Working with College Student Volunteers

College students are an undervalued volunteering demographic. College student volunteers serve in various contexts, including traditional and episodic settings (Smith, et. al, 2010). However, college students may have different characteristics and motivations for volunteering than other demographics (Gage & Thapa, 2011). It is important to understand the characteristics of this group, the benefits of working with them, and how to apply this knowledge to work with college student volunteers more effectively. This article will provide information that will help you recruit and work with college student volunteers.

Potential mutual benefits of working with college student volunteers

• The students' flexible schedule provides easier matching opportunities.
• Partnering with the university or community organizations can provide internship opportunities for students and more support for your program.
• Students can gain professional experience through volunteer work and apply it in a real work setting.

College Student Volunteer Characteristics

It is important to match college volunteer characteristics and organizational tasks during the recruitment strategy. Dote and colleagues (2006) of the corporation for National & Community Service identified the following characteristics of college student volunteers:

• Female college students are more likely to volunteer than males.
• White students are the most common racial demographic among college student volunteers.
• College students have many responsibilities that include extracurricular activities, sports, social clubs, and part-time jobs.
• Students who spend more time on their studies are more likely to volunteer.
• Educational organizations or youth programs are the most popular agency for college students to volunteer for, followed by religious organizations.
• Mentoring and teaching youth is the most preferred volunteering task among college student volunteers.

Tips for How to Recruit College Student Volunteers

We have synthesized Meisel's (2008) recommendations to counteract barriers that may prevent students from volunteering:

Keep your recruiting process intentional and organized.

• Emails and social media can be a good first step to gain interest.
• Use in-person recruitment methods, such as setting up a booth at a campus involvement fair.
• Ask student volunteers to speak to classes at universities or at residential life programming in dorms.
• Consider having student ambassadors recruit other students on their campus.
• Make sure you follow up with students who sign up in a timely manner.

Ask about students' hobbies and interests.

• Determine if students' interests match the needs of your organization. This will make students feel more valued and welcomed.

If a student says they are "too busy," don't give up.

• Ask students for windows of time in their schedule. See if you have times that align, and ensure them they will not be expected to commit more time than they sign up for.

Address young people's motivations for volunteering.

• Determine what students are searching for.
• Learn about students' motivations for volunteering, for example:  
  • learning something new,
  • keeping busy,
  • helping the community,
  • de-stressing from school,
  • gaining skills or professional experience, or
  • being social.
• Explain to students how your program can meet these desires for volunteering.

Sources

Dote, L., Cramer, K., Dietz, N., & Grimm Jr, R. (2006). College students helping America. Corporation for national and community service.

Gage III, R. L., and Thapa, B. (2011). Volunteer motivations and constraints among college students: Analysis of the volunteer function inventory and leisure constraints models. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(3), 405-430.

Meisle, W.W. (2008). An end to the "me" generation: getting students to volunteer. International journal of volunteer administration, 25(1).

Smith, K., Holmes, K., Haski-Leventhal, D., Cnaan, R. A., Handy, F., & Brudney, J. L. (2010). Motivations and benefits of student volunteering: Comparing regular, occasional, and non-volunteers in five countries (PDF). Canadian journal of nonprofit and social economy research, 1(1).