What If the Problem Isn’t Volunteer Recruitment?

Rethinking Volunteer Management

Challenging conventional approaches to leading and supporting volunteers

Stop recruiting volunteers. Start designing better volunteer roles.

When an organisation struggles to fill volunteer roles, the instinct is usually to ask: How do we recruit more people?

We advertise harder. Post on more platforms. Rewrite the recruitment message. Attend events. Ask existing volunteers to spread the word. Perhaps we blame a “shortage of volunteers”.

But what if recruitment isn't the problem?

What if the problem is the product we're asking people to buy into?

A volunteer role is, in many ways, an offer. It asks someone to give their time, energy, skills and attention in return for something meaningful: purpose, connection, contribution, learning, belonging or the satisfaction of making a difference.

If the offer doesn't fit the way people live today, better advertising may simply make more people aware of a role they don't want.

The volunteering landscape has changed

There is good reason to question the traditional recruitment mindset.

The latest State of the Decade of Volunteering report from Volunteering New Zealand shows that volunteering in Aotearoa remains strong, with 53% of New Zealanders volunteering, up from 50.7% in 2021. But the way people volunteer is changing. The proportion volunteering through an organisation has fallen from 30.2% in 2021 to 27.6% in 2025, while people are increasingly giving fewer hours and volunteering in more flexible, episodic and shorter-term ways. (Volunteering New Zealand)

That suggests an important shift in the question.

Perhaps people aren't saying “I don't want to volunteer.”

Perhaps they're saying “I don't want to volunteer like that.”

For leaders of volunteers, that distinction matters.

Start with the role, not the recruitment campaign

Before spending another dollar or another hour trying to attract volunteers, put the role itself under the microscope.

Is it attractive?
Would someone genuinely want to spend their limited free time doing this? Is the activity interesting, social, purposeful or rewarding? Does the role description communicate the difference the volunteer will make, rather than simply listing tasks?

Is it flexible?
Does volunteering have to happen every Tuesday from 9am to midday because that's how the organisation has always done it? Could the work be shared, project-based, remote, seasonal, occasional or completed in shorter blocks?

Volunteering New Zealand identifies flexibility, episodic opportunities and shorter-term roles as important developments in contemporary volunteering. Its guidance on episodic volunteering specifically recommends well-defined roles with clear completion points and options such as flexible hours or job sharing. (Volunteering New Zealand)

Is the purpose clear?
“Help in the office” is very different from “Help us connect 50 young people with opportunities that build their confidence and skills.”

People need to understand not only what they will do, but why it matters.

Does it use people's strengths?
Too many volunteer roles begin with the organisation's list of tasks rather than the person's potential contribution.

What skills, experience, knowledge, creativity or connections could volunteers bring that the organisation hasn't considered?

A retired accountant, university student, photographer, gardener, social media specialist or someone with lived experience may all be able to contribute—but only if we design opportunities that recognise what they bring.

Is the commitment realistic?
A role requiring an ongoing weekly commitment might once have been relatively easy for many people to accommodate. Today, people are navigating work, study, caring responsibilities, family, commuting and financial pressures.

The question shouldn't simply be “How much time do we need?”

It should be “What is the smallest realistic commitment that still creates meaningful impact?”

Is the application process easy?
A fantastic role can still lose volunteers through a cumbersome recruitment process.
Long forms. Multiple interviews. Slow responses. Unclear requirements. Complicated induction. Excessive paperwork before someone has even experienced the organisation.

Volunteering New Zealand's best-practice guidance emphasises clear role information, accessible application processes, timely communication and understanding a volunteer's availability, motivations and circumstances. (Volunteering New Zealand)

The principle is simple: make volunteering as easy as possible without compromising safety, quality or inclusion.

The uncomfortable question

Perhaps the most useful question for every leader of volunteers is:

Would I sign up for this role?

Not because you're passionate about your organisation. Not because you know how important the work is. Not because you've been told the role is urgently needed.

Imagine you know nothing about the organisation.
You see the advertisement.
Would you understand what you would be doing?
Would you know why it matters?
Would you be excited by the opportunity?
Could you realistically fit it around your life?
Would the application process encourage you—or make you close the browser?
And would you feel that your contribution would be valued?

If the honest answer is no, recruiting more aggressively isn't the answer.

Redesign the role.

From recruitment mindset to design mindset

This changes the work of leaders of volunteers.

Instead of asking:
How can we find more volunteers for this role?

Ask:
What would make this role worth saying yes to?

Instead of creating one standard role, create several pathways.

Instead of assuming people will commit long-term, design meaningful ways to contribute for a day, a project, a season or a defined period.

Instead of starting with organisational convenience, start with the volunteer experience.

Instead of measuring recruitment alone, look at the whole journey: Who enquires? Who applies? Who starts? Who stays? Who leaves—and why?

And when a role repeatedly fails to attract volunteers, don't automatically assume there is something wrong with the volunteers.

There may be something wrong with the role.

That is not a recruitment failure.

It is a design opportunity.

The future of volunteer engagement may depend less on finding more people willing to fit our existing roles—and more on becoming organisations willing to rethink the roles we offer.

Because the question isn't simply:
“How do we recruit more volunteers?”

It is:

“Are we designing volunteering that people can—and want to—say yes to?”

Further Reading:
State of the Decade Volunteering 2015 – 2025, Volunteering New Zealand
Media release: Volunteering under strain, as people have less time to volunteer Volunteering New Zealand
Article: Episodic Volunteering - lessons we can draw from research, Volunteering New Zealand
Resource: Best Practice Guidelines, Volunteering New Zealand