How to Design Graphics for Social Media to Recruit Volunteers

Probably one of the most difficult tasks for Pregnancy Center staff is volunteer recruitment.

Does volunteer recruitment feel exhausting to you?

I thought I might try and brainstorm a few creative ideas for volunteer recruitment, especially focusing on this difficult time of social distancing and people staying close to home.

First I think you might need to think creatively about how you can use volunteers during this pandemic.

Here are a few ideas.

Of course you will need client permission and contact information for some of these ideas. I imagine that most of these ideas you might have already thought about an incorporated into your volunteer program. If so, good for you!

1. Following up with current clients via zoom and phone calls
2. Client sessions via zoom
3. Parenting classes and post-abortion groups via zoom
4. Door-drop deliveries of materials to clients who need materials assistance
5. Organize a virtual baby shower for the Center with a safe drop-off location after the event.  If people order gifts online have them delivered to the Center or the organizing volunteer’s home.
6. Organize a Phone-A-Thon to call donors and personally update them on the state of affairs at the Pregnancy Center

Creating Recruitment Ads for Social Media

Social Media seems to be the thing for quite a while now for just about everything. Almost everyone has either a Facebook page and an Instagram account or both. There is a free website called Canva where you can design ads with many templates to choose from that are formatted for Instagram and Facebook.

Here is a design I created for one of the ideas listed above, a Virtual Baby Shower, with some notations to think about when designing your own volunteer ads.

Here are some other samples of recruitment ads.

I would be happy to help anyone who is interested in designing some ads for their Center. If you like any of the ads I have designed I can change the logo and use your brand colors.

Once you have your designs, I would suggest the following:

1. Send the ad for the position you are currently recruiting for, to your current volunteers and ask them to upload it to their Facebook or Instagram page. They can say yes or no but you will reach a lot more people with their help.
2. For just $10 Facebook will boost your post on the Center’s Facebook page which will reach many more people than just the folks who have chosen to follow you.
3. Since currently many churches are not meeting in person, you might call the churches that support you financially and ask if you could put one of these ads you have designed on the church’s website.
4. Use the graphics in your donor and volunteer newsletters
5. Use the graphics on the Center’s website page you use for recruiting volunteers. Graphics draw people in and capture their interest much more that long blocks of text. You can have a different graphic for each position and the viewer would have to click on the graphic to gather more in-depth information about that position.