About GoldStar 
Involving existing volunteers in
engagement activity
Volunteers can play a key role in a targeting campaign, both as a source of information and as an ambassador for the organisation. The ambassadorial work can be undertaken as part of their volunteering responsibilities or simply by being encouraged to tell others about what they are doing.
Below are a few examples of how other organisations have accoplished this: |
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Poole council for Voluntary Services use voluntary ambassadors to target and encourage new volunteers |
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Volunteer Centre Tameside have made a DVD to promote oppportunites to potential volunteers |
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Poole CVS select ambassadors who believe in and are committed to the organisation, who are able to identity of interest with the target group, and whose opinion is valued by the organisation.
Poole volunteer centres use ambassadors to promote volunteering as a specific activity. They have taken the concept of people acting as ambassadors for voluntary projects to another level by creating a project, The older People’s Volunteer Project, where a team of ambassadors promotes volunteering to older people with the aim of increasing participation rates and enhancing their well being.
Ambassadors are supported by a member of staff, with whom ambassadors have one-to-one access. Poole ambassadors come from the same age group as the target audience, so they can relate to their concerns and circumstances.
The ambassadors decide where they will target their recruitment drive and have monthly meeting to review progress and consider fresh ideas. They then go to where the target audiences already congregate, for example sheltered housing, lunch clubs or shopping centre to promote Poole volunteering opportunities.
More isolated people are reached through statutory organisations such as the local authority’s Social Services Access Team and by having promotional material available at doctor’s surgeries etc. These activates are supported with suitable literature and examples of volunteering success stories to further encourage the target group to volunteer.
Volunteer Centre Tameside VCT took a different approach with the and produced a DVD with a group of volunteers with a range of disabilities. The volunteers were engaged in all aspects of the development of the DVD from decision making, to filming, to final editing
The aim of the DVD was to promote inclusive volunteering by showing the varied and interesting voluntary opportunities available.
The disabled volunteers involved in the production of the DVD received training, skill development and support, including training in public speaking, digital skills and marketing
The volunteers who took part were awarded an open college accreditation in Basic Video Skills. Volunteers from the production team were also involved in making presentation of the DVD to other organisations involved in the production to demonstrate and market the added value that disable volunteers can offer to organisations.
One unexpected outcome, given the group was made up of diverse individuals, some of who had been socially isolated before taking part, was the strong cohesive bond that united the group.
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