Recruiting Volunteers in Parishes

To parishes who are struggling with the area of recruiting volunteers, I would like to recommend you get in touch with http://www.nonprofitscan.ca. This Web site provides a number of articles that deal with research done on the nonprofit sector and volunteering in Canada. The information is free and can be downloaded on your computers so there is no need to wait for it to be mailed.

I would like to especially recommend the research entitled, "An Assessment of the State of Voluntary Sector Research and Current Research Needs" and "Scan of Public Attitudes Toward the Voluntary Sector". These two publications offer a substantial amount of information on what is known about, what is currently happening and what is needed in the world of recruiting and keeping volunteers. The subject areas included are:

The Perceived Role and Value of Volunteers and Volunteering
Current Trends Affecting Volunteering and Volunteers
Understanding Motivations and Barriers to Volunteering
Satisfaction with Volunteering and Perceived Benefits
Approaches to Improving Volunteering

There is also a considerable amount of information related to the value of charities and nonprofit organizations, some of the challenges that they are presently facing and how they are dealing with those challenges.

Even though the information does not come with any guaranteed solutions, it does provide the type of information that will make sure you are not trying to reinvent the wheel.

One small note of caution. There are, if you order everything, more than 200 pages. It might be a good idea to read it first and only print the pages you want to use.

For those who do not have the capacity to download the information, we have a copy of it in the Resource Center at the Pastoral Centre.

- Lawrent Fournier, Director of Stewardship Development

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