Managing Youth Volunteers

Youth volunteers are a GREAT way to inject some energy and creativity into your organization, to increase your volunteer base, and to make a positive impact on a young person’s life. Because most high schools require 40+ service hours for graduation, and most nonprofits require that volunteers be 18 years or older, it is an audience with a ton of potential that you can tap into. Best of all, volunteers who become passionate about your organization at a young age, are more likely to continue supporting you throughout their lifetime.

Aside from supporting your regularly occurring projects, youth volunteers can bring a unique value to your organization in other ways. Check out our list of project ideas for youth volunteers.

What motivates students?

1. Graduation requirements. All students have an hours requirement to graduate. They are looking hard for enjoyable opportunities!

2. Impact. Gen-Z, more than any generation before, is highly motivated to be a part of positive change in their communities. They want to use their voice, time and talents to do something good.

3. Growing skills. Students are often looking for opportunities that they can learn new skills from – think, tasks that would look great on a resume. From volunteering, they can learn basic skills like teamwork and collaboration… think about what other skills they may learn from working with you.

How else do students benefit from volunteering?

Aside from the above motivations (which, you should also be considering as benefits to the volunteer), the below benefits are important as well. These can used to effectively communicate to a student, why they should serve with you.

1. Volunteering, especially leadership positions, can make your college or job application stand out.

2. Supporting a non-profit is a great way to meet other students that you might not have met any other way – students who, like you, truly care about their communities, and may wind up as a lifelong friend.

3. It’s good for your mental health! Studies have shown that volunteering literally makes you happy. It reduces stress, and helps you develop confidence.

Recruitment.

Typically, it best to target parents, teachers and youth leaders to recruit youth volunteers, rather than the youth themselves. These folks are the ones who will encourage a student to sign up and show up.

Tap into your local school system. Identify the high schools + junior high schools, which are in closest proximity to your organization’s location. There are two contacts you should look for on the school’s website: counselors and PTA. Counselors typically help students graduate, so they are great resources for disseminating volunteer opportunities. The PTA group can help get your opportunities in front of parents, who will then encourage their kids to sign up.

Look for local civic groups with youth participants. This may be BETA clubs (a school club that is all about service), community centers like Boys + Girls Clubs or YMCAs, Jack + Jill groups, or more. Ask to be a speaker about your work + needs, or bring over some flyers with QR codes + key information.

Invite your current supporters. Your board members, donors, and other supporters are likely mostly adults. Create custom communications inviting them to involve their families in volunteer service.

Be clear on your website. On your volunteer page, ensure there is a section calling out opportunities for youth + students. Students are more likely to sign up for something they feel is designed for their age group; it removes any possibility of being intimidated. It also helps parents feel comfortable.

Supervision.

Your organization can choose the minimum age required to serve, and you can also set ratios for chaperones per age group. Chaperones may be teachers, parents, mentors or coaches, and they provide a level of supervision for the students to ensure the project flows smoothly. It can be difficult to manage a group of enthusiastic students without chaperones.

A great example is the Atlanta Community Food Bank's guidelines:

We accept youth 8-17 years old to volunteer. All volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For groups, we require 1 chaperone per every 4 youth ages 8-11 and 1 chaperone per every 8 youth ages 12-17.

You’ll also want to determine the appropriate amount of staff to be present when students are on site, and do a thorough check of the work environment to ensure all spaces are safe for kiddos.

Other Considerations

Parental Consent. You may want to require that youth volunteers get parental consent before serving with you. This is essentially asking the parent to ‘sign off’ on their registration.

Waivers. Some organizations choose to have youth sign a separate waiver. Differences in language may surround media releases (restricting photography of minors, or publishing of photos) or extra verbiage in the liability section. Find a sample here of a youth waiver.

Read the next section: 6 Great Projects for Students