Event Volunteer Management FAQs

Find all your answers on effective event volunteer management and streamline your process with our comprehensive Event Volunteer Management Kit.

Pro Tip: Always remember, it’s your job to provide a positive experience for your event volunteers.

We frequently receive questions from event planners about managing event volunteers. Let’s explore some of the most common questions and provide clear answers to help you effectively handle your volunteer team.

Event Volunteer FAQs

Q. Why Are Event Volunteers Important?

As an event planner, balancing your event’s budget with your expected revenue is crucial. Recruiting event volunteers instead of hiring temporary staff is an effective way of reducing costs. Volunteers provide free support and, with the right training, can significantly enhance the quality of your event. They play a vital role in keeping your event running smoothly, from managing registration to assisting with activities and pack-down.

Q. How Can I Effectively Recruit Event Volunteers?

Start by determining how many volunteers you’ll need for your event. Refer to your organisation’s past event plans and use that to figure out your volunteer requirements. From past event plans, you’ll see how many people were involved and what they did for the event as volunteers. From there, you can develop the volunteer roster.

Contact Past Volunteers

Refer to any existing rosters to identify who has volunteered for your events before and the best ways to reach them. Reach out individually to those who have participated in similar events previously.

Develop Clear Role Descriptions

Make sure your event volunteer page includes detailed descriptions of each role and create a volunteer application form that allows volunteers to choose the ones they’re most interested in.

Simplify Registration

Create a simple volunteer application form and make it easily downloadable. Using a Word document or Google Doc or Google Form is a great way to keep it simple and easy to use. Keep the form concise, asking only essential questions.

Provide Logistical Information

Send a detailed offer email to successful volunteers with all necessary information about their shift, including parking, arrival times, attire, and contact details for any questions on event day.

Offer Perks/Gifts/Thanks

Don’t forget to highlight the perks volunteers will enjoy, such as free event entry, complimentary t-shirts, free meals and/or a participation certificate.

Q. How Can I Match Event Volunteers With the Right Roles?

To ensure that volunteers are well-matched to their roles, gather information such as qualifications, interests, skills, and availability through your volunteer sign-up form. Use data from past volunteer experiences or surveys to connect volunteers with roles that suit their previous experience or expressed interests.

For key roles, it's important to have a conversation with prospective volunteers before assigning them specific tasks. Additionally, checking their references is a smart move to ensure they’re the right fit.

Q. How Do I Manage Event Volunteers effectively?

Managing volunteers can be complex, especially for larger events. A robust volunteer management process can help streamline the process and reduce confusion.

Volunteer Recruitment

Create branded sign-up forms for screening prospective volunteers and collect necessary support documentation like waiver signatures.

Volunteer Database

Maintain a spreadsheet with volunteer information including contact details, past experiences, special skills, and other personal information.

Volunteer Scheduling

Ensure your volunteer roster spreadsheet is set up for easy shift duplication and is easy to use—essential for those who aren’t tech savvy.

Communication

Ensure you include communications to your volunteers in your overall event plan timeline. Quick updates via text or app notifications are also great for staying connected on event day.

Post-Event Reporting

Update your roster spreadsheet with volunteer hours and relevant notes to evaluate the effectiveness of volunteer support at your event.

Q. How Can I Retain Event Volunteers for the Long Term?

Keeping volunteers engaged for future events is easier with a solid volunteer management and appreciation strategy. Build lasting relationships by showing gratitude from the moment volunteers sign up to after the event ends.

Thank them in your communications, and follow up with appreciation messages that highlight their contributions. Let them know the impact they made and consider sending small gifts like merchandise or gift cards as tokens of appreciation.

By applying these strategies, you’ll effectively manage and recruit event volunteers, ensuring a smooth and successful event every time.

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Shop our ready-to-use, easy-to-edit event volunteer templates in Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF. Our beautiful tools are designed to help you plan your events quickly and easily. But don’t take my word for it. See what event planners around the world are saying about our Event Kit templates:

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I'm so thankful you’ve created your resources and templates. It’s hard creating everything from scratch, so having something already done that you can tweak to your own needs is a godsend!

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