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You'll want potential volunteers to leave your office with a positive attitude toward volunteering and toward your non-profit. So, always, always say Yes, we'd love to have your help.'

If you actually have no openings or no way to use them at the current time, be prepared to offer them an alternative. What follows are some of the challenges you might face and some ideas for handling them.

You have no current volunteers openings...

Yes, we'd love to have your help. Can we put you on our waiting list and I'll be checking back with you in about four weeks. In the meantime, I want to give you this information about our agency, plus a list of other agencies seeking volunteers.'

You're too busy to train new volunteers right now (because of big event coming up, etc.)...

Yes, we'd love to have your help. Can we put you on our waiting list and I'll be checking back with you in about two weeks. In the meantime, we're having several events to honor our existing volunteers. Perhaps you'd like to stop in (give specific time and date) and meet some of our volunteers.'

You have absolutely no idea how you would use them...

Yes, we'd love to have your help. Because we have no current openings for someone with your abilities, may I give you this information about our agency, plus a list of other agencies looking for volunteers.'

Your non-profit is not busy enough to take on temporary volunteers during summer and year-end (school) breaks. (For instance, a library's traffic may slow down during the summer and at Christmas time. Yet, this is when high school and college students could be looking for temporary assignments.)....

Yes, we'd love to have your help when you're able to stay for a longer period of time. In the meantime, I want to give you this information about our agency, plus a list of other agencies seeking extra volunteers this time of year." (Ex. Christmas bell ringers are needed for Salvation Army kettles. Also, in our area there is a group that collects thousands of Christmas toys, needs help wrapping and labeling them, then needs hundreds of volunteers to deliver them Christmas morning.)

A potential volunteer is too young according to your non-profit's policy or needs...

Yes, we'd love to have your help when you turn 14 (or whatever the minimum age is). In the meantime, I want to give you this information about our agency, plus a list of other places seeking volunteers.' (You can take this an extra step by checking ahead of time with some of the agencies on your list to find out their minimum age.)

It's against your policy to take on court-ordered community service...

Yes, we'd love to have your help sometime in the future when it's not court-ordered. Because we have so many people seeking the opportunity to volunteer here, it's our current policy to not take on those fulfilling court-ordered community service. In the meantime, may I give you this information about our agency as well as a list of other agencies seeking volunteers.' (You can take this an extra step by checking ahead of time with some of the agencies on your list to find out who allows court-ordered community service volunteers.)

Keep in mind at all times that you are representing your non-profit. Everything you say and do reflects on the agency. Maybe you don't want a particular person as a volunteer, but you do want her or his good will.

If you've gone into a restaurant or other business where you were treated poorly, you're more likely to tell many people about those unhappy experiences than you are the good ones. Similarly, a disgruntled potential volunteer will spread the word and could affect a non-profit's funding and discourage other potential volunteers.

Learn more about this author, Kathleen Richardson.
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