FAQ for Organisations
about our service
What services does the Volunteer Centre offer?
We are a one-stop shop for all the volunteering needs of local voluntary and community organisations in Dublin City. We are here to support, build the capacity of and recruit volunteers so that you can deliver your services more effectively. We can help with volunteer recruitment, volunteer management, Garda vetting, developing policies and procedures and much more. For further information, click on the following links.
What type of organisations does the Volunteer Centre support?
We support any not-for-profit organisations. This may include charities, community groups, co-operatives and statutory organisations, such as health centres, schools, hospitals, etc. See our I-VOL Terms and Conditions for further information.
How can I avail of the services of the Volunteer Centre?
Registering your Volunteer Involving Organisation with the Volunteer Centre opens up a wealth of services. You can access the online registration form here.
Is there a charge to register with the Volunteer Centre?
It is free to register with the Volunteer Centre and access its recruitment, advice and support services.
Who will have access to my data?
As Joint Data Controllers Volunteer Ireland and the Volunteer Centres/Volunteering Information Services (VC/VIS) will be the only organisations to have initial access to your information. We take this responsibility seriously and are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. See I-VOL Privacy Notice for Volunteer Involving Organisations.
What is the I-VOL database?
I-VOL is the national searchable database of volunteering opportunities in Ireland and is owned, managed and administered by Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services across Ireland.
Engaging Volunteers
How do I advertise my volunteer opportunity?
Once you have registered your organisation with the Volunteer Centre you will receive your access key by email that will enable you to upload details of your volunteer opportunities. Your role advert will then be included on our online I-VOL database, used by potential volunteers nationwide who are searching for volunteer opportunities.
How Will I know if someone is interested in my volunteer opportunity?
Your active role advert will be visible to people searching the I-VOL database for volunteer opportunities. The Volunteer Centre will receive notification when someone expresses an interest in your opportunity and they will forward the contact details to you. It is your responsibility to follow up with the potential volunteer to explain next steps in the recruitment process.
What happens after someone expresses an interest in volunteering with my organisation?
It is the responsibility of Your Organisation to select the appropriate volunteer for your organisation. You are responsible for verifying information provided by volunteers and for all vetting, screening and suitability assessments. See our I-VOL Terms and Conditions for further information.
What happens if no one applies for the volunteering role?
We can extend the closing date to allow more time, relook at the advert to see if we can make changes to encourage people to apply e.g. Make the hours more flexible. We can also look at similar roles to see how they attracted volunteers.
What happens if the applicants who are applying do not fit the criteria?
If you don’t find someone appropriate, we can re-advertise the role again and carefully look at the required skills set/experience needed to try and attract the right candidate. Look at similar roles for ideas
If there is a big response and there are several applicants who may fit the role can I tell them their details will be kept on file for future possible roles?
Yes!
You can contact the individual and explain that you don’t have a current role for them but would like to keep their details on file in case the same or similar role comes up in the future.
What happens if someone starts volunteering but they end up not being the right fit?
Depending on the type of role you are advertising, you can put in the advert a minimum period that you require someone for, with the view to extending it. This will allow you, and the volunteer, to see how the role fits. It is important to support the volunteer when they start and provide them with necessary training etc. If however you still feel they are not the right fit, you will have to inform them that they are not longer required.
Can I specify a specific gender in my advert?
We generally encourage volunteer roles to be open to as wide a diversity of people as possible, which will hopefully result in a good response to your advert and help find you the best person for the role. There are however exceptions when you can specify for example, a particular gender e.g. male mentor to teenagers, but it has to be clear why this is required.
Do you have to offer to refund expenses e.g. Transport costs?
It depends on the type of role you are advertising. For example if it is a one off event, e.g Beach clean, there is no need to provide refund expenses. If your role is ongoing/several hours a week, it is a good idea to provide some sort acknowledgement for the persons time, either reimbursement of transport costs and/or alternatively recognition gifts (This currently maybe more appropriate with a lot of roles being done from home)
Do I need to inform you if I find a volunteer through other means?
Ideally yes. We will be in contact with you during the process to find out how you are getting on and also provide you with a list of people who have registered interest in the role. If you find a volunteer in the meantime, please let us know so that we can deactivate the advert on our website and inform the interested volunteers that the role is no longer available.
Will the Volunteer Centre check in with me during the process of finding a volunteer?
Yes!
Generally we will contact you shortly after the advert has been activated on I-Vol to find out how you are getting on with applications and whether we can help in anyway. A set time after this we will send through the list of names who have registered on our website for your role and ask you for an update on their current situation – This feeds into our Volunteers database. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any stage of the process, our primary aim is to help you find you suitable volunteers for your organisation.
I have been provided with a list of names from you, who registered interest in my role, but I do not recognise them?
People initially register their interest through our website. Depending on the type of role, there is normally another step in the application process, for example sending through their CV. If they do not continue onto the next step, you will not be aware of these names when you receive the updated information from us. There are many reasons why this may happen, and whilst we actively encourage people to only apply for the roles they are definitely interested in, we do find that there are people who don’t follow up. Hopefully you will still have enough interested volunteers and if not we can look at amending the advert or application process to try and avoid this issue.