Got volunteers, but no projects?
Refer volunteers to United Way of Washtenaw County’s Volunteer Center. Individuals, groups, students and families can find hundreds of volunteer needs listed from more than 120 Washtenaw County agencies.
Want to list your agency’s volunteer, in-kind donation or employment needs?
Click here to register your agency (Check the full list first and make sure someone else hasn’t already registered your agency. We’re happy to add multiple admins at each agency. Just contact us.)
Top Tips for making the most of your Volunteer Center postings:
- Specificity! Most volunteers that visit our site want to know what they’re getting into before they commit. They will be more drawn to specific volunteer roles with the details included and expectations communicated clearly.
- Choose ALL of the appropriate “Need Type Categories” when posting needs. This will ensure that your needs show up when volunteers searching the site narrow down their search using the different filters provided for them. Need Type Categories/Filters are things like activity type (ex: Landscaping/Gardening or Tutoring), interest area (ex: Education or Seniors’ Services) or schedule type (ex: Weekend or Short-term). There are even Filters for Court-mandated service, Youth Appropriate, and Group Work (popular filters!) There are 57 Need Type Categories for your volunteer opportunities. The more you choose, the more searches your opportunities will show up in and the more likely you are to get connected to appropriate volunteers.
- Make sure to choose the appropriate Age Requirements for your Needs AND if you have a Need posted that can accept volunteers under the age of 18, please also choose the “Youth Appropriate” Need Type Category. This will help high school students & families find your needs.
- Add new needs or do a quick edit of your existing needs periodically (once a quarter or once a month, depending upon your preferences). In the system, the Needs listing defaults to displaying the most recently added or updated needs first (users can choose to sort it other ways). Doing this “refresh” of your needs will bump it to the top of the list occasionally, thus exposing it to new eyes more often.
- If you have a one-time volunteer need (such as a big special event), be sure to choose the “Happening On” when you select the Need Duration so that it will display automatically on our Calendar which is one of the site’s most popular pages. If the event is happening over several days, you can make a separate posting for each day (easily accomplished with the “Clone” button!) so that all of the days available for volunteering display on the calendar.
- Speaking of events: If you need volunteers for an event, post it as a Need. If you want to promote an event for people to attend, post it as an Event. (It’s confusing, we know.) We promote both, but they will show up differently on the calendar and Events do NOT display on the Volunteer Needs listing at all, so you’re missing out on potential volunteers when you list a Volunteer Need as an Event.
- If you have an Agency Profile, try to have at least one need posted too. If a volunteer visits your Agency Profile page, you want to have at least one way listed for them to get involved. Any needs or events you have posted will automatically populate in the “Get Involved” section of your Agency Profile page.
- If you login to your Admin Account, you can see how many people are visiting your Agency profile, how many Fans you have and information for anyone that’s signed up for one of your Needs. Go to the Stats tab to see this information.
- Don’t forget that you can also list In-Kind Donation, Advocacy, Board/Committee and Employment Needs on the site too! All the same tips above apply.
- If you have any questions or need some extra help reach out to us: volunteer@uwwashtenaw.org, 734.677.7234. We’re happy to help!
Washtenaw Association of Volunteer Coordinators 