How do we attract and manage new volunteers?

[Phade]

Hey Everyone!

As you know, we’ve been hard at work on refactoring the site, not just in terms of how it looks, but also how it functions, how it’s organized, and how the underlying infrastructure is maintained. While we've kicked things off nicely, most of the effort so far has come from only a few individuals.

To keep things sustainable and continually improving, we really need to bring more people into the team. There are lots of ways community members can contribute. Some may only have a few hours to help with simple tasks, while others might have the skills and time to take on more complex or ongoing responsibilities.

That said, we’re now at the point where we need to start building an effective system for attracting, vetting, and onboarding volunteers. It seemed simple 20 years ago with only a limited number of possible online communication platforms. But today, people communicate differently, often more frequently, and with specialized platforms for specific styles of interactions (think of the differences with Discord, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on).

So it comes down to this: How can we attract new volunteers to this project? What kinds of messaging or outreach (other than forum posts) might get people excited to help?

Once people start showing up, how should we assess what volunteers can do? Are there simple ways to evaluate their skills, availability, and interests without creating too much friction?

What would an easy onboarding process look like? How can we get people up to speed quickly so they can start contributing quickly?

How can volunteers learn about tasks that match their skills and time commitment without them having to ask and ask and ask? How should we have a running list of tasks or project areas where help is needed?

I’d love to hear your suggestions, experiences, or examples of what’s worked in other communities. Anything that helps us lower the barrier to entry and make volunteering feel easy, fun, and meaningful would be incredibly valuable!!

Thanks again and have fun!!

Phade.