For organisations

Your organisation’s listings on Volunteer Bucks are an excellent way of advertising your roles to potential volunteers. Here are some hints and tips to help get the best from our platform. First impressions count The image that you choose is important. Depending on the search criteria chosen by a potential volunteer, they may see a screen full of images relating to a whole host of opportunities listed by a variety of organisations. Volunteers are likely to click on a well-centred, clear image before investigating a blurry or truncated picture or an image that doesn’t seem to link to the role being listed or the purpose of the organisation. You can find advice on choosing and sizing your images in our blog on Using images when posting Volunteer Opportunities . Keep your listings up to date Once a volunteer contacts you to sign up for or find out more about a role, the system automatically logs this as “pending”. You can see the status of all your active roles by going into your organisation’s profile page. If there is a small number next to the “Opportunities” in the menu on the left-hand side, this means that there is something for you to do: In this example, there are 3 roles where the system has one or more “pending” applications. These may relate to applications where you are still in discussion with the potential volunteer, but often applications that are “pending” are simply those where the outcome of the application has not been recorded. Once you click on “Opportunities”, a list of all your organisation’s active listings appears. Next to each are small numbers which indicate how many volunteers have been accepted and how many applications are pending. Eg: Clicking on those numbers takes you to the details of all applications there have been for that role. From that screen you can access all messages to and from the volunteer, and message the volunteer and you can also change the status of the application. For example, means that the application is logged as “pending”. Clicking on that yellow dot allows you to change this the status to “accepted”, “declined” or “on reserve list”. Archive filled or expired roles If you have enough volunteers for the role you have listed, you can mark it as filled. Once you have filled a volunteer role or no longer need volunteers for that role, do archive the listing. This hides the listing from public view, but keeps it in a separate folder so you can reactivate it or copy it as a template for another role at a later date. Archiving helps to keep your organisation’s profile on Volunteer Bucks clearly focussed on your current roles that you would like volunteers to come forward for. You can find the mark a role as filled or archive it using the toolbar under the image on your role listing page: These steps can save you time in having to deal with messages from potential volunteers interested in roles that are no longer available. No response to your listing? If after two weeks or so you’ve had no interest in the role(s) you have listed, it is worth refreshing the listing. Things you might think about are: A new image Changing the role title to something more descriptive Changing the wording in the Summary part of your listing – this appears under the image on the volunteer’s search results page If you have a question or need help, you can get in touch by emailing [email protected]

BucksVision is a registered charity whose staff and volunteers support those with sight loss in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Why do you use the Volunteer Bucks platform? BucksVision had been using the Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service to find volunteers since 2022 with some success, so we were keen to have a presence on the Volunteer Bucks platform which replaced it as soon as it was announced. As with other charities, finding volunteers is increasingly difficult but we have found Volunteer Bucks is a great system which allows us to get our roles out to a wider audience who are actively looking to take on a volunteer role. How easy is the platform to use? We started using Volunteer Bucks after attending a very helpful webinar on how to use it and how to get started as an organisation. We've found the platform is user friendly and easy to navigate. It takes about 30 minutes to add a role to the platform - mainly due to getting the knack of uploading the images but it gets easier when you have completed a few. How do you use the platform to communicate with potential volunteers? Volunteer Bucks has a number of useful functions which has definitely helped us to communicate with people who are interested in our roles. We use the chat function to make initial contact with the volunteer and then use emails to send applications forms and to respond to any queries. Have you encountered any challenges or difficulties while using the platform? The main challenge we have is the time it takes to follow up with the numerous applications we receive. Some people who have said they are interested in the role do not respond after we make contact with them, but this is something we have also experienced through our other recruitment methods. How has the platform impacted your ability to attract volunteers? In just three months, we have successfully recruited seven volunteers through the platform: three administrators, three drivers, and one be-friender. This is fantastic given the short time the platform has been live. The interest in some of our roles is higher than usual - for example, we received seven applications for one admin role! We are looking at starting a new recruitment campaign soon to attract volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25. We will be using Volunteer Bucks as part of this as we feel it will help us reach new potential volunteers from across Buckinghamshire.

Are you looking for volunteers to support your organisation in Buckinghamshire? Are you keen to find a new way to engage and recruit volunteers? Volunteer Bucks is an online platform where volunteers and organisations across Buckinghamshire can find and connect with each other. Run by charity Community Impact Bucks , the online platform is free to use and is open to organisations looking for volunteers to fill roles in Buckinghamshire, helping reduce your costs around volunteer recruitment. Community Impact Bucks runs two types of webinars for organisations to help them register and start recruiting volunteers via the platform, and how to use other features on the platform. Held on Zoom, there are two webinars to choose from: ‘Get started’ webinars for groups: These webinars are a good opportunity for your organisation to: Discover its benefits: learn how Volunteer Bucks can help enhance your volunteer programme by making your roles more visible to potential volunteers across Buckinghamshire. Get step-by-step guidance: receive a live demonstration to introduce some of the platform’s features and functionalities. Ask your questions: speak directly to the Volunteer Bucks team during the Q&A session which follows the presentation. This webinar complements the guide on Steps to Get Started for Organisations webpage , which includes video tutorials, and is perfect for organisations new to Volunteer Bucks or anyone looking for a refresher. ‘Advanced features’ webinars for groups: These webinars will give your organisation the opportunity to learn how to: Promote your volunteer opportunities: find out how to embed your Volunteer Bucks' roles into your website, and easily promote the roles on social media Use the platform's forms and files: take a more in-depth look at forms (e.g. creating an application form) and files (e.g. if you need volunteers to upload a particular file when they apply for a volunteer role). Use the platform's data and analytics: track your organisation's roles and volunteers, and see which opportunities are getting more views. Ask your questions: speak directly to the Volunteer Bucks team during the Q&A session which follows the presentation. This webinar accompanies our Advanced Features guide and is aimed at organisations who are already familiar with Volunteer Bucks. How to register? Choose your preferred webinar and date from the list below, and secure your free place by clicking the link below and filling out the registration form. ‘Get started’ webinars for groups Tuesday 25th November 2025 - 10-11am Tuesday 20th January 2026 - 2-3pm Thursday 7th May 2026 - 11am-12pm Book your ticket on Eventbrite . 'Advanced features' webinars for groups Wednesday 10th December 2025 - 11am-12pm Thursday 26th March 2026 - 10-11am Tuesday 2nd June 2026 - 2-3pm Book your ticket on Eventbrite.