By Apakshit Sachdeva and Basil Sadiq

Today, nearly 120,000 organizations are looking for volunteers on VolunteerMatch. With more than seven million volunteers registered, the good news there’s plenty of talent to go around.

Before you post a volunteer opportunity, however, it’s important to identify your department or program’s needs. Once you do, it’s time to write your volunteer opportunity, or appeal. Think of this as your organization’s cover letter.

Guest post by Kenneth Waldman

Getting your employees to volunteer can be a challenging task. However, it can provide your company and your employees with many benefits that aren’t obvious right away. Employees may see volunteering as something that cuts into their time — either on or off work. In reality, volunteering represents a way of giving back to one’s community while strengthening relationships and building new skills, all of which ultimately improves the workplace and boosts employee engagement and retention.

Imagine this scenario: you write a position description, craft a compelling volunteer opportunity, hit publish, then wait. You either don’t receive many responses or hear back from volunteers that aren’t a great fit. Here’s where things get interesting: you’re not alone! For the third year in-a-row, volunteer managers worldwide still list volunteer recruitment as their #1 challenge.

Mother nature just wreaked havoc on your community — now what?

In times of disaster, people are eager to help. They seek ways to feel helpful and resourceful. If it makes sense for your local organization to help communities affected following a natural disaster, here’s a checklist for finding the right volunteers. We can’t emphasize this enough: please use your best discretion to keep you — and those around you — safe from harm.