3 Main Types of Volunteers:
- Executive Festival Committee Member
- Programming/Exhibit Volunteers
- General Festival Volunteers
General Recruitment Strategy:
- Emails through Institutional Listservs
- Social Media Posts
- Recruitment Form
Contacts:
- Department Listservs
- Course Union Listservs
- Student Centre
- Student clubs
- Course class lists
- Class announcements
- Local organization (i.e. Libraries, museums, volunteer programs)
- Social media
Email and Social Media Post:
- Keep it brief, direct and exciting
- Link to your website (or national website) with application form
- Send out emails/posts in Mid-March
Click here to access email and social media templates for volunteer recruitment!
High School Volunteers – Involving your community
Science Rendezvous provides web-based programming to all its funding partners that helps recruit, organize, and distribute volunteers within your area. It is important to promote community involvement in your event, specifically through volunteerism – SR is a great community building experience for students, which allows the volunteers to work closely with staff and faculty members at research institutions across Canada and learn firsthand the rewards of a career in science, direct from the source. Most high school students are now required to complete a certain number of volunteer hours before completing their secondary education, advertising volunteer positions through SR not only gets the word out about the event, but also promotes active student involvement.
Volunteers see the benefit of the organization firsthand, and often become our most loyal supporters. To ensure a positive volunteer experience with SR, it is important to recognize the hard work of each person individually: offering a volunteer certificate of participation after the event or a letter of reference is a great way to build volunteer loyalty to both your institution, and Science Rendezvous. Additionally, a volunteer appreciation barbeque should be held a week or two after the conclusion of the SR event to debrief and acknowledge the efforts of your volunteers.
