Volunteers are every where; you just have to speak up and let people know what you need.

A client of mine runs a housing organization for low income families in Virginia. Well, she decided that in addition to helping people with their housing needs that she would also like to assist them with developing job skills. So, she reached out to many of her friends and asked if they would offer classes in their specialties. It has been a huge success. People are learning job skills, getting better jobs, and improving their financial outlook.

Another client is looking for board members. We’ve been scouring the various Leadership groups within Pennsylvania. Quite a few counties within many of the states offer Leadership programs. In Maryland we have Leadership Prince George’s County and Leadership Montgomery County. I know people who’ve graduated from Leadership Washington, DC and Leadership Alexandria in Virginia. What makes the Leadership groups a great place to find volunteers is that it is made up of individuals who’ve already shown an interest in their communities.

There are organizations that conduct searches for volunteers for your boards some for a fee, and others do it for the shear benefit of helping a nonprofit. I have used Volunteer Match one time to make a connection with a board group. It was a successful match, and now I highly recommend to others.

So, start right in your own back yard looking for volunteers. You’ll be surprised by the number of people you already know that are anxious to serve the community. They were just waiting for someone to ask for their participation.

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