Recruiting and supporting volunteers
Practical steps for finding volunteers and keeping them.
1. Be specific about the role
Vague appeals ("we need volunteers!") consistently get a weaker response than a specific ask ("we need someone to run our raffle at the July fun day, about 3 hours, no experience needed"). A specific, time-bound, low-commitment role is far easier for someone to say yes to than an open-ended, undefined one.
2. Use your Community Hub listing
Tick "We’re looking for volunteers" on your group’s edit page — this displays a badge on your public listing — and describe specific current roles in a notice board post, refreshing it as your needs change through the year.
3. Lower the barrier to a first step
Many people are willing to help with a single event before committing to an ongoing role. Treat a one-off "trial" as a genuine recruitment channel, not just event cover — a good experience helping out once is often what turns someone into a longer-term committee member.
4. Have a simple induction
Even a short conversation covering what the group does, who to contact with questions, and any relevant policies (data protection, child safeguarding if relevant) helps a new volunteer feel prepared and materially reduces early drop-off, particularly for anyone new to the area or the group’s wider network.
5. Match roles to what people actually offer
Ask what a new volunteer is actually good at or interested in, rather than slotting everyone into whatever gap happens to be open. A volunteer doing something they’re suited to and interested in stays involved far longer than one doing an ill-fitting task purely because it needed filling.
6. Say thank you, visibly
Public thanks — at the AGM, on social media, or as a notice board post — costs nothing and is consistently one of the most effective ways to retain volunteers long-term. Being specific ("thanks to Mary for organising the whole table quiz") lands better than a generic group thank-you.
Note: this guide is general information for volunteer-run community groups, not legal or financial advice. For anything charity-specific, check charitiesregulator.ie; for data protection, check dataprotection.ie.