Recruiting New Volunteers

Why New Volunteers are Needed

New volunteers help your class evolve. New volunteers keep your class fresh by minimizing volunteer burn out and bringing enthusiasm and new skill sets to your officer roles. It is important that current officers and council members understand their class goals and Cornell’s priorities before recruiting so that they are able to clearly convey expectations.

Finding New Volunteers

  • Recruiting new volunteers can be managed many ways. You can:
  • Send appeals in a mailing (either email or snail mail)
  • Reference recruitment in your class newsletters
  • Provide classmates with a self-nomination form
  • Post on a class website, class Facebook page, or other social media channel

Rather than making an open call for volunteers, it’s best to develop a list of specific needs (e.g. someone who can host a 40th birthday party in Boston or who can maintain the class website or who can organize a homecoming tailgate party in Ithaca, etc.). Your classmates are much more apt to volunteer for a role when they know the specific needs. Officers should respond quickly and thoughtfully to all classmates who express an interest.

A survey is another useful tool to recruit volunteers. Qualtrics makes it easy to set up the survey questions, and the reporting tools allow you to compile the data for easy analysis. Work with your staff contact to get a survey set up. In year four of the class cycle, Class Programs sends a standard “Pre-Reunion survey” to classmates with questions about volunteer opportunities for Reunion. Additionally, there are questions about volunteering to help with affinity networking activities and with events during the Reunion weekend. The results of the survey are shared with class officers prior to the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference (CALC) in the winter, allowing you to review them at your class meetings.

Another way to identify volunteers is to review class lists (Alumni Affairs can provide these) of “loyal” dues payers and donors. These are classmates who paid dues or made a donation to the university every year for the past five years (or perhaps in four of the past five years). These folks have visibly demonstrated that they support your class and Cornell. You should also evaluate classmate event participation over the last five years. Who organized or coordinated regional events? Who attended past Reunions or other events on a regular basis? Who had an especially great time at the last Reunion? Again, your Alumni Affairs contact can provide lists for you to review.

All Cornell alumni volunteers have access to CUVolunteer, an online portal that offers different volunteer opportunities. As a class officer, you can join your class officer community and build your own profile. Your profile captures your skills, interests, and involvement information. You can review other classmates’ profile information to see if they fulfill any of your recruitment needs. You can ask your Alumni Affairs contact to assist you in accessing and navigating this site. A report of those who have self-nominated or who have been nominated for any open positions can be pulled from the site and shared with the nominations committee to review.

Finally, you should talk with fellow class officers, Alumni Affairs staff, Cornell Annual Giving Programs staff, diversity programs staff, and regional directors to gather names of potential volunteers. Has anyone expressed an interest in wanting to get more involved with class activities? Reaching out personally via phone or email is the best ways to recruit potential volunteers. Let them know you need their help, what is involved, and why they are a good fit for the position.

Recruitment Tips

The first step before planning a recruitment campaign is to look at your class constitution and by-laws for defined practices, procedures, and term limits. Class organizations must define their goals, and review current structure and position descriptions. You can’t sell someone on becoming a class volunteer unless you know what you are selling. You should be able to answer: “what is our purpose?” and “what are our future plans?”

When recruiting volunteers, it is important to strive for balanced leadership. Seek a diverse group, one that represents the entire class. Build a profile of the type of volunteer you want to recruit. Be inclusive of ethnicity, gender, geography, college major, career, etc. Consider PLACE when identifying candidates:

Potential: Assess classmates’ interests and where they will fit best

Leadership: Have they held positions in past? Do they possess the leadership qualities you need?

Alumni Involvement: Reflect on their previous alumni involvements

Case: Build a convincing case for why it’s important for candidates to volunteer and support your organization

Enthusiasm: Volunteers must enjoy what they will do; their enthusiasm for the role is key in their relationship with other officers and classmates.

Once you recruit new volunteers, you must work to retain them. New volunteers need to feel that they belong, so incumbent class officers must be willing to share decisions and activities with classmates who want to become more involved. Get your classmates engaged in activities right away, and most importantly, get to know them!

A process should be implemented to ensure that there is a smooth transition between the outgoing and incoming officers. There is nothing more disheartening to a new volunteer than not being given background and guidance for their new role. Classes should make sure that there is a balance with outgoing and incoming officers so they maintain some institutional memory and knowledge. Staggered two-year terms of office are ideal for most successful classes; these terms provide for movement and growth within the leadership structure, while ensuring continuity and stability.

What to Expect from New Volunteers

You can expect that volunteers should understand the job or at least be willing to learn the job. They should have initiative and be responsive to your guidance. The volunteer should be a good Cornell ambassador who keeps the class interests and university priorities in mind.