New Volunteer Coordinator

[Melissa Woods]

Hello all,

I am brand new to hopsice and this position. I have been doing a good amount of research and I am so exited to get the volunteer program up and running with my company. One of the barriers I am running into is my company is for-profit. I can not find an organization for volunteers that will allow for-profit organizations post for volunteer recruitment. Any ideas? I did read back through this forum and read that there would be a volunteer referral link but I can not find the link. Is is up and running? Any suggestions offered would be appreciated and I look forward to hear your responses. Thank you in advance for any help!

[Diane Klebanow]

Melissa (and Janet):

I too work for a for-profit and have struggles with the same issue.  Like you, Janet, I do a lot with Volunteer Match and recommend taking advantage of their FREE webinars related to how to use them best...ie catchy titles for each post, separate listings for each volunteer position, etc.  I see from my spreadsheets that doing so has increased my referrals significantly over my predecessor's use of them, when all positions were lumped into one posting.  (If you can benefit from their "Community Leader" offering, I think it's worth the $75 annual expense!)

Our local United Way will NOT allow postings from us as we are for-profit; I guess that is a policy determined locally as the national UW site, Volunteer Solutions, led me to believe they would.  You might check to see if you have a local volunteer center using 1-800-volunteer.org, too...they may allow you to post.  I have also used HealthCareVolunteer.org (even though most of our volunteer positions are "non-medical") and have gotten a handful of referrals from them; I also posted for a short time on Craigs List but made sure I noted "serious inquiries only" and "not typically appropriate for court-ordered community service."  

I think the suggestion to make contact with clubs, churches, gyms, senior living communities, etc. and offer speakers is the best way to recruit, but is obviously more time consuming...some might post a flyer for you or run it in their newsletter.

Best of luck to you!

[Melissa Woods]

Diane,

Thank you for your suggestions also. As I told Janet, I will entertain any and all ideas. I am working on getting registered with volunteer match. I have been doing the more "traditional" methods and will not give up. How did Craigslist turn out for you? I wish you much success in the new year!

[Janet L Kostielney]

Melissa, I, too, work for a for-profit hospice company; no newspapers or radio stations will publicize my press releases...except for the ones that offer free training. They remove any text about any other topic. So, I use VolunteerMatch a LOT, and I've received many responses from there. Also, our local United Way has a volunteering site where we can post volunteer opportunities; that site has also been a great help. I spend a lot of tiime speaking at Lions and Rotary meetings, visiting senior centers and other 'clubs' and leaving our volunteer brochures. If your local radio stations do 'live remote' programs and allow people to speak on the air at no cost for about 1-2 minutes, take advantage! And if your company has a FOUNDATION, get that tax-free number; put it on your press releases. Some newspapers, tv and radio stations will publicize your press releases when they see that number. Best of luck. Jan

[Melissa Woods]

Jan, Thanks so much for the tips. I will be working on your ideas in my area! How long have you been in your position? Happy Holidays!

[Janet L Kostielney]

I've only been a volunteer coordinator for hospice for six months...but I have 20+ years behind me as Director of Marketing for non-profits and for-profits...both of which usually gave me a $0 budget for the volunteer portion of the job! I've learned to be creative!! One tactic I use is newsletters. I write 1/mo for volunteers, 1/mo for volunteer coordinators, and 1/quarter for potential volunteers and the general public. I use them primarily for educational purposes - especially the last one which I use to promote the concept and use of hospice services. I've even recruited volunteers from that newsletter and received patient referrals as well. Convert your MS Publisher newsletters to PDFs and email out. I have one 'office' volunteer who needs to work from home - so I asked her to make databases for me. She's amazing!!! I have databases of every Chamber member, every school, church, senior center, veterinarian and musical instrument store in every city in the 13 counties we service!!! Those databases (which have email addresses!) are priceless! I spend virtually no money sending out thousands of newsletters and press releases every month. Best Wishes for the upcoming year!

[Greg Schneider]

Hi Melissa,

HVA frequently gets inquiries from people wishing to volunteer. We had intended to offer an automated referral service. Due to the current economic climate the automated system is on hold. However, we always refer to HVA member hospices when we receive an inquiry.

We encourage members of the forum to post opportunities in the Employment Opportunities group. You can also include recruitment of volunteers here as well. We do have members who are not affiliated with a hospice and may wish to volunteer in the future.

If your hospice is a member of the Hospice Volunteer Association, you can offer prospective volunteers free memberships in your recruiting ads, which can help attract new volunteers. HVA has great educational resources that you can offer new volunteers such as our very popular Hospice Volunteer News magazine.

Greg Schneider
HCF Creator
President, HVA