Charity shops revival: Expert tips on how to effectively recruit retail volunteers

As charity shops compete to attract the volunteers they need, Shaf Mansour from The Access Group’s not for profit division, has provided advice for recruiting retail volunteers.

High street charity shops are enjoying a revival as more people buy second-hand and shop sustainably, while also aiming to save money during a cost-of-living crisis.

The Charity Retail Association recently surveyed more than 50 charities in the UK and found that 77.4 percent of their store income now comes from the sale of donated goods, so the demand for shop volunteers and the need for recruitment to be fast is crucial.

Whether people volunteer as a shop assistant, in warehouses to manage and sort donations, or they’re looking after online shops, they are all key elements in the running of a charity and supporting their fundraising efforts.

Attracting the right volunteers is more important than ever, and charities need to create a positive culture and recruitment experience to ensure they retain these volunteers for as long as possible.

Shaf shares his tips on how charities can recruit volunteers the most effectively:

Be flexible
Offering diverse roles helps to appeal to everyone’s different strengths and the more flexible you can be, the better it will be for everyone involved.

Consider allowing people to work in roles that suit them, at different hours and look at which roles could be done remotely – such as managing your online sites. This will also help you recruit more diverse volunteers who want to fit in their volunteering around their other responsibilities.

Offer micro-volunteering roles
While this is another way of being flexible, giving people the opportunity to volunteer for a day or a few days a month or year allows them even greater flexibility. We’ve seen that having small roles that people can take part in can be hugely beneficial to charities, especially when it comes to attracting people from younger demographics.

Play to people’s strengths
The Charity Retail Association shared that so far this year, 65 percent of charities said they now also sold online, with their income from online sales increasing by 14.3 percent in January to March this year, compared to the same period in 2023. Therefore, with the rise of online selling sites, it’s a good opportunity for charities to tap into this and offer volunteering opportunities to boost these services.

This year we’ve seen many more charities recruiting volunteers to manage their digital accounts, online sales, and packages so it makes sense for the charities to recruit volunteers where digital skills are important. These are also roles that can be done from home at a time convenient to the volunteer so likely to appeal to people with full-time jobs, family commitments, or can’t commit to volunteering at the same time every week.

Use technology to your advantage
There are many tools available to charities to help them sift through applications digitally, keep track of applications online and set up e-training sessions for new recruits. In offering volunteers the opportunity for a digital recruitment experience they can see the progress of their applications and have expectations of how long it will take to hear back from a charity and how long it will take for them to get out on the shop floor.

We’ve seen that offering a digital, as well as a traditional paper, application process can diversify a volunteer team and opens up opportunities to younger people who expect an online experience, and anyone who wants to apply in the most convenient way for them.

Invest in learning and training
Providing the relevant training to your new volunteers helps them to feel supported and prepared for the role they’ve signed up for. If you’re investing time and money in training them it will help them to feel fulfilled in their roles and complete tasks correctly, making life easier for your shop managers too.

Training is the key to improving a volunteer’s experience with your charity and they’re often more likely to stay with you too.

Charity shops have become increasingly popular again and so having more volunteers to keep them running is paramount.

By being flexible, advertising a range of roles, and offering a modern, digital onboarding process are all pivotal to having an effective and successful recruitment process. Keeping volunteers engaged and equipped with the right tools for their role is a constant challenge for charities and we’ve seen how technology can be key to this, and ensure that charity’s retail outlets can continue thriving.

For more information about The Access Group’s not for profit division and how it could support your charity’s volunteer recruitment, visit www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/not-for-profit.

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