1. By Shoghik Mikayelyan

2. Content
1. What is volunteerism and who can be a volunteer?
2.Preliminary work before recruiting volunteers
3. The three main methods of recruiting volunteers
4. Evaluation and monitoring of volunteer work
5. Benefits to the volunteers and organization
6. Which organizations to apply to get volunteers from abroad and to
volunteer abroad?

3. 1.What is volunteerism and who can be a volunteer?
Volunteerism is non-paid realized activity in the sake of others’ well-being.
Volunteerism is a vital and important part of the nonprofit sector.
It increases the reach and effectiveness of the organizations.
Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in the development of the social life
and it can transform the pace and nature of development.
The three main principals of volunteerism are:
1. Financial benefit is not the main purpose of the volunteerism
2. Volunteerism is the expression of free will
3. Volunteerism benefit both to the third party and to the volunteer

4. Both young people, skillful people, pensioners and elder people can be a
volunteer, even a person with special needs can be a volunteer, if we provide him
with necessary equipments and space. To recruit volunteers we should take into
consideration the culture, tradition and the social life of a person.
Volunteers are compassionate people. Not only do they feel compassion towards
people in need, they believe they can take personal action to help improve the
welfare of others. Volunteers give their time to all kinds of organizations.
The work of volunteers should be organized in an effective way. Before assigning
the volunteers a task, the organization should take into consideration the personal
abilities of the volunteers. To have effective result the organization should include
people with different age, specialties and abilities.

5. 2. Preliminary work before recruiting the
volunteers
1. Make sure you understand your nonprofit’s culture and work
environment
2. Make the match between culture and volunteer
3. Make sure your organization is prepared for volunteers
4. Prepare the staff
5. Volunteer position description

6. 1. Make sure that you understand your nonprofit’s culture and
work environment
Each organization has a certain personality, that is set up by the director of the nonprofit.
For instance there are formal organizations, that set up boundaries and chains of
command and the employees are cold. There are organizations that have friendly
environment.
2. Make sure to match culture and volunteer
Your organization’s culture will determine the type of volunteer you recruit.
For instance, if your organization is hierarchical, you may want to find people who are
comfortable following procedures and policies of your organization. If it is loosely organized, you
may want to look for individuals who are self-starters and enjoy working when they don’t get any
commands.
So, analyze your organization before you recruit volunteers, so you will be able to make a better
match between volunteers and organization.

7. 3. Make sure your organization is prepared for volunteers
In this case you should answer the following questions:
1. Does top management support volunteer work and appreciate the value the volunteers
can bring?
2. Are the staff prepared and willing to help with training and supervising volunteers?
3. Is there a place for volunteers to work with necessary supplies and available equipments?
4. Have you prepared recruitment materials such as brochures, flyers, volunteer handbook?
4. Prepare the staff
It is very important for the staff to be able to answer the questions of volunteers and to speak
knowledgeably about the missions of the organization. Make sure that everyone in the office who
receives calls from people expressing an interest in volunteering knows who is in charge of volunteer
management and to whom transfer the call or forward a message. And the most important thing:
Never ask a volunteer to call back!

8. 5. Volunteer position description
Կամավորական գործընթացի նկարագրություն
Volunteer position desripction plays and essencial role in volunteer recruitment. It
includes the assignments, skills, abilities and interests to perform the volunteer task
successfully.
There are many ways to write the position description but there are some components
that you should cover. The basic components are:
1. Position Title
2. Work Location
3. Purpose of the Position
4. Resposibilities and Duties
5. Qualifications
6. Commitment Expected
7. Training

9. Կամավորական1. Position Title
գործընթացի նկարագրություն
The specific, descriptive title ensures the volunteers that the staff and the orther
volunteers understand his role in the organization.
2. Work Location
Can the work be done at home, or in the office or at a particualr site?
3.Purpose of the Position
How will the volunteer’s work effect the project’s outcome, clients or mission? It is
important to identify the expected impact so that volunteer will understand thow
important his work is.

10. Կամավորական գործընթացիDuties
4.Resposibilities and նկարագրություն
Specifically identify the volunteer position responsibilities and duties. Define
what is expected for the volunteers.
5. Qualifications
It is clrealy mentioned the required qealifications for any volunteer position. It includes
education, personal charachteristics, skills, abilities and experience required.
6. Commitment Expected
It is necessery to mention what you expect from volunteers. Include theb length
of service, hours per week, hours per day, and weekend work.
7. Training
List what training the volunteer will receive.

11. 3. Three main methods of recruiting volunteers
1. Warm Body Recruitment
When you need a large number of volunteers for a short period of
time and the qualifications of the task are minimal, you might
engage in “Warm Body Recruitment”. This involves a broad
dissemination of information, including.
• Distribution of brochures
• Posters
• Speaking to groups
• Notices in appropriate media
• Word of mouth

12. 2. Targeted Recruitment
The targeted recruitment requires a carefully planned approach to
a small audience. Use this method when you are trying to
recruit volunteers with specific skills. The targeted campaign
requires, at the outset, that you answer several questions:
• What do we need?
• Who could provide this?
• How can we communicate with them?
• What would motivate them?
These questions will help you to identify and locate the volunteers
that you need. Once you locate a source of such volunteers, simply
take your recruitment message directly to them.

13. 3. Concentric Circles Recruitment
This type of recruitment requires you to identify the population that are
already in direct or indirect contact with your organization and then take
your recruiting massage to them.
This population includes:
• Your clients, their families and relatives
• Alumni of your programs
• Friends of your current volunteers and staff
• People in the neighborhood of your organization
• People, who have been affected by the problem you are attempting to
solve.
You will succeed in persuading them to volunteer than complete
strangers.

14. Recruitment message
No matter which recruitment method you use, you should have a compelling
message. It should explain why it is worth volunteer’s time. Your message
should be short, simple, and show the need for the volunteer’s service and the
good he/she can do. Stress the need of the community for the service, but also
point out the benefits, skills and valuable experience that the volunteer will
gain.
Asking
Finally, be sure to directly ask people to volunteer. Have your staff and
volunteers to ask their friends to volunteer. Provide them with necessary
information

15. 4. Monitoring and evaluation of volunteer work
1. Volunteers want you to be prepared for them
If you want to send a volunteer to an office to work, you should prepare the office
beforehand, provide with the necessary equipments, job description, have some-
thing to do immediately, otherwise volunteer will see your organization as dis-
organized and inconsiderate.
2. Volunteers want to feel welcomed
Show your volunteer around, introduce him/her with the staff and other volun-
teers, have your executive director to drop by and say hello and thanks. Don’t let
your volunteer feel uncomfortable. Show that your organization is warm, friendly
and happy to see your volunteer.

16. 3. Volunteers want good training
Even if the task is a simple one, take a time to explain and demonstrate it. Ask
another volunteer to help the new one.
When training a group of volunteers, try to use group involvement, Volunteers
don’t want to be lectured. They want to take part in the training. During the
training mention the work that should be done by volunteers, indicate the aim of
the work and the methods that you will use to evaluate their work.
4. Volunteers want to do interesting work.
Don’t use the volunteers to do the tasks your staff doesn’t want to do. Think of
your volunteers as extra staff who are capable of performing difficult tasks that
take advantage of their skills and experience. Provide leadership opportunities to
those volunteers, who are willing and have the time to shoulder more
responsibilities.

17. 5. Volunteers want to know up front how much time the job will take
Everybody is busy and many volunteers have time for short term
assignments. That’s why it is very important to mention how much time your
job will need, mention how many hours your volunteer should work per week,
whether you need your volunteer to work on the week-ends or during the
holidays. Think about offering “alternative” opportunities.
6. Volunteers want to be appreciated
Tell your volunteers frequently that they are doing a very good job. Come up
with some creative ways of saying thanks, invite them for a launch, send
them a small gift or a thank you card.

18. 7. Volunteers what to be communicated with
Regular communication motivates volunteers, while the lack of it is the reason
volunteers become dissatisfied. Volunteers like when somebody looks after them. If
your organization doesn’t have a volunteer coordinator, assign someone who will do
it. Be ready to listen to your volunteers and respond to their concerns immediately.
Don’t just communicate with them via email, telephone them, invite to drop by the
office, have meetings with them.
8. Volunteers want to know that they are helping to make the world a better
place
Let your volunteers know how they are making a difference. Tell them successful
stories. Show them their impact on the realization of the goals of the organization.

19. 9. Volunteers want to get acquainted with new people
Provide them with this opportunity. If you think that a couple of volunteers
can work together get them acquainted with each other, invite your
volunteers to your events, provide them with these opportunities.
10. Volunteers want to learn something new
Anyone who would like to volunteer is likely to have a willingness to gain
new skills and acquire new information. Provide them with that opportunity.
Turning the training into a mini-educational experience will be highly
valued by the volunteers.

20. 5. Benefits to the volunteers and the organization
Volunteerism benefits both to the community and the volunteer
developing trust, peace and mutual respect towards each other
Benefits to the volunteers:
• Connect with the community
• Gain new skills
• Expand their horizons
• Improve communication skills
• Gain new friends
• Find out about social problems
• Meet new people
• Gain professional satisfaction

21. Benefits to the organization:
• The quality of the service of the organization will be
improved
• New resources will be gained
• The community will recognize the organization
• The projects of the organization will be developed
• New volunteers will be gained

22. 6. Which organizations to apply to get volunteers
from abroad and to volunteer abroad?
There are a number of organizations that you can apply to get volunteers
from abroad. They are:
• http://armenia.peacecorps.gov/applyforpcv.php- Peace
Corps
• "Youth Initiative Centre" NGO – yic_ngo@yahoo.com
yic@info.am
• www.armenianvolunteer.org, www.avc.am
email: info@avc.am
• Amnesty international
• OXFAM
• World Vision

23. Volunteer opportunities in foreign countries
• www.worldvolunteerweb.org.
• www.onlinevolunteering.org
• http://www.unv.org/how-to-volunteer.html
• Global Volunteer Network
• United Nations Volunteers
• World Volunteer Web
• Global Impact
• Global Service Corps
• Transitions Abroad
• GeoVisions
• VolunTourism
• i-to-i LifeChangingTravel