Volunteers

Community organisations rely on volunteers - people who willingly give up some of their spare time to work for their community. They are at the heart of all community organisations.

How do community organisations get volunteers, look after them and renew the supply of volunteers over the years?

Stay rooted in the community - and remember to ask!

Community organisations that have been born out of widespread community involvement at the outset will have the best chance of having a decent pool of volunteers to draw from.

Similarly, community organisations that stay in touch with the community, letting people know what they are doing, seeking further involvement in determining needs and opportunities and in the work of the organisation will have the best chance of renewing that pool of volunteers over time.

At worst community organisations can often be seen as 'belonging' to a few folk and this perception can often dissuade other people from thinking they may have a role to play.

It is important that community organisations, and the people within them, don't fall into this trap and make it clear when they would welcome more members and more help.

This not only means being rooted in the community and feeding back to the community but remembering to use these opportunities to actually ASK people to be involved.

As mentioned elsewhere in this toolkit, the main reason people don't volunteer is that they haven't been asked.