Engaging with volunteers can be a reasonably organic process. You can have a volunteer section on your website and run volunteer ads via social media. You may also get ad-hoc emails from people who want to donate their time to support your social enterprise. Across Ireland, there are also many different volunteer platforms. You may want to register your social enterprise with these platforms as it will increase your reach. A couple of such organisations are listed in the resource sections below. Be aware that volunteers tend to have a higher turnover than paid staff, so it makes sense to try and recruit a few volunteers and train them in cohorts (maybe every three or four months).

Employing staff members is different as it’s not a rolling process — normally, you’ll be looking for a specific person. It’s good to try and advertise beyond your own media so that potentially interested parties see the advert. Again, we advocate working with partner organisations and using affordable job portals to try and gain traction by promoting the advert through various sources. Unlike volunteers who primarily engage due to your overarching social mission, employees are attracted by several factors, including the ethos of the organisation, flexible hours, holidays, and the rate of pay. You will need to consider these factors to recruit someone who can be an asset to your organisation.

Finally, while advertising, consider equal opportunities and make your volunteer opportunities accessible for more marginalised members of society. You may also want to consider if employees and volunteers must have passed a disclosure check, especially if they are working with vulnerable individuals.