Welcoming your new volunteers is vital to making a good first impression. A well-planned welcome process, or induction, can help a new volunteer feel supported, informed, valued and can enable them to make a contribution straight away.
Welcoming volunteers
Proportionate welcome
Of course, your induction should be proportionate to the role or task they are doing. A friendly welcome and a positive thank you for someone helping collect subs once a month is probably sufficient, whereas someone committing to a regular role, with important responsibilities would benefit from a more detailed induction.
Light touch
Keep it as light-touch as possible, only include the information essential to their role, and make sure they understand and are happy with what is being asked of them.
Code of conduct
We would encourage as part of any induction for volunteers to review and sign a simple Code of Conduct, which not only protects the club, but the volunteer as well, ensuring they understand what is required of them, and the support they can expect in return.
This does not need to be complex, and there are simple examples which can be adapted and applied to suit the needs of your club, including sample codes of conduct from the Child Protection in Sport Unit.
Buddy support
For some roles it can be helpful to have a buddy, or a volunteer manager for the new volunteer to go to for help or support. It can also be a good idea where possible to allow them to shadow someone who is already doing the task or role, so they can really understand what it entails and what they need to do.
Safer recruitment
Check out our Safer Recruitment guide for steps your club can take to help protect both the club and the volunteers, ensuring clear understanding of expectations on both parts.
NCVO guidance
The NCVO has some useful guidance to help you think about the induction of your volunteers.
