Interviewing and Screening Volunteers

Interviewing and screening potential volunteers is an important part of the onboarding process.

Using a template for interviewing and screening can be helpful for several reasons:

• Ensuring Fit: A structured template can help determine if a volunteer is a good fit. It allows your to assess their skills, motivations, and compatibility with your mission and values.
• Consistency: It ensures all volunteers are evaluated using the same criteria, promoting fairness and consistency in the selection process.
• Risk Management: Effective screening helps identify potential risks, such as unsuitable candidates who might pose a threat to the safety and well-being of clients, staff or other volunteers.
• Efficiency: a template streamlines the interviewing and screening process, saving time and resources by providing a clear framework for conducting interviews and background checks.
• Legal Compliance: It helps ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, such as conducting background checks and verifying qualifications which is particularly important when working with vulnerable populations.
• Improved Retention: By matching volunteers with roles that suit skills and interests, you can enhance satisfaction and commitment.

This template can be used during the onboarding process when interviewing prospective volunteers.

This template has been developed under the National Volunteer Management Activity project.