More often than not, organizations find their finances deficient and realize the need for volunteers. It is imperative, therefore, that these companies and institutions find the appropriate strategies to recruit the different types of volunteers. Hiring skilled employees, for instance, may need highly advertised announcements to ensure that the company arrives at the best-suited candidate. Statistics show that when a company allows individuals to bring family and friends in open days and volunteer programs, the persons end up being long term or, life-long volunteers. Organizations can achieve this by allowing already signed individuals to invite the people they believe fall in line with the objectives of the program. Social media platforms, TV and radio, may be crucial in finding virtual volunteers as they spend most of their time online. It is also vital that during recruitment, an organization presents messages appealing directly to the audience intended. When in need of college-level persons, an institution may advertise their recruitment programs as internships or industrial attachment. Similarly, churches may call people to live their faith and address activists for social justice causes (Nagy, 2019).

There are many benefits attached to the policy of Community Service Leave. An employee can still commit her skills and abilities to humanitarian efforts and, still, get paid by the institution. This policy allows ISU to be in a good relationship with the community as it is doing all within its power to contribute resources towards various campaigns. However, other employees may take advantage of the paid leave and make up stories about nonexistent initiatives. Also, some programs do not qualify, and this may be a source of friction for the institution challenging its qualification methods. Virginia Commonwealth University offers paid leave of up to sixteen hours annually. Also, the institution does not specify what community services qualify. Wilkes University, on the other hand, has the same package offered at Indiana State University, defining the different types of community services not eligible. Both ISU and Wilkes, do not pay for expenses incurred in the leave. Organizations benefit through such programs by staying in close contact with community-related issues. It is also a significant attraction for job seekers who would still want to contribute to society and, at the same time, secure a cheque (Nagy, 2019).

People volunteer for different reasons. College students may offer their services and time in the name of internships and industrial attachment. Professional and career persons may seek to provide services at low or no costs as pro bono or, for public interest purposes. Some individuals may desire to honor their faiths by devoting their time, money and efforts towards initiatives while others may do it in the hopes of achieving social justice. Religion and social justice cases are mostly of intrinsic motivations, the urge to commit to the service of humanity, or, a calling to serve. Other encouragements may be purely external like college and university requirements or to achieve competitive advantage in the search for better jobs. Providing incentives is a crucial addition to encouraging volunteers to maintain a high level of productivity for the overall success of the initiative. An organization may provide free meals, clothing, or reimburse these persons for their expenses (Studer, S. (2016).

Recruitment Strategies

• Making announcements at services, educational programs, and sessions or social gatherings.
• Using mass media TV, radio and newspapers to advertise significant job positions or mass volunteer recruitment.
• Institutions may use social media platforms to search for individuals of certain qualities.
• An organization can decide to contact volunteer centers and referral organizations.
• A recruiting company may stay in contact with schools that regularly require students to contribute to community service programs.
• An institution or organization may ask available volunteers to convince friends and families to contribute time and effort to initiatives.

The FEMA online course was a useful tool towards ensuring emergency managers understand the better ways to recruit and manage individuals from the whole community. This course allows these managers to know how to develop a volunteer’s skills and abilities through training programs and to know where and when to use their help. The course was also useful in identifying the unique issues surrounding volunteers; how to incentivize them in the quest to maintain high productivity (EMI, 2019).

Volunteering is not only a case for the youth. It has come to my attention that contributing to community service does not require one to be youthful or below a certain age. Elderly professional individuals can offer their services to serve the community, learn a new skill, to understand the neighborhood, donate time, effort and money or share their talents. Humanitarian initiatives can also incorporate children with age-appropriate activities that will go a long way in making life better for the whole society.

References

EMI, F. (2019). FEMA – Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Course | IS-244.B: Developing and Managing Volunteers. Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-244.b

Nagy, J. (2019). Chapter 11. Recruiting and Training Volunteers | Section 1. Developing a Plan for Involving Volunteers | Main Section | Community Tool Box. Retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/volunteers/involving/main

Studer, S. (2016). Volunteer management: Responding to the uniqueness of volunteers. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 45(4), 688-714.

 
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