Volunteering gives people a sense of purpose and achievement, improves self-esteem and confidence and helps to combat stress, loneliness, isolation and depression. It’s also a great way to develop skills and potentially create career pathways. Volunteers are the lifeblood of community sport and it’s essential for clubs to reward, recognise and retain them.
What sporting clubs can do to capture new volunteers and support existing ones
- Utilise digital content to pitch to and attract volunteers to your club.
- Explore alternative ways to recruit volunteers (university placements, corporate volunteering, etc).
- Provide professional and personal development opportunities for volunteers.
- Explore technology options to support volunteers in performing their duties.
- Use social platforms to communicate with volunteers.
- Use online community platforms for project management within the club to ease the burden on volunteers.
- Explore micro-volunteering.
- Explore virtual volunteering.
- Use online community platforms to seek volunteers or workers who fill gaps in their capabilities.
- Recognise the contributions of volunteers, and their families and partners who often pick up the slack at home in that person’s absence.
How to become a volunteer
If you're interested in giving back to the community and offering your services as a volunteer, you can get involved by doing the following:
- Contact your local club and offer your services.
- Contact a State Sporting or Recreation Association that interests you and ask them if there are any volunteering opportunities available.
- Visit some other volunteer websites for opportunities:
