Whether you’re selling popcorn, flower bulbs, cookie dough, candles, or another exciting item, a product fundraiser is a great way to engage your supporters and earn money for your cause. Since donors receive something in exchange for their donations, they’ll be more inclined to contribute—creating a win-win situation for all.

A strong team of volunteers can help you plan and run these campaigns effectively. In this guide, we’ll provide tips for how you can create a comprehensive volunteer recruitment strategy to make your product fundraiser a success.

1. Clearly define volunteer roles.

To encourage potential applicants to sign up for volunteer work and set them up for success in the role, you need to clarify exactly what you expect of them. Communicate the specific tasks and responsibilities for each volunteer position in your product fundraiser, as well as the associated time commitment.

For example, if you’re recruiting volunteers to sell your product, you might say something like, “Our volunteer salespeople should be comfortable memorizing and delivering an ‘elevator pitch’ to friends, family, and neighbors. Over the course of two weeks, you’ll collect orders and then turn your order sheet into the fundraising coordinator.”

Additional roles you may recruit for your product fundraiser include:

  • Fundraising event coordinator
  • Marketing team
  • Delivery crew
  • Donor stewardship team

You should also make potential volunteers aware of any other requirements of your volunteer program, such as training or orientation sessions they need to complete before they start their first shift. This helps them gain a complete understanding of the expectations of the role.

2. Familiarize volunteers with your product.

The star of your product fundraiser is the product itself. No matter which roles they hold, volunteers should know your product inside and out so they can confidently promote it and drive higher sales.

For example, if you’re hosting a discount card fundraiser, your volunteers should be able to answer questions like:

  • How does a discount card work?
  • Which vendors are represented on the discount cards?
  • How much do they cost to purchase?
  • How long are the cards’ offers good for?

Additionally, volunteers should be able to pinpoint key selling points. In the case of a discount card fundraiser, ABC Fundraising explains that this campaign is “a great way for your group to offer a very valuable product to your friends, family, and supporters [that] allows them to save money over and over.”

When volunteers have a complete knowledge of the product you sell, they’ll feel more confident about becoming involved with your team and want to deepen their engagement.

3. Highlight your cause.

Ultimately, the purpose of your product fundraiser is to raise money for your cause. Luckily, according to 360MatchPro’s volunteer statistics guide, 66% of people volunteer to improve their community, and 83% do so to contribute to a cause they care about.

Showcasing your mission and cause helps potential volunteers understand how their contributions will make a difference and may entice them to sign up. Help them form an emotional connection to your cause by:

  • Telling beneficiary stories. Demonstrate how your work changed the lives of your beneficiaries by featuring their stories in your volunteer recruitment materials and on your website, social media, and newsletter.
  • Sharing images and videos. Use real photos and clips of donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries to highlight the people who make up your community and show volunteers that they’re making a difference.
  • Featuring volunteer testimonials. Encourage prospective volunteers to sign up by including testimonials from past volunteers in your recruitment materials.
  • Reporting on your impact. Use statistics to show the tangible impact your organization has made on its community and share them on social media or in an impact report.

Let’s say you’re hosting a school fundraiser to build a new playground and need to recruit parent volunteers to assist with your product fundraising campaign. You may share mockups of the playground and the benefits it will have for your students, quotes from past parent volunteers, and statistics that show how impactful your last product fundraiser was.

4. Offer flexible opportunities.

Some people may want to help your nonprofit but feel they don’t have adequate time or skills to do so. By offering flexible opportunities, you can involve as many prospective volunteers as possible and ensure your fundraiser runs smoothly.

These opportunities may include:

  • Micro-volunteering. Volunteering for your product fundraiser doesn’t have to mean difficult or time-consuming tasks. Offer smaller roles that accommodate volunteers with busy schedules. For a product fundraiser, micro-volunteering opportunities may include entering data from product sales, documenting successes and challenges of the campaign, or cleaning up at the end of a fundraising event.
  • Skills-based volunteering. People may be more willing to volunteer for your product fundraiser if they can use their skill sets. For instance, a supporter who’s a graphic designer may appreciate the opportunity to create your marketing materials.
  • Virtual volunteering. Supporters outside of your local area can get involved via virtual volunteering. They may help with virtual fundraising events, edit promotional videos, or update the fundraising page on your website.

Understanding your volunteers’ desired time commitments and interests can help you better manage them and match them with suitable opportunities. Make sure to ask them about their preferences when they sign up to volunteer and store them in your volunteer database.

5. Reach out to companies for corporate volunteers.

As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, many companies engage in corporate volunteerism. In addition to helping nonprofits, this form of CSR allows businesses to:

  • Engage their employees
  • Attract top talent
  • Enhance their reputation
  • Improve employee well-being

Reaching out to companies with corporate volunteer programs is a great way to secure a team of volunteers for your product fundraiser. Ask your current volunteers if their employers offer volunteer programs, or conduct your own research on local businesses.

Then, you can highlight the benefits of corporate volunteerism for companies, including what you’ll offer them in return for their participation. For instance, you may post a photo of their corporate volunteer team on social media to highlight your partnership and the company’s commitment to social good.

After you’ve completed the volunteer recruitment process, you’ll need to put in the work to retain your volunteers for future campaigns. Start by creating a positive volunteer experience that takes your volunteer base’s specific characteristics and preferences into account.

Once your product fundraiser is over, collect volunteer feedback and store it in your constituent relationship management (CRM) system. That way, you can improve your volunteer recruitment and retention strategies over time.