Creating volunteer position descriptions

Creating volunteer position descriptions is essential for attracting the right candidates and ensuring they understand their roles and responsibilities. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you create effective volunteer position descriptions:

1. Understand the role and audience. Before you start writing the description, thoroughly understand the volunteer position yourself. Talk to other staff members, volunteers currently in similar roles, organizations with similar missions, and other stakeholders to gain insights into what the position entails. Who is your audience? Is your goal to define roles for established volunteers or recruit volunteers from the community? Thinking about and answering these questions will help guide you while creating the volunteer descriptions.

2. Give the position a title. Choose a clear and descriptive title that accurately reflects the volunteer’s role. Avoid using internal jargon or ambiguous terms.

3. Purpose. Begin with a brief introduction to your organization, its mission, and the importance of volunteers in achieving its goals. Make it compelling and engaging to capture the reader’s interest.

4. Description. Provide a concise overview of the volunteer position. Describe the primary purpose of the role and the impact it will have on the organization, beneficiaries, or the community.

5. Role responsibilities. List the specific tasks and responsibilities the volunteer will be expected to perform. Be clear and detailed, so potential volunteers have a clear understanding of what is expected from them.

6. Qualifications. Outline the skills, experience, and personal qualities required from the role. Differentiate between essential and preferred qualifications. This can be anything from the ability to lift a certain amount of weight, stand for long periods of time, customer service experience, marketing, grant writing, etc. Emphasize that the volunteers with a range of backgrounds and experience are welcome to apply.

7. Time commitment. Clearly state the expected time commitment, including the number of hours per week or month and the duration of the commitment (e.g., three months, a growing season, the school year, etc).

8. Training and support. Describe the training and support that will be provided to the volunteer. This can include orientation, ongoing training, supervision, and resources they can access.

9. Benefits. Highlight any benefits or perks volunteers will receive for their service, such as networking opportunities, learning experiences, references, or recognition events.

10. Volunteer environment. Describe the working environment or setting in which the volunteer will operate. Is it indoors or outdoors? Active or mellow? Will they be using their mind or is it more of a physical activity? Will they be working independently or is it more social?

11. Impact and rewards. Explain the potential impact the volunteer will have on the organization’s mission and the satisfaction of contributing to a meaningful cause.

12. Contact information. Provide contact details for interested candidates to reach out with questions or to apply. Include the name, email, and phone number of the person responsible for volunteer recruitment.

13. Formatting and language. Keep the description clear, concise, and easy to read. Use bullet points and subheadings to organize information effectively. Avoid jargon and acronyms that might be unfamiliar to potential volunteers.

14. Approval process. Before publishing the volunteer position, have someone else look it over as it’s always good to have another set of eyes. Along with general accuracy, spelling, and grammar, ask them to ensure it aligns with your organization’s mission.

15. Promotion. If you plan to use these descriptions for recruitment purposes, promote them on your organization’s website, social media channels, newsletters, community boards, and other relevant platforms.

Remember to periodically review and update the position descriptions as needed to reflect any changes in the organization’s needs or objectives.