Our parent organization, World Food Programme, operates a vast network of volunteers in dozens of countries around the world. Do you have experience recruiting volunteers?

"In my current position, I have recruited hundreds of volunteers to assist with handing out food and clothing items at a local community center. This is an essential task that requires as many hands as often as possible. As a result, I have secured a contract with AutoZone; they agreed to staff four Fridays every month with employees participating in their community outreach program."

"My organization does not utilize a high number of general volunteers. However, we do have special events, grants, and enhanced programs that occasionally require the services of individuals with specific skills. For example, our grant manager had to update the annual grant cycle during our busiest time of year and had multiple proposal deadlines approaching. I reached out to a local university and found a student studying nonprofit administration. She came in and assisted our grant manager to develop the calendar so that he could focus on the proposals."

If you have experience recruiting volunteers, focus on the volunteers you have recruited with specialized skill sets that made a measurable impact on your organization. Recruiting large numbers of volunteers to sustain a program requiring many hands is important; finding volunteers with unique skills they can use to contribute to special projects is equally important.