Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers

This course will support you to plan for recruiting and welcoming a more diverse range of volunteers within a best practice framework

South West Museum Development Programme

A group of three people wearing grey t shirts which read 'volunteer'About the session 

Date: 1 October 2024 

Time: 10:00-13:00 

Format: Via Zoom

This course will support you to plan for recruiting and welcoming a more diverse range of volunteers within a best practice framework.

Who should attend? 

Anyone working or volunteering in a museum who has day-to-day responsibility for volunteer involvement.

In addition, this course will be very useful to managers or trustees who are forming plans for increasing the range of available volunteer opportunities, and want to develop their understanding.

It’s useful for those attending to have refreshed their understanding of their museum’s current forward planning priorities and how volunteering fits in with them, to have read your volunteer policy if you have one, and found your most recent access policy and plan, so that you can make the most of the session.

What will you learn? 

Through this session, you will….

  • Refresh your understanding of what volunteering is, how it is changing and how museums can respond
  • Identify potential barriers to volunteering and how to address them
  • Be able to research your local context and consider what diversity in volunteering looks like for your museum
  • Explore how engaging with partners can help you
  • Hear about other museums’ approaches in this area of work
  • Share practical tips through discussion
  • Consider how a strategic approach can help to achieve success
  • Learn what funders expect of the involvement of volunteers
  • Explore different ways to measure impact

How does this meet the Accreditation standard?  

1.3 A satisfactory structure for your governance and management; 7.1 An Approved Access policy; 7.2 An Approved access plan; 8.1 Understand who uses your museum, and who doesn’t

About the trainer 

Eleanor Moore supports museums across the South West with volunteer involvement and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.   She delivers training sessions, operates a community of practice and since 2021 has managed MDSW’s delivery of two major NLHF-funded development programmes.  Eleanor’s background is in social and community history curatorship with experience of collections, engagement and volunteering projects.  Eleanor is an Associate Member of the Museums Association and holds an ILM Level 3 in volunteer management.