Volunteer bank, Volunteer pool, Find volunteers, Active search.
Once you have published an opportunity as an organisation, volunteers can apply for it. On some platforms, a volunteer pool is active. In this volunteer pool you can find volunteers that have agreed to be contacted by you as an organisation. This means you can find volunteers proactively by sending them a message, asking whether they are interested in your opportunity.
Please note you can reach out to up to 5 volunteers per day.
About the volunteer pool
The volunteer pool looks as follows:
Here you can find all volunteers that have registered to the volunteer pool. You can find the profiles they maybe, which includes an introductory text about themselves, their preferred language and the distance which they are willing to travel for volunteer work. You can click on "show additional details" to show their interests, activities, impact and organisation memberships.
To make your search easier, there are two filter criteria added: cause or activities. You can also search by opportunity by entering the name of the opportunity in the search bar. Taking into account the categories, interests, activities and location of the opportunity and volunteers, using the search bar will show you suitable candidates.
There are two buttons at the bottom of a volunteer profile: "reach out" and "report". If you find a profile that seems out of the ordinary or inappropriate please click "report" and the site administrators will get a notification.
If you have found a volunteer you'd like to contact for an opportunity, click "reach out" to send them a request. A pop up will open as seen below. You can type in the name of the respective opportunity and select it. Then, you can add a personal message for the volunteer you are contacting. Click reach out to send it. Click cancel to cancel.
Once you sent the message, you get the following notification:
How to enter the volunteer pool
There are four possible ways to enter the volunteer pool: after publishing an activity, through the opportunity overview, through the green menu above the respective opportunity and (on some platform) through a page on the site.
1. After publishing an activity
After publishing an opportunity, the following pop-up will show:
Click "reach out to potential volunteers" to enter the volunteer pool. The volunteer pool will not show everyone in the pool, but only relevant profile based on cause, activity and interests that fit the opportunity. You can remove the filters by clicking the pen symbol in the upper bar (see below).
2. Opportunity overview
The second possibility to enter the pool is via the opportunity overview. Click your profile picture and go to your organisation page. Click "opportunities" in the left menu. You have now entered the opportunity overview as shown above. Click "more" next to the respective opportunity to find volunteers from the pool. You will be shown relevant profiles based on causes, activities and interests. You can remove the filters by clicking the pen symbol in the upper bar.
3. Green menu above the opportunity
The third method to enter the volunteer pool is through the green menu in the respective opportunity. Click your profile picture and go to your organisation page.
Click on the respective opportunity you want to find volunteers for. In the opportunity overview you can click "find potential volunteers" to enter the volunteer pool. You will be shown relevant profiles based on causes, activities and interests. You can remove the filters by clicking the pen symbol in the upper bar.
4. Button/link on the site (on some platforms)
On some platforms you can find a button/link on the organisations page that links to the volunteer pool. You can find the organisations page on the home page or a separate organisation page in the navigation bar. This page is usually called "for organisations" or "for social organisations". On this page you will find a button or a link which can have different names, such as "volunteer pool" or "go to the volunteer pool". If you click this button, you will enter the pool. No filters will have been added so you can see all profiles directly.
Summary
In the video below, Jasper fully explains the volunteer pool for organizations, with some tips and tricks. Be inspired and good luck finding the right volunteer!