• Solution
  • Pricing
  • Industries
  • Blog
  • Log in
  • Request a Demo
  • Sign Up

Happy Volunteering Blog

5 Ways to Recruit Race Volunteers

December 4, 2017December 5, 2017 Julie Kent Event Management Solutions, Event Solutions, How To's

Like any event, organizing a race has a lot of moving pieces.

 

From figuring out the route to creating bibs, it’s no wonder volunteer recruitment is so essential. Yet it’s often hard to find enough to fill all of your water stations, start line, and finish line. 

 

Good news: we’ve sprinted around the internet (we’ll stop with the terrible puns soon), talked to race organizers, and used our own experiences to curate a “top five” list of creative methods to recruit race volunteers.  

 

Even better news – VolunteerLocal will make the process of setting up and managing volunteers so seamless that you’ll have more time to focus on runner registrations so your event can be as successful as possible.

 

And now, without further ado…

 

 

Hit the streets: Once you have your course route, go door-to-door and ask residents to volunteer as Course Marshals. It’s old fashioned, but it works! Make the offer impossible to turn down: “All you have to do is step outside!” Bonus tip: work directly with the neighborhood association(s) to create and post flyers. Earning the endorsement of the neighborhood can go a long way!

 

 

Connect with high schools: High schools are full of potential volunteers as many schools require a certain number of volunteer hours. Bonus tip: target track or cross country teams, beta clubs, or other student activity groups within the school to find your most eager team members.

 

 

 

Make it fun: The essence of volunteer work is that it’s unpaid, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show appreciation for people giving their time. A little bit can go a long way – offering a free-t shirt or breakfast before the race can go a long ways towards making sure your volunteers are happy. Bonus tip: If your budget is tight, offering a discount off future race registration is a great option!

 

 

Reach out to family & friends: Most racers invite friends and family to cheer them on at a race, so why not convert them into volunteers instead? You likely already have all of the racers’ email addresses, so the next time you’re sending information about the race, include a blurb asking for their help recruiting volunteers. Bonus tip: Offering a discount or a free t-shirt for recruiting a certain number of volunteers could help.

 

 

Make it easy: This should go without saying, but we live in a day and age where we expect everything to be fast and simple. If you ask someone to volunteer for an event, but have a multi-step registration process, you’ll likely lose some sign-ups along the way. Ideally, we find that three steps or less really helps streamline the process. Bonus tip: VolunteerLocal can help! 

 

And that’s the run around! With the right volunteers, your event will easily fly across the finish line (last pun, we swear). 

 

Keep it Simple Manage Volunteers Race Volunteers Recruit Volunteers Recruiting Volunteers Recruitment Sign Up Sign Up Volunteers Volunteer Volunteer Management Volunteers Volunteers Needed

Julie Kent

Julie is a staff writer at VolunteerLocal. She enjoys living by the mountains, binging on Netflix, and volunteering.

Post navigation

Inspiring Volunteers to Tackle Worst Jobs
Field Expert: Anne Summers

Archives

  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012

Meta

  • Log in
See our reviews on Capterra, Crozdesk

Submit your email to sign up for our newsletter:


 

Thank you! Please check your inbox & confirm the opt-in.

Home    Features    Pricing    Customers    Integrations    Contact Us    Our Company    Blog   

© 2009-2022 VolunteerLocal    Terms of Service