Recruit them online.
Today’s youth is wired, to the extreme. Post opportunities on your own website but change them frequently so your pages look fresh and appealing. Respond immediately to inquiries.
Speak in a youthful way.
Make your opportunities relevant to the interests and needs of young people. Young people like language that is quick, fun, and exciting. Emphasize involvement and how they can contribute.
Use youthful visuals.
Use lots of photos and quotes from other young people. Develop an advisory group of young people to help you with this aspect of your marketing.
Read Also
The joys of fishing from shore
Manitoba has many lake and river shorelines to drop a fishing line without the cost of a boat, making shore fishing more accessible, and anglers can still catch impressive fish.
Develop competitions and games.
Young people love competition and games so develop them to use in your recruitment efforts, your training, and when your volunteers are actually performing their tasks. Healthy competition will add zest and excitement to the work your young volunteers do.
Develop a speakers’ service.
Put together a group of young speakers who can recruit their peers. Arrange speaking engagements at schools and churches.
Develop teamwork.
Develop teams among your youth volunteers and train team leaders. Encourage group participation and let your volunteers learn from each other.
Provide mentors.
Find adults to work with your young volunteers that they can identify with. Use young adults who are natural mentors and role models.
Encourage participation.
Let young volunteers participate at every level. Listen and then act on their suggestions. They will not trust you if you invite engagement and then ignore their input.
Appreciate your youth volunteers.
If you don’t truly appreciate the contributions of young volunteers, don’t even bother. Young people are shrewd detectors of bull and will demand honesty and behaviour that matches your rhetoric. Walk the talk.
Reward frequently.
Don’t wait for a special event. Provide verbal feedback consistently and make sure you bring in lots of food. Most of all, have fun. Even if the work is serious, make sure that you throw in some pleasure.
Adapted from: Joanne Fritz, J. (May 2006) Top 10 ways to recruit and engage youth volunteers.
