Volunteering / Organising

24 May 2023 | 4 min |

Recruit and retain volunteers

We know that recruiting new volunteers can sometimes be a challenge. Taking the time to develop a recruitment plan can help ensure you have plenty of people willing to help run the club moving forwards.

See our top tips and resources below to help recruit volunteers at your club.

    Think about what your club is trying to achieve, and the skills required to do this.

    Use the resources below to help identify who currently holds roles, where a volunteer may be taking on too much and if there are gaps to fill.

    When you know this, think whether you can breakdown some of the roles and share tasks amongst a group of people, using the resources below to help.  

    Think about how you can communicate with potential volunteers whether that's players, ex-players, parents or members or the local community.
     

    55% of the public don’t realise community sports clubs are run by volunteers; including volunteering in your marketing material and communications can help reach new audiences. Use the resources below to tell people how they can help your club.

    Everyone is entitled to take part in sport in a safe, positive and enjoyable environment.

    When recruiting volunteers all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure only suitable people are selected. Visit our Safer Recruitment page for more information on what this means for you.

    Welcoming new volunteers is essential to providing a positive first impression. Offering an induction can help new recruits feel supported and informed so that they want to play their full part in the team. Use the resources below to plan how you will welcome new volunteers.

    Find out how clubs have recruited new volunteers in the videos below.

    Building an Inclusive Volunteer Team

    We have developed a toolkit to provide guidance, ideas, and tools on how to recruit more volunteers, provide an inclusive volunteer environment and diversify perspectives, skills & experience. 

    Take a look at the Inclusive Volunteer Recruitment toolkit for tips on engaging with your local community, creating inclusive volunteer opportunities and developing an action plan to recruit more volunteers  

    Creating Inclusive Volunteer Opportunities
    Engaging with your Local Community 
    Supporting Inclusive Conversations
    Inclusive Marketing
    Creating an Action Plan to support Recruitment of  Volunteers

    YOUNG VOLUNTEERS

    Young people are an essential part of the rugby community, whether that is as players or as volunteers.

    Ensuring that your Club or Constituent Body (CB) can attract and retain young people within the game is incredibly important to the future and sustainability of rugby.

    The National Youth Council have developed a guide to help you think about how you can effectively inspire and recruit more young volunteers, and provide meaningful development opportunities.

    Young Volunteer Engagement Toolkit