Spending a bit of time on this will pay off in the long run.

Here are some tips to help you write an opportunity description that appeals to the right volunteer for you:
 

• Keep sentences and paragraphs short. If it’s possible to cut a word out – cut it out
 

• Always give the most important information first.
 

• Don’t be too formal and avoid using jargon.
 

• Don’t CAPITALISE – it makes words much harder to read.
 

• Give the opportunity a clear and interesting title. It should immediately give some idea of what the role is about. ‘Help a cancer charity’ doesn’t convey much. Is the opportunity in fundraising? Helping in the Office? Supporting Carers? ‘Admin Support for a Cancer Charity’ would be much clearer.
 

• Separate out different roles. Grouping opportunities together isn’t helpful – you’re expecting potential volunteers to do the work of separating them out. Different people are attracted to different roles – you wouldn’t necessarily expect the volunteer who’s great on office admin to help at a public event or give advice on a helpline. So target as accurately as possible. If you involve some volunteers in practical conservation work and others in producing your newsletter, present them as two separate roles.
 

• Give real examples of what a volunteer might actually do. You don’t need to include an exhaustive list, but concrete examples will help someone to imagine ‘that could be me’. ‘Tasks could include mowing, clearing leaves and weeding in our allotment’ paints a much clearer picture than ‘a variety of gardening tasks’.
 

• Do say what the volunteer will get out of it. What skills will they develop? What training will they get? Will they work with other volunteers, perhaps make new friends? What benefit will their volunteering bring to the organisation as a whole? How much fun will they have?
 

• And finally, try reading aloud what you’ve written. You may feel a bit daft, but you’ll quickly spot what works and what doesn’t.