3 Tips for Getting More Volunteers at your School

Our school district has an art program where, at the middle school level, a couple of times a year, parent-volunteers come to the classroom to help students do hands-on projects that complement the social studies curriculum.  I needed dozens of parents who can make time during the school day to come help with hot glue, sharp tools and messy ink and paint. And while this art program is beloved at our school, and attracts plenty of donations to keep it going, finding volunteers was a challenge faced year after year.

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At first I followed the plan I was handed. I made a table at Back to School Night with a poster and sign-up sheets, hoping to catch parents as they filed into the auditorium. I handed out candy, chatted up anyone who wandered by, even waved at friends who awkwardly darted away. 

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The results weren’t great, I only got a handful of people to commit and a few more scanned a QR code, promising to do the online form. But, I got valuable feedback from that night, the number one objection was: “I don’t have art skills.”

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This made me realize the error in my ways, so I tried something new. Instead of publishing a call-out in the school newsletter that espouses the benefits of this content-rich art program, I cut straight to the point, and within one week I had enough volunteers for the school year, here’s what I said:

Are you looking for an opportunity to help in the classroom? Then this is the volunteering job for you, only a few hours of time, 2-3 times a year, no art skills required.

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Why did it work? I’m not selling the value of this art program, that’s nice when we need to raise funds to purchase supplies, but it doesn’t help me as a parent understand what you are asking of me as a volunteer. I am selling parents on the idea that this volunteer job is very doable and dare I say, fun. Period. Let’s break this down further into the 3 tips on getting more volunteers. 

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Tip #1: Make the expectations clear

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Would you apply for a job that didn’t explain anything about the responsibilities and expectations? Probably not. How can you decide if this is something you would be good at or enjoy if you have no idea what the job is all about? Volunteering jobs are no different. I have volunteered for all sorts of things through my kid’s school and activities, and it is so much easier to say yes when I understand what I am agreeing to do and a basic idea of the time commitment.

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This can be as simple as a descriptive name. Instead of saying “bounce house” on a volunteer registration form, call it “Bounce House Supervision” so you get the idea that you will be watching kids in the bounce house and managing the number of kids or calling out someone being unsafe.

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Tip #2: Don’t assume parents know anything, actually

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You know what they say about assumptions…..let’s not fall into that trap! Instead, remember that every school year there are newcomers to your school who may not know what the Fall Festival is all about or what the Vice President of the PTO typically does at your school. If you find ways to offer a little more context like describe last year’s event or explain the basic responsibilities of the Enrichment Coordinator, it helps everyone clearly understand all the context that you, as an experienced leader in the community have about these important roles. 

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I once worked at a large company where there were acronyms for everything. When we hired a bunch of new people into the team I started to realize that we had an acronym problem and started writing down every time I said GMV or ASP and by the end of the week I had 2 pages of definitions gathered that I saved and shared with newcomers. It’s confusing and alienating to not understand what people are talking about, and many people are too afraid of looking dumb to ask, so you will miss the chance to bring them along with you. Always take the extra time and space to make sure everyone knows what the Art Show is all about, and what specifically you need them to do to help make it a success; your extra effort will pay you back in the end.

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Tip #3: Offer parents support to help

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We work with many schools to help them run their enrichment programs, and a common way of supporting parents who volunteer to run the program or who are onsite to help ensure kids get from their classrooms to their afterschool class or club is to give them a free class for their own kids. It makes a lot of sense, if you are busy helping afterschool, who is watching your kids? Everyone’s time is valuable, so give them something to show your appreciation.

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Sometimes the providers who teach these classes will even give a seat away free to use for the  volunteers or for students who can’t afford the class. For the providers it’s a way to show appreciation for being a part of the school community. And, it helps your fundraising efforts stretch a little further if your parent-teacher organization doesn’t have to pay out of pocket. 

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Now that we can do more meetings virtually, it has helped our school get more parents to join PTO board meetings in the evenings. The kids can eat dinner while I join a meeting over Zoom from home, but another strategy is to offer childcare. If you need to do training or want a number of adults to come to a meeting, recognizing they are parents and someone needs to care for their kids for them to focus, you can increase their engagement when you solve that barrier. Offering supervised games in the room next door or opening up the playground (again, with supervision) helps the parents focus on your meeting while the kids get some energy out. I call that a win-win!

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