Having an effective volunteer program can be important for your organisation.  While volunteers often play a critical role in your organisation, their contribution can be further enhanced by getting the right volunteers.

A lot of not for profit organisations have volunteers who can, for example, help at events, assist with fundraising activities or working bees, as well as being board members.  The importance of this should never be undervalued.  With a bit of planning there is no reason why you can’t get more value from the people you have.

As an example, a board of management could undertake a review of their operations and find that they need strengthening with the financial management.  This could be as a result of the need to simply manage the accounts to the actual preparation of a financial risk management framework.  As such, you could approach the local accounting firm and see whether they may be interesting in assisting on a volunteer basis.

While your not for profit organisation obtains the benefit of professional services, the accounting firm can benefit by being recognised in the local community as providing these service on a volunteer basis which can be used to enhance their reputation.

The same process could be undertaken by approaching the local law firm who may be able to assist with the development of policies and procedures, governance framework or providing free legal advice.

Targeting and recruiting the right volunteers can significantly assist your organisation as you are getting professional support and assistance for a very low cost.