Many animal shelters are non-profits, and even those that do make money aren’t exactly rolling in cash. That’s why volunteers are so important. Kindhearted people who are willing to help out at a shelter for no personal gain are often the reason that shelters can keep their doors open and help more animals.
And while there certainly isn’t a shortage of volunteers — on an average day, more than 11 million people volunteer — it can be hard to know where to find these volunteers.
Why Are Volunteers Important?
Running an animal shelter takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of energy. More than 6 million dogs and cats are abandoned or surrendered to shelters annually in the U.S., and looking after all those stray animals isn’t a small feat.
Animal shelters require many hands on deck to keep things running smoothly and provide the animals with the care they need. With limited resources, paying everyone who helps isn’t always feasible. Volunteers allow shelters to take care of the animals and ensure that other duties are still done without having to worry about the cost.
5 Ways to Get Volunteers Involved at Your Shelter
Now that you know why volunteers play such a crucial role in the success of any shelter, it’s time to look at some tips you can follow to get more volunteers involved.
1. Improve Your Marketing Strategy
Someone can only volunteer at an animal shelter if they know about it and know how they can get involved. That’s where marketing comes in. Many people think of marketing as a way to bring in more money — and it can be. However, you can also use marketing to achieve other goals, like getting volunteers.
You can market the fact that you’re looking for volunteers on your shelter’s website or social media. You can also implement more external marketing methods like placing ads on the radio or in the local newspaper. People looking for volunteer opportunities at an animal shelter will want one nearby, so focus your attention on the local community and make it known that you need some volunteers.
2. Host Open Houses
Schools often host open houses to attract interest and share more information, so why not do the same for your shelter? Host an open house where potential volunteers and donors can visit your shelter and learn more about what you do.
Giving someone the chance to ask questions and peek behind the scenes of your operation without any pressure of having to become a volunteer is an excellent way of getting people involved. You can even create some flyers for people to take home.
3. Train Your Volunteers
Just because your volunteers are there during their free time doesn’t mean they’re not doing hard work. If you want to not only get new volunteers involved but keep them coming back, you need to make their experience pleasant, and one of the best ways to do this is to train them.
Take the time to walk them through what you need them to do, or create videos that they can watch at their own pace if you don’t have the time to train new people all the time. Be patient, answer their questions, and take their feedback to heart. Training volunteers isn’t just beneficial for them — it also helps your shelter because the risk of something going wrong is so much smaller.
4. Work on Your Communication
Another way to keep your volunteers happy and attract new ones is by properly communicating with them throughout the process. You may be struggling to get volunteers because they don’t know what to expect and what they’re signing up for, or maybe you’re losing volunteers because the volunteer experience doesn’t line up with their expectations.
People sometimes have this idyllic view of volunteering, but the reality is that volunteering can be hard work. That’s not always the case — in some instances, volunteering could mean playing with puppies, which is many people’s dream come true. The point is that you need to clearly communicate what you want from your volunteers and what experience they will get in return.
You should also communicate ahead of time which days and times certain volunteers should come in, so that you don’t end up with a situation where you have too many volunteers on one day and none the next.
5. Contact Existing Supporters
Finally, you can contact people who already support your shelter, as they are much more likely to be open to the idea of volunteering than someone who doesn’t have a relationship with your shelter yet. If there’s anyone who already volunteers, let them know when you need some extra hands! Ask volunteers to bring a friend. If you have a regular donor, ask them if they’d be willing to donate some time, too.
Of course, another way to attract volunteers is to look at who recently adopted from your shelter. Around 4 million pets are adopted in the U.S. each year, and someone who’s adopted from a shelter likely knows its positive impact. They’re already familiar with your organization and will be more likely to support your animal shelter through volunteer opportunities.
Implement Volunteer Management Systems
Getting volunteers involved in your animal shelter is only the first step. If you want to make your volunteer program successful, you should find a way to manage your volunteers. The logistics of managing volunteers can seem overwhelming, especially in the modern age of technology.
There are many ways for you to manage volunteers. You can create a spreadsheet to keep track of all your volunteers, their contact details, and the days they’re due to come in. You can use social media group chats to easily communicate with all volunteers. Or you could look into software systems designed to manage volunteers for you. Either way, volunteer management can make the process much smoother for everyone involved.
Manage Volunteers With Volgistics
At Volgistics, we understand how vital volunteers are, which is why we’ve created a platform to help shelters effectively manage their volunteers. The Volgistics platform enables you to manage volunteers every step of the way, from recruitment to compliance to reports and more. We have an administrator and volunteer interface, allowing shelters and volunteers to access information easily.
We can help you prepare and onboard volunteers so that getting people involved is a smooth experience. Sign up for a free 30-day trial to see how Volgistics can help improve volunteer opportunities at your animal shelter.
