How to host a warm welcome event: a volunteer's guide

Thinking of doing a recruitment drive?

Set up a warm welcome event for those interested in volunteering to help boost your volunteer numbers.

What’s a warm welcome event?

A warm welcome event is something you can plan after your recruitment drive to give potential volunteers more information about joining Girlguiding. It’s a good way to welcome people who are interested in volunteering but aren't quite ready to register with us yet.

For example, if you’re hosting a stall and handing out leaflets at a local event, you could host a welcome webinar or in-person event the week after to share more information about what being a Girlguiding volunteer looks like.

An example from Cara, a unit leader based in Cambridgeshire

Cara and over 340 Rainbows, Brownies and Guides hosted a scavenger hunt takeover in Cambridge for their annual recruitment drive. Girls learnt about amazing women with links to the city, including astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, publisher Margaret Busby, and actor Emma Thompson, showing them that girls really can do anything!

We were putting things out to Instagram and Facebook about the scavenger hunt and then about the follow up event as well. We sent it out to commissioners locally. The reason we used the event was so that we could get people to sign up and we could have their contact details.’ - Cara.

Alongside the recruitment drive, Cara set up an online welcome event.

Having [a warm welcome event] as an option when you’ve had a big event is good. 2 weeks after, you can follow up with any PR from the event, say ‘OK, well: sign up here’ and it gives you that immediate follow on.’ - Cara.

Why do they work?

Online welcome webinars work well as they’re often more accessible. People from across the area can attend without travelling. They give potential enquirers an informal and relaxed introduction to guiding and they’re easy to organise.

I can do it from home. I can do it online. I don't need to go to the executive and ask for permission to spend money. Just come and sit, bring a cup of tea, listen to someone natter at you for half an hour and then you're done.’ - Cara.

Cara shared she reported an uptake in volunteer enquirers (21) compared to the same time last year (3).

Something helped, whether it was the scavenger hunt or the fact that we were being more proactive on social media than we had been for a long time. Having that follow on feels like a sensible thing to have.’ - Cara.

Who can host them?

Just like recruitment drives, anyone in guiding can plan a warm welcome event. It could be commissioners, growth coordinators, or even unit leaders.

If you’re completing your Queen's Guide award, you could plan a warm welcome event as part of your guiding challenge in growth and retention.

It would be good to try and get more volunteers involved in running it so that if we have a slide deck that we could send out, other people could participate. We're quite limited on how many trainers we have, but it’s something that can be run with a couple of commissioners or experienced volunteers.’ - Cara.

What to cover

• Recent activities or unforgettable events you’ve experienced as a volunteer.
• A bit about our programme, badges and the fun things they could get up to with us!
• Share the welcome to Girlguiding video on YouTube.
• Personal anecdotes from volunteers or stories from girls who have grown in confidence thanks to your support.
• Examples of ways to get involved - from working directly with girls in units to supporting behind-the-scenes with admin.
• The benefits of volunteering with Girlguiding, including things like learning and development training or the international opportunities that are available.
• How to register with us, if they haven’t already.

It was a brief introduction to guiding [like] the things covered in the new welcome video. Things like basic structure, what volunteer roles are available, what you can expect as a volunteer – training and expenses and what you can get out of it.’ - Cara.

When is the best time to host one?

Generally speaking, you can host a warm welcome event anytime. It’s a good idea to aim for 1-2 weeks after your recruitment drive, so you catch people who are interested while Girlguiding is still fresh in their minds.

Ideally, it would be nice to do it once per term. It might fill the gap a little bit on basic stuff like expenses, training opportunities and the purpose of us as a charity. If we were doing it again, I think we’d try and push the webinar a bit harder with commissioners and people already in guiding to suggest opening it up to those who have recently joined, rather than just people on the contacted list.’ - Cara.

Here are some points in the year you might want to consider tagging warm welcome events to your recruitment plans:

• Volunteers’ Week. Use this time to host welcome events that celebrate your local volunteers and introduce them to the community.
• New year’s. It’s a prime time when people think about trying something new or making changes to their life – volunteering might be one of them!
• International Day of the Girl (11 OctobeR). On a day that’s nationally celebrated in Girlguiding, you could use this time to spread the word about our mission and host a follow-on welcome event.
• At the start of new term. Lots of schools and universities start up again from August and September. If you’re already planning to attend freshers’ fairs or set up student stalls, why not follow up with a warm welcome webinar afterwards?

Resources to help you plan for a warm welcome event

• Watch and share this welcome video at your event.
• Download the ‘develop your life skills with Girlguiding’ leaflet (PDF 57.9 KB).
• Recruitment marketing materials.
• Information about welcoming new volunteers.