FAQ
If you cannot find what you are looking for in the information below, email us at volunteermatch@probonoaustralia.com.auFor Volunteers
No. The VolunteerMatch website is completely free for volunteers and Not for Profits to register with and use.
VolunteerMatch has been created to match skilled professional volunteers with Not for Profits so you won’t find any opportunities that don’t require a professional skill. We suggest you try GoVolunteer for more general volunteer opportunities.
VolunteerMatch has been created to match skilled professional volunteers with Not for Profits so you won’t find any opportunities that don’t require a professional (graduate) skill. We suggest you try the Ampersand Network for student opportunities.
To volunteer your professional skills with VolunteerMatch you can register here.
When you register with VolunteerMatch you will need to provide some basic information including:
- contact details
- skill/area of professional expertise
- a username and password
When you register with VolunteerMatch our staff will be able to see the information you enter (excluding your password information).
When you apply for an opportunity, the organisation who posted the opportunity will be able to see:
- Name
- State and Postcode
- Age
- Skill area
They will also be able to see any other information you have included to explain describe your skills and experience.
Once your application has been accepted, the organisation will then be able to see your email address so they are able to contact you to discuss the opportunity.
It is entirely up to you how much information you include about your volunteering and professional experience – but remember, the more an organisation knows about you, the easier it will be for them to see just how great you are for their opportunity! Think of it like any other employment opportunity – you need to let organisations know exactly what skills and experience you have.
If you forget your username and/or password you can use our Forgot Username or Password function to generate a new password and have your username sent to your email address. In order to use this you will need to enter in your first name, surname and the email address that you used to register with. If you don’t have this information or are having difficulty please contact us.
You can search for professional volunteer opportunities on the VolunteerMatch website at any time.
When you first register with VolunteerMatch you will get the option to not receive our fortnightly bulletin containing all the latest volunteer opportunities.
Leave the box unchecked and you will be automatically signed up. You can login and change this setting at any time.
To unsubscribe from the bulletin simply login and check the box on your profile:
"Please do not send me bulletins with available opportunities"
To apply for volunteer opportunities you must be logged in – a button at the bottom of the opportunity will allow you to ‘apply’. This will send your details to the Not for Profit for review.
Once you have send your application for an opportunity the Not for Profit has one week to either accept or reject your application. We do encourage all organisations to keep to this time frame but if you do not hear from them within this period – we suggest that you don’t contact the organisation but do keep applying for other opportunities.
If your application has been ‘accepted’ the organisation should contact you shortly to discuss the role in more detail.
If your application has been ‘rejected’ don’t lose heart! There will be plenty more opportunities to find your perfect match; so keep applying!
If your application was accepted and you have spoken or met with the organisation; it is up to them to get in touch and let you know whether you were successful in gaining the position. If you have not heard from them and the opportunity is ‘awarded’ this means the position has gone to someone else; but don’t give up-keep applying and searching for your ‘perfect match’.
Pro Bono Australia is the resource hub for Not for Profit organisations in Australia. We run the VolunteerMatch website and also provide a number of other resources that you find out more on here
For Not for Profits
No. The VolunteerMatch website is completely free for Not for Profits and volunteers to register with and use.
VolunteerMatch has been created to match skilled professional volunteers with Not for Profits so you won’t find any volunteers registered with the site that don’t want to use their professional skills. We suggest you try GoVolunteer to source volunteers that are seeking more general volunteer opportunities.
To register your Not for Profit organisation with VolunteerMatch and start posting opportunities for skilled professional volunteers just click here
When you register with VolunteerMatch you will need to provide some basic information including:
- a contact person
- your organisation name
- your organisation’s contact details – including email, phone number and state
- a username and password
- a category that best describes your organisation’s area of work e.g. Arts/Culture etc.
If you forget your username and/or password you can use our Forgot Username or Password function to generate a new password and have your username sent to your email address. In order to use this you will need to enter in your first name, surname and the email address that you used to register with. If you don’t have this information or are having difficulty please contact us.
No. The VolunteerMatch process requires the volunteer to apply for available opportunities. This ensures that the applications you receive are from active members of our database who are interested in your opportunity.
Once you have posted an opportunity, it will be available for search on the website. It will also be included the Volunteer eBulletin for the next month, or until the opportunity is filled.
Once you start receiving applications from potential volunteers you will be able to read their profiles and make a decision as to whether you ‘accept’ or ‘reject’ their application based on how well you think their skills will match the role you have advertised.
Once a volunteer applies you have seven working days to get back to them with either an ‘acceptance’ or a ‘rejection’. Otherwise the volunteer’s application will remain ‘pending’. This is not an ideal outcome; although most volunteers understand the time and resource constraints of most Not for Profits, it is common courtesy to get back to someone who has voiced an interest in your organisation.
When you accept an application, the volunteer will receive an email saying that you will contact them. You will then be able to see their email address, and can email them to discuss the opportunity further.
Once you have found the right applicant for your opportunity, you need to ‘award’ the opportunity to them. To do this you need to select their application form your home page – at the bottom of the page you need to select ‘Position awarded’. This will also remove the position from appearing in searches.
If you have accepted more than one application, you need to mark the position as not awarded for the unsuccessful applicants.
If you have awarded the position to a volunteer, you simply need to mark in the volunteer’s application that the position has been awarded. This will remove it from the searches. (Remember to also mark the position as ‘not awarded’ for unsuccessful applicants).
If you no longer want the opportunity to be filled, you can simply delete it. Select the opportunity from your home page – the option to delete the opportunity is at the bottom of the page.
When a volunteer applies for a position, you have the choice to accept or deny their application. This allows you to just contact the applicants you feel are most suitable for the opportunity. If you do not accept or reject an application, it will remain ‘pending’. This is not an ideal situation, as the volunteer has no way of knowing the status of their application. We advise that you should accept or deny applications within 7 days of them being made.
Pro Bono Australia is the resource hub for Not for Profit organisations in Australia. We run the VolunteerMatch website and also provide a number of other resources that you find out more on here
