Answers about our service, advertising roles and working with applicants.
We’re a one-stop shop for the volunteering needs of not-for-profit organisations in Dublin City. We help with recruiting volunteers, managing them, Garda vetting, and policies and procedures.
Any not-for-profit organisation, including charities, community groups, co-operatives and statutory bodies such as health centres, schools and hospitals. See the I-VOL terms and conditions for organisations.
Register your organisation on I-VOL. Once you’re registered, you can use our recruitment, advice and support services.
No. It’s free to register and to use our recruitment, advice and support services.
Volunteer Ireland and the Volunteer Centres are joint data controllers for I-VOL, and are the only organisations with initial access to your information. We take this responsibility seriously. Read the I-VOL privacy notice for organisations.
I-VOL is Ireland’s national searchable database of volunteering opportunities. It’s run by Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services.
Once you’ve registered, we’ll email you an access key so you can post your roles. Your advert then appears on I-VOL, where people across the country search for volunteering. Tips on posting a role.
We encourage roles to be open to as wide a range of people as possible, which usually brings a better response. There are occasional exceptions, such as a male mentor for teenage boys, but the advert must make clear why it’s needed.
Talk to us. We can extend your closing date, look at your advert together and suggest changes, such as more flexible hours. It also helps to look at similar roles that have attracted volunteers.
Please let us know, so we can take your advert down and tell anyone who’s interested that the role has been filled.
When someone registers interest in your role on I-VOL, we’re notified and forward their contact details to you. It’s then up to you to follow up and explain the next steps.
You choose the right volunteer for your organisation. You’re responsible for checking the information volunteers give you, and for any vetting, screening and suitability checks.
Yes. We’ll contact you soon after your advert goes live to see how applications are going. Later, we’ll send you the list of people who registered interest and ask how each one is getting on. You can contact us at any stage.
Some people register interest but don’t take the next step, such as sending a CV, so you may never have heard from them. If that leaves you short of applicants, we can help you adjust the advert or the application process.
We can re-advertise the role. Look again at the skills and experience you’ve asked for, and at similar roles, to help attract the right person.
Yes. Contact the person, explain that you don’t have a role for them right now, and ask if you can keep their details on file in case a similar role comes up.
For some roles, it helps to set a trial period in the advert, with a view to extending it. Support new volunteers well and give them the training they need. If it still isn’t working, you’ll need to tell them their role is ending.
It depends on the role. One-off events, like a beach clean-up, don’t usually need expenses. For ongoing roles of several hours a week, it’s good practice to cover costs such as travel, or to recognise volunteers’ time in other ways.
Talk to our team. We’re happy to help.
