To do a volunteer job, you must have compassion and an urge to do something for others without expecting anything in return. It is one of the selfless acts and is taken up by those people who want to contribute towards the society in some way or the other.
When you are applying for a volunteer position in a company or an organization, you must highlight your volunteer skills in the volunteer cover letter. The readers of the letter should have the impression that you love to volunteer and are proud of your work.
Volunteers usually work in a team that helps them to complete the volunteer project taken by the organization. The readers are eager to know whether you can work as a team and can gel in their organization. Inform the readers of your volunteer cover letter that you are a great team person and you can perform better in any working environment. This is necessary to communicate because the success of any project depends upon efforts put in by the team as a whole.
Another thing you should include in the volunteer cover letter is your communication skills and leadership quality. As a volunteer, you will have to interact with people from a different status and social background. Inform the recruiters that you have the knowledge, compassion and empathy towards people of the society, regardless of their social and economic status. At times, you will even have to lead the team you are working with. If you have the quality to lead and take fair and quick decisions on your own, include it in the cover letter.
Following are the instructions to write your volunteer cover letter:
- There are number of options you can choose to volunteer. Depending on your interest, you must research the organizations that have similar volunteer interest. For instance, if you are interested to volunteer to help animals, then you must find out those organizations that are volunteering for animals. If you are compassionate in helping old people, then you can prefer to work with such organization that cares for geriatrics.
- Don’t address your letter to the human-resource department. Get the name of the person who is the head of the department and address the cover letter to his/her. Any person would love to see a letter addressed to him/her and as a matter of courtesy towards the writer may read the letter.
- Include your education and special skills that the employers want for the volunteer position. Let the employers know why you have chosen to volunteer. You can describe an interesting incident of your life that made you to choose the volunteer profession. Be sure to communicate your interest in one paragraph only, and keep the length of the cover letter confined to one page.
- You can choose the volunteering option that best suits you. Let the employers know whether you are applying for a training, full-time employment, or have any preference in workings hours and days.
- In the conclusion, inform the readers about your volunteer skills and experiences that you feel will work as an asset for the organization. You can write “With seven years of volunteer experience in helping old-age people, I am confident that you will find my contributions as an asset for your organization.”
- Inform the readers about any attachments you are sending with the cover letter. Stating about the attachment will help in situations when your attachment gets misplaced from the cover letter due to improper stapling, or other reasons. In those situations, the reader may contact you and ask you to send the resume.
These are the instructions you should follow while writing your volunteer cover letter. If you want to see the cover letter sample, then help yourself by clicking on the links below. |
