Recruiting Volunteers to Help with Auction Fundraising

Takes a team, however it's worth it

Running an auction requires lots of effort but it is rewarding to serve the cause. Doing so with a nice group of dedicated volunteers make the job socially rewarding too. Asking volunteers to help does take some skill and having a volunteer coordinator can be beneficial. Specific expectations with friendly open communication makes the team inclusive and impassions others to help. An efficient and productive auction event depends on the entire volunteer group.

A simple volunteer request form helps get the conversation started. First, thank the person for offering to volunteer. Pledge to respect their time. A simple form helps the volunteer tell a little bit about themselves to we can best match you to volunteer opportunities within our organization.

Auctria helps volunteers say YES.

Using Auctria program eases the stress on volunteers. Share the work online. Auctria is easy to use making it quick to teach volunteers. When a potential volunteers sees that the auction committee is well organized it much easier to say YES, I’ll help!. Volunteers feel their contributions of time will be well spent when duties are clearly defined and coordinated.

Auctria is the online tool that organizes ALL the auction activities. Throughout the entire process, and from year to year, Auctria houses all fundraising auction data and makes volunteering easy. Planning the auction with checklists and timelines keep everyone on the same page yet.

Match the person to a job

How do you know what a volunteer likes to do? Ask. Guaranteed that whatever they are good at, the auction team can use their expertise.

Lots of people like to volunteer and finding the right fit is imperative to the volunteer feeling comfortable and giving of their time. For instance if a person loves to create don’t ask them to count money or make copies. DO offer them creative jobs such as writing letters, making posters or taking photos. Alternately DO offer the detail oriented jobs to those that enjoy organizing.

Continue to recruit

Continue to recruit volunteers throughout the process. Keep in mind schedules change and different jobs are needed throughout the development of the event. This gives lots of new opportunities to match motives to the volunteer.

Be open to new people and new ideas

Successful auction Chairpersons know in order to get different results is to build upon past success and tweak or retool the parts that need improvement. A fresh set of eyes is great way to get new solutions.

Be realistic about workload and time commitments

Be realistic about the workload. Offer several tasks and allow the volunteer to choose one or many.

Be Honest

Be open and honest about how much time the job at hand will take. If this is unknown that’s ok, just say so. If the volunteer is an expert in that area advise on the job that needs to take place that’s even better.

Communicate

Agree on a roadmap and timelines for tasks. Keep communication lines open and friendly.

Recognition for retention

Recognize and thank volunteers throughout the process. Positive feedback and a simple thank you go a long way in keeping volunteers engaged.

Bring a friend

Always ask volunteers to bring along a friend. It doubles the volunteer count and with a friend jobs go quicker with a higher level of satisfaction. Higher satisfaction should equate to return volunteerism.

Be organized and specific on volunteer jobs

YES, I will help. This is the exact response the committee chairperson wants to hear. Be organized, know exactly what needs to be done. Be specific on tasks that need to be accomplished BUT allow the volunteer to do have some say on how a job is accomplished. Do suggest past successes and make solid recommendations to give the volunteer all the information and tools for the most positive outcome.

Be nice

Being friendly and nice goes a long way in encouraging volunteers to join the cause. It also goes a long way to encourage volunteers to increase their participation level.
Always ask, don’t tell. Engage the volunteer on a personal level before asking for more time and effort. The donation of time should always valued.