3 Getting started
This section is about getting a person started in a volunteering role with your group or organisation, and at Volunteer Scotland and CVSL (Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership) we have found volunteers want you to ‘make it easy to get involved’.
Volunteers want to feel that your group or organisation is interested in them, so getting to know individuals who want to get involved is a critical stage. It is where people are matched with opportunities or activities, and where each party comes to know what the other expects and what they can each offer one another.
This is the point at which the question raised in Section 2.3, ‘Is this right for me?’, is realised. It is also about supporting new volunteers through the process of getting started so that they feel part of the team and ready to start their role.
From the volunteers’ perspective there are two essential areas that this section will cover:
- 'Be interested in me’ – volunteers say that when they are deciding if your organisation is right for them, they also want you to be interested in them and to ‘get to know the person’. This is important as it will help to ensure the right match between volunteer, role and the group or organisation.
- ‘I want to feel welcomed and encouraged’ – volunteers also say that they need the right information to carry out their role and to feel comfortable in your group or organisation, but for volunteers the top priority was a broad one of being made welcome.
These key areas are explored in more detail in this section.
2.4 Further resources