Work out the things you need help with - Co-operate
Work out the things you need help with
Volunteers are essential to help you run your event. There’ll be people you need on the day of your event and those who are part of your main team.
Working out the things you need help with on the day will help:
your activity run smoothly
your volunteers feel more confident about what they need to do
your volunteers understand how their contribution adds to the success of the activity
you work out if you need any specific skills
Make a list of jobs
Consider everything that needs to happen on the day, even if there’s only a chance you might need help with it.
setting up and putting away chairs and tables
working on stalls
collecting tickets and money
cleaning up after the activity
helping with transport for people and equipment
ask people what they’d be most comfortable doing
provide suggestions of roles for volunteers to choose from
make a list of jobs and volunteer names
give everyone a copy of this list on the day so they know each other’s roles
give a job to at least 1 volunteer
have someone in charge of timings to check how it’s all going
do not give yourself things to do on the day
always have someone ‘spare’ who can deal with anything unexpected
Decide how many volunteers you need
Your list will help you work out how many volunteers you’ll need on the day.
Volunteers will bring different skills and personalities. You’ll need a balance of people for your activity to run smoothly.
Too many volunteers might make people feel uncomfortable. But make sure you have more than enough for the jobs that need doing.
We’ve always found you cannot have too many volunteers. Each person brings a new talent, skill or benefit. I find the hard part is delegating the tasks to the person who will do it best
Mel17th North East Manchester Brownies
Think about how often you’ll need volunteers
If it’s a one-off activity then you might need people only for the day.
But if you’ve decided it’s a regular activity your community want, you’ll need people to help regularly.