How to attract and retain volunteers for your park group

Finding volunteers doesn’t have to feel like an uphill battle. With a little intention and care, your group can create a welcoming volunteer experience that keeps people coming back.

Doug Bennet from Friends of Sorauren Park has spent years supporting and growing the park group’s base of active volunteers. Here are some of his top tips to create an engaged, connected, and joyful volunteer team.

Make volunteer recruitment an ongoing priority

Early on in their work together, Doug and the Friends of Sorauren Park realized that volunteer outreach kept falling to the bottom of their agenda. To change that, they began dedicating entire meetings to honing their recruitment and volunteer engagement strategies.

This intentional focus helped them to build and maintain a strong and diverse core team that’s now large enough to pull off big park events without tiring out their members.

Here are some prompting questions to help kick off your volunteer recruitment strategy meeting:

Who are we looking to reach?
Who are our ideal volunteers? What skills, interests, or lived experiences would be valuable? Are there people in our neighbourhood or network who might love to help but haven’t been asked? Are there barriers that might be preventing people from getting involved (childcare, accessibility, communication style)? If so, how could we reduce these barriers? What’s the time commitment we require, and how can we also include people with busier schedules?

How will we find them?
Where do potential volunteers spend their time (either online or in-person)? How can we show up there? What stories, images, or messages might catch someone’s attention and inspire them to get involved?

How will we make volunteering feel welcoming and worthwhile? How will we make it clear what volunteers can expect and how they can help? What would help people feel confident and connected right away? How will we ask volunteers for feedback and ideas to improve their experience?

Make it easy for people to join your team

Now that you know who you’re looking for, and what they’ll be doing, you’re ready to plan your outreach activities.  

Think about the places your neighbours already spend time (such as community bulletin boards, local social media groups, farmers’ markets, libraries, or park events) and share a friendly, specific invitation to join your group. Use photos and stories that show what volunteering looks like, so people can picture themselves getting involved. Includes clear next steps like signing up for a newsletter or attending an upcoming event. The goal is to create lots of easy entry points for people to connect with your group.

You may want to test out a couple of approaches depending on your community, your capacity, and the technology you have available. For example, Friends of Sorauren Park first created a message board for volunteers, but found that they weren’t getting much traction.  They swapped the message board for a simple sign-up form and noticed an increase in volunteer interest.

Create a welcoming first impression

First impressions go a long way. A warm in-person introduction, a simple orientation email, or an invite to a casual planning meeting can all help set the tone for why someone would want to volunteer with you. Giving people a sense of what to expect also makes it easier for them to step in and feel like part of the team.

To make sure everyone feels properly welcomed, consider starting a Volunteer Ambassadors Program. Doug’s group has seen the value of experienced volunteers stepping up to welcome and mentor new folks. Ambassadors can help answer questions, share their knowledge, and create a positive first experience for newcomers.

Encourage connection and community

Over time, Doug noticed that volunteers who felt socially connected to the group were more likely to stay involved. Creating opportunities for people to get to know each other helps turn volunteering into something more meaningful than just a task. This could look like hosting a potluck, organizing a group photo at an event, or setting up a casual chat thread where people can share ideas and stay in touch.

Support new leaders

As your group grows, some volunteers will naturally want to take on bigger roles. It helps to plan for this and encourage their development by creating opportunities to build their skills and confidence over time. Workshops, training sessions, or even informal mentoring can help volunteers feel valued and supported.

Doug saw this in action at Friends of Sorauren Park. When he stepped down as Chair, long-time volunteer Joël Campbell was ready to step into the role. Joël had already led the group’s Adopt-A-Park-Tree program for several years, which gave him experience and built trust with the group. Because of this, the transition into leadership felt smooth and natural for Joël and for the whole team.
It’s great practice to continually consider who might take over when current leaders step away from the group, and then make sure they have the tools to do so with confidence.

Show Your Appreciation

You really can’t thank volunteers enough. Doug and the Friends of Sorauren Park make a point of highlighting volunteers in their communications, and they’ve also partnered with a local sponsor to host volunteer appreciation events.

Depending on the size of your group recognition might look different. If you’re not able to coordinate an event, consider posting photos on social media, sharing quotes from volunteers in a newsletter, or creating a simple infographic to show the impact of their work.

Recognition helps volunteers feel seen and reminds everyone that their time and efforts matter.

Thanks to Doug at Friends of Sorauren Park for the great insights that come from years of successful work with volunteers!