Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Volunteer Recruitment

Where are they?

Overall, fewer Canadians are volunteering. According to the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, Canada is experiencing a sharp decline in the number of people willing to volunteer. Between 1997 and 2000, there were one million fewer Canadian volunteers. Lack of time was the reason most often given for not volunteering (identified by 76% of non volunteers).

This same national trend is reflected in the literacy community as well and in recent years the number of volunteers has declined. In fact, in CLO's volunteer survey (2005), 77% of literacy practitioners indicated that they would like to increase volunteer participation in their agencies. Given this reality, how can you effectively recruit those precious but time-poor volunteers? This can be especially challenging since almost every other not-for-profit organization in your community is probably trying to recruit them too!

Finding the right volunteers also involves knowing where to look. Make sure you keep abreast of changes or trends in volunteer patterns. For example, in recent years "family volunteering"—where the members of a family volunteer for the same organization— has become a popular trend. Volunteer Canada (www.volunteer.ca) and Imagine Canada (www.imaginecanada.ca) are great sources for information about volunteer trends.

In its promotional tool kit, Celebrating Literacy Volunteers in Your Community, Community Literacy of Ontario provided the following scenarios for places or opportunities where you might find volunteers:

• Just around the corner: Two-thirds of Canadians volunteer because they or someone they know has been personally affected by the cause an organization is addressing.
• Waiting to be asked: Over 50% of volunteers said they became involved because they were personally asked by someone from the organization, a family member, friend or employer.
• Education: Volunteering tends to increase with the level of formal education.
• Being youthful: The fastest growing segment of the volunteer population are young adults between the ages of 15 and 24-nearly one third of this segment volunteers. Unfortunately, the actual number of hours they volunteer is decreasing.
• Working: 67% of volunteers are employed. Employed Canadians volunteered more often than did those who were unemployed or not in the labour force. Part-time employed people had the highest rates of volunteering. However, those volunteers who are either not in the labour force or are unemployed contribute more hours than those who are employed.
• Worshipping: Canadians who attend a place of worship on a weekly basis are more likely to volunteer and spend more time volunteering than the national average. They also tend to give more and larger financial donations to charity as well.
• Learning: Canadians in general and literacy volunteers in particular have indicated that learning new skills is important to them. This means that the opportunities you provide should allow volunteers to gain new skills or increase their level of expertise.

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