Volunteers are a unique, but vital, part of the workforce. Not quite like paid employees, but nevertheless, just as essential, finding and retaining volunteers requires a somewhat different approach than finding 'regular' employees. A volunteer coordinator that wants to effectively recruit volunteers needs to understand four things.

(1) Understand the company. What does the company do and what does it 'stand for'? In finding paid employees, the first part of that question is important, and the second part may or may not be important. With volunteers, however, the second part of that question becomes vital. People are busy. When they decide to carve out a portion of their time to volunteer, or 'work for free,' they want to know that their time and expertise is going to something worthwhile. How 'worthwhile' is defined varies for each person, but it is imperative that a company can define its 'mission' well to potential volunteers. Companies that have a compelling 'mission statement' often have an easier time recruiting volunteers because they are able to define themselves in a way that makes potential volunteers think that the company may be a good match for them. Further, a company that has its 'bigger picture' clearly in focus tends to also have the finer details in place as well, and this is just as important. There is nothing worse than wasting a volunteer's time, as word-of-mouth not only can help (or hurt) businesses like restaurants, but companies that rely heavily on its volunteer corps.

(2) Understand the volunteers. Most people who volunteer tend to volunteer for a specified task, and/or a specified time period. It's rare that a volunteer will join an organization for an indefinite period to do 'whatever.' Thus, when recruiting volunteers, it's important to know what the company needs done and what the time commitment for this task will be. It is also important to understand that a volunteer has a busy, and full 'other life.' Unlike a paid employee, it's difficult to expect a volunteer to fully commit to the job. Most people volunteer around their 'everyday lives' and thus, flexibility is an important skill for a volunteer coordinator to have. A job that may take a paid employee a week to do, may take a volunteer much longer, and it's important for the volunteer coordinator to understand this and be able to work around this.

(3) Understand the community. Most people volunteer close to home, and thus, a company's volunteer corps is likely

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