an important aspect of the service. Orientation and training sessions for new volunteers are vital to help them learn about the aging process. Volunteers must also be carefully screened, undergoing background checks before having any contact with vulnerable populations.

Many senior service organizations are experiencing an aging of their volunteers, as well. Recruiting new volunteers is an ongoing challenge. Fortunately, the growing number of retiring baby boomers looking for meaningful volunteer work should help to boost the numbers of willing volunteers.

A growing population of elderly people who need help will continue to provide volunteer opportunities long into the future—for people of all ages.

A new iPhone app is not only helping spread the word about volunteerism, but also helping reward volunteers for their service. Developed in Vermont by Cabot Co-op and its partners, the app, called Reward Volunteers, encourages volunteers to tell others about their volunteer experiences on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Volunteers can log their time in service, to earn rewards for themselves and money for the organizations they care about. The more hours logged, plus the more “likes” and comments collected on social networks, the better the chance to win cash and prizes, including a cruise.

This app is an example of how one non-profit thought a little differently, and created a fun, easy and effective way to engage with its volunteers. Since people post about everything in their lives on Facebook, why not leverage that activity to promote volunteerism and your organization’s mission?

It’s true that some volunteers are not motivated by what they might see as bragging about their volunteer activities. But when spreading the word about volunteerism, and sharing the causes they are passionate about can increase participation and support, it may be time to be less modest and more boastful.

How can you use this idea in your organization? Perhaps you have digital media companies in your area that would be willing to donate their time to develop a similar app for your volunteers. Partner with other non-profits and local businesses to encourage participation, increase awareness and volunteerism, and reward these hard-working people with nice prizes. With some initiative and outreach efforts, you’re sure to gain more volunteers and raise awareness for everyone.

Volunteer management can be a satisfying and rewarding career. If you’re thinking about joining the field, it may be helpful to know some of the myths surrounding volunteers and non profits.

1. Volunteers are free: Not true. While they do not receive wages or benefits, volunteers often do require resources such as training and supervising. The wages and benefits paid to any staff member involved with volunteers is a direct cost of having them. And keeping volunteers happy may involve buying gifts, throwing parties, or other forms of appreciation that will cost the organization money, as well.
2. Anyone can manage volunteers: Another myth. Volunteering is on the rise, and as more people seek ways to give back or gain experience in a down economy, more organizations find they need someone to manage them. And that takes a variety of skills. For example, state and federal funding, and private grants may require extensive reporting on volunteer hours and activities. Volunteers need to be communicated with, regularly and well. And recruiting volunteers takes yet another set of skills, with networking, interviewing and screening volunteer backgrounds and criminal histories.
3. All organizations can handle volunteers: Knowing that volunteers require management and can be a significant expense to an organization, it is worth asking if yours can take on volunteers. Ask questions such as:

• Do you have tasks that need to be done that would be appropriate for volunteers? Where will you use volunteers?
• Will volunteers further the mission of your organization?
• Who will manage them?
• What benefits will volunteers gain working with you organization?
• What problems can you anticipate and how will they be handled?
• And most important: Why should you bring in volunteers?

Volunteers are an investment and an asset to an organization. And while many people are suited to manage them, not everyone is. And not all non profit organizations are suited to bringing in volunteers. If you’re being recruited to be a volunteer manager, assess your skills and the organization’s needs before jumping in!

Is your non-profit organization ready for Make a Difference Day? It’s coming up soon—next Saturday, October 22. Here are five ways you can recruit volunteers and develop projects so that your community is ready to Make a Difference!

1. Go to HandsOnNetwork.org and download the Volunteer Leader toolkit. It’s full of great advice about assessing needs, and creating and managing community projects, from inception to completion.
2. If you haven’t done so already, register your organization at 1-800Volunteer.org. It’s a powerful online service that can help you recruit volunteers online, manage their time and schedules, and contact volunteers quickly and easily through emails and reminders. Signing up takes just minutes—and it’s free! Then, when prospective volunteers are looking for opportunities (as many will do in the next week as word of Make a Difference Day spreads), your organization and projects will be featured, and volunteers can sign up to help.
3. You might need to hurry on this one, but make an inquiry about possibility of writing a guest editorial for your local newspaper. If there is not enough time for an editorial, be sure to write a letter to the editor immediately.
4. Turn to social media to spread the word. Update your organization’s Facebook page with volunteer opportunities. Or, create a volunteer event and invite all of your page supporters to participate. It only takes a few minutes and could really help you spread the word about Make a Difference Day! Be sure to post something new every day to stay in front of your support base. And boost your efforts through Twitter posts as well. Refer people to your Facebook page so they can sign up and get all the information they need to volunteer for your organization.
5. Reach out to churches, schools, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, youth organizations, hospice care organizations, social service organizations and elder care homes to see what the needs are and to partner with potential groups of volunteers. Some worthy causes may have been overlooked, and would welcome your help. You may have more volunteers than you know what to do with next Saturday, so be sure to find something for them to do!

Millions of volunteers around the U.S. will be taking action on Saturday, October 22 for Make a Difference Day. Every project and every new volunteer can make a huge difference in a community, so get busy and make this a successful event for your organization!

Don’t skip the volunteer screening check when recruiting for Make a Difference Day. You can quickly and easily protect your clients and your organization by verifying the identity, checking the criminal history and reviewing the background of each volunteer applicant.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social networking site, has recognized the value of volunteering to career development by allowing users to list their public-service efforts under a new section. The new “Volunteer Experience and Causes” feature encourages LinkedIn users to tout their volunteer work to help them stand out to potential employers.

According to a random survey of nearly 2,000 people, LinkedIn found that the vast majority (89%) had volunteer experience. But only 45% reported their volunteer experiences on their career profiles.

Some said they didn’t think their experience would be interesting to hiring managers, while others said it had just never occurred to them. However, 41% of respondents said they did consider volunteer work to be as valuable as paid work, while 20% of managers polled in the survey said they make hiring decision based on volunteer work.

So volunteer managers, how can you use this when recruiting new volunteers?

• First, use the survey information to your advantage. Demonstrating that you have a grasp on what’s happening in the recruiting/hiring world automatically makes you look like someone who’s worth knowing—and volunteering for.
• Post messages like “Volunteering with us is good for your resume” on your organization’s Facebook and Twitter feeds. Catch attention by citing statistics, and list your current volunteer openings.
• Remind volunteers to add their experience to their resume and LinkedIn profile. They will appreciate the tip, and the fact that they’re volunteering for a forward-thinking organization.
• Give volunteers career-enhancing tasks that improve your organization’s operations, marketing efforts, accounting, or outreach. For example, ask a marketing volunteer to set up a plan to increase your Twitter followers, or an easy way to update the Facebook page to keep supporters informed and engaged. The experience will benefit them as well as you.

When you bring on new volunteers, be sure to properly screen them. When volunteers have access to a nonprofit’s clients, financial information, sensitive records, property, and reputation, the risk of harm is too great to skip doing volunteer background screening, including criminal background checks and volunteer credit checks.

While the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has been in place for more than 20 years, many non-profit agencies think it does not apply to them, or are confused about which aspects of the law do.

Here are some facts about the ADA:

• The ADA gives rights of equal access to places of public accommodation, including non-profit organizations.
• Places of public accommodation must give persons with disabilities equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from their services.
• Small employers are not subject to ADA. This includes those with fewer than 15 employees.
• Employers with 15 or more employees may not ask whether a person is disabled when interviewing for a position, and must make reasonable accommodations for a worker’s disability.
• Making accommodations can be as simple as providing a foot stool to a volunteer with a disability, allowing a volunteer with lupus to take rest breaks or changing the orientation of a desk to accommodate a wheelchair.
• Temporary conditions, such as broken limbs or illnesses, are not covered under the ADA.
• You may choose a non-disabled volunteer over a disabled volunteer, according to qualifications.

About 20% of the U.S. population is disabled, and if you have not yet welcomed volunteers with disabilities into your agency, you may be missing out on a wealth of talent and skill.

For non profit organizations, every fundraising event needs to pay off. The amount of time, money and volunteer effort invested in a fundraiser can’t be wasted on a mediocre turnout and less-than-stellar take.

If you’re in charge of gathering ideas, volunteers and resources to put on a fundraising event, here are a few tips that can make it memorable and moneymaking!

Make it special: People attend events in search of something a little different. They can walk into any number of restaurants and find something good to eat. At an event, they’re after a different feel. The objective isn’t just to feed attendees; it’s to promote the culture and work of your organization. Personalize it, make it special, and make an emotional connection to your audience, and they’ll remember your event—and your organization—for months or years to come.

Make sure you have enough food: There are few worse things than a food event that runs out of food. You can avoid this disaster with proper planning. Make sure that your caterer or food vendors are absolutely clear on the number of attendees you’re expecting. Keep checking on the RSVPs and ask for caterers to be flexible enough to accommodate extras on the day of the event.

Make sure you have enough servers or serving stations: Nobody likes to see or stand in endless food and beverage lines, even if it’s for a good cause! If your lines are too long, or if folks are not served promptly, that’s what your event will be remembered for.

Make sure you have enough volunteers: For planning, ticket selling and help on the day of the event, you’ll need plenty of volunteer help. If you’re new to recruiting volunteers, keep in mind that putting the right folks in place can take time. If your volunteers will have any access to your clients, will drive your organization’s vehicles, or otherwise put your non profit at any risk, they’ll need to undergo be properly background screening—so be sure to plan ahead for that important step.

Give everyone a job, and train them to do it: Connect with your volunteers well before the event to assign duties. Encourage them to ask questions and if you don’t have the answers, get back to them ASAP. Show them how they can be of the greatest help to you, and what a successful event will look like. Paint a picture of smoothly flowing lines, fast ticket sales, answers to every guest’s question and every problem solved.

If you’re a nonprofit volunteer coordinator, you may be responsible for coming up with volunteer news or other nuggets for your organization’s newsletter. Interesting news that also encourages people to volunteer is even better.

If you could use a few good volunteers, here are a few good reasons to entice them, all related to a healthy, happy life (and who wouldn’t want that?):

• Volunteering is good for your health. Research done by the Mayo Clinic indicates that 40 to 100 hours of volunteering per year can help you feel younger, live longer, and lower your risk of heart disease.
• Volunteering is good for self-confidence and quality of life. Research shows that volunteering creates a “helping high,” which you can feel when your body releases neurotransmitters into your system. It’s also been shown to keep depression at bay.
• New research has just begun, which will study links between volunteering and brain health through the aging process. The project will measure physical and social functioning and how volunteering may enhance older adults’ cognitive functions, such as memory and attention span.
• Baby boomers are going to be reaching age 65 by the millions in the next 30 years. So any research that proves volunteering can keep them healthy and alert longer is good news—especially to this group, which exercises, eats well and will try almost anything to keep from aging too quickly.
• Volunteering two hours per week can give people a new sense of purpose and enhance their social network. Older people, who are at risk of depression as a result of isolation and loneliness, especially need to feel needed and valued.
• Volunteering is a much better way to spend time than being parked in front of a television or on a park bench. It makes people feel like part of something bigger. It encourages camaraderie, team-building and community-building.
• Volunteering can be like a free education. Many volunteers pick up new skills and explore areas they were previously not familiar with. It improves communication and leadership skills, and can even lead to formal education and certification opportunities.

Congratulations! You’ve done a good job of getting the word out that your organization needs volunteers, and you’ve had 20 people submit applications. Now you need to choose one or two for specialized jobs, while the rest will be moved into more general work categories.

But how do you choose the best-fit volunteer for the work you need to do? After all, you don’t know if they’ll fit in or handle the job until they begin. Here are a few ideas to help increase the odds in your favor of picking the volunteer of your dreams!

• When conducting the volunteer interview, remember to keep emotions and feelings out of the process. You’re not interviewing for a new friend. Try to avoid allowing the chemistry between you and the potential volunteer—even if it’s great—be your sole decision-maker. It’s wonderful to get along well with volunteers, but even more important to determine if they have the skills to do a good job.
• Speaking of skills, try to remain open to different sets of skills and new ideas—even if they weren’t what you had in mind for a particular position. You may find you need skills you haven’t identified.
• Consider administering personality quizzes designed to help you place volunteers in the types of positions they’re best suited to. An introvert might not want to approach potential donors during fundraising time, for example. Going through these exercises can help you determine which potential volunteer you should bring in, as well.
• Finally, a thorough background and credit check can help you make a final decision. A volunteer who looks fantastic on paper, but has been convicted of theft, may not be a great fit for your organization—especially if there is money handling involved. And if your organization serves vulnerable populations, you’ll want to be sure to keep them safe by completely screening each potential volunteer. Call references, as well. Ask the potential volunteer to explain any discrepancies between their application and what references say.

Finding the right volunteer is worth the effort—especially when they get right to work for your nonprofit organization!