Our volunteer listings help you – and they help us too!

When we set out on our mission to match organizations with volunteers, we did our research. We discovered the main reasons that people hedged or stopped offering their services were time, lack of a central database of volunteer listings and a desire to find something that matched perfectly.

To solve those problems, we created an online match-making portal that allowed people to identify and sort options to align with their interests and skills. We added a feature to filter by time available and asked agencies to clearly define when they needed people and for what duration.

Step one: check!

However, the problem is obviously more complex. People have dozens of reasons why they cannot get involved with certain roles they see in our volunteer listings.

For example, they need to care for their children or other relatives; they don’t have a ride; or the role turns out to be too demanding. There are many more.

For organizations, it’s tough when you invest in screening a person who then ghosts you. Volunteer managers do the best they can to juggle the demands of incoming helpers while trying to celebrate and keep the good ones they have.

Not only do we hear you, but we are also living through the same experience.

Like other non-profits, we also rely on a small army of kind people willing to donate their time and expertise to our cause. We have an incredible team of dedicated and committed people who truly make a huge difference.

Yet, we have faced setbacks.

Some people have become ill or have taken time away to care for someone else; others have found that work or school commitments made it too difficult to continue.

At times, people have just disappeared. Despite our best efforts, we still don’t know why.

Does any of this sound familiar? If so, we feel your pain.

Volunteer listings as a solution

Rather than just commiserating, we can offer you a way out. For instance, due to our matching process, volunteers know right away if you’re a good fit. If you connect with the right person at the right time, they are more likely to stick with you.

To accomplish this, we encounter volunteer recruiters and managers to add as much detail as possible to volunteer listings. Thanks to a series of checkboxes and dropdown menus, this process happens pretty quickly.

Those 10 minutes to create robust volunteer listings will save you hours of sifting through applications or recruiting all over again. Make sure you add photos that highlight the role you seek to fill to catch people’s eyes!

We also offer in-person volunteer fairs where you can speak directly to prospective volunteers. If you want to sign up and get details as they come together, email volunteer@volunteerPeterborough.ca.

Since we started this volunteer movement in 2022, some groups have reported having more people than they can even sign on. What a wonderful problem to have!

In these cases, the volunteer managers have been pointing people toward other groups that could use their skills. Isn’t it wonderful to see people working together to make our community even better?

If you’re just starting your volunteer journey or have just moved to the area, we can help with that too! Each Wednesday, we welcome you to drop in between 1 and 3 p.m. to get a full introduction to our services. Come see us at Venture North, 270 George Street, Peterborough.

This also applies to groups who want to set up a profile on our website. At this point, we have more than 1,900 volunteers signed up and looking for roles. We already have more than 180 groups registered and know many more are ready to get started.

If you prefer to phone, you can reach our office at 705-874-0073. Let’s work together to empower more people to make our world a little brighter.