Can Do Bristol has been created and designed to help foster connections and create collaborations that are good for neighbourhoods and communities across Bristol. It’s for this reason that community groups, charities and organisations of all sizes are encouraged to use Can Do Bristol to enhance the great work they are already doing.
Organisation looking to recruit volunteers?
There are some guidelines below to raising your profile and creating a stand-out volunteer advert.
Before placing an volunteer advert for the first time please check our volunteer activity guidelines to ensure that your opportunity is appropriate for Can Do Bristol.
And keep reading for a few hints and tips to help your organisation make the most of the Can Do platform.
1. Get the most out of your profile
If you use Can Do properly, your profile will rank very highly on Google – it’s free, so why not give it a try?
Sign in and head to your dashboard to edit your profile. Make sure you're using the full name of the organisation, not your own name, and tick the box that describes the profile as an organisation, not an individual.
When you add a description, try to add as much information as possible. Remember that using all capitals is not accessible for many people. Instead, you can use headings and bullet points to display your information in different ways.
When you add your profile picture, try to make the logo for your organisation clear and not blurry. You may have a photo of your group you could add. If it looks blurry when you save, you’ll need to find a higher quality image.
If your organisation has a video, find the link on Youtube or Vimeo and click ‘share’. Copy the embed code and paste it into the box on your profile page.
Adding links to any other online presence helps to make you rank higher on search engines.
If you’re using your organisation’s public email account, you’ll probably want to click to allow users to email you directly.
Lastly, add Best Match tags to your profile to help make your searchable on the directory. Users choose these tags to match their needs and interests, so you won’t come up unless you’ve tagged yourself!
Promote volunteer opportunities
If your work is based in Bristol, you are doing something positive, and you are in need of extra support to make good things happen then look no further. Can Do is a community made up of local people wanting to make a difference who are on the lookout for opportunities to give their time.
So whether you’re hosting a one-off event or looking for regular volunteers to help with projects, why not take a few minutes to upload your opportunity and watch as Can Do members pledge?
Can Do Tips: Volunteering
- Ensure your opportunity stands out by adding a relevant and eye-catching image.
- Add as much relevant detail about your opportunity.
- Add best match tags to your opportunity so people with the right skills or interests can find you.
- Add a link to a registration survey so members are automatically directed there once they’ve pledged.
Please ensure you have read our volunteer activity guidelines to ensure that your opportunity is appropriate for being promoted on Can Do Bristol.
Make connections
In an age of social media overload, it’s becoming harder to make meaningful connections which lead to real, positive action; it can be hard to get the right message to the right people when there are so many messages coming from every direction.
Can Do Bristol is unique because it enables members to find connections within our city and, importantly, find connections based on shared interests, skills and passions. We believe that making connections like this is more meaningful and is more likely to lead to action.
Groups are encouraged to use filters to search for members who may be based in the same part of the city or have particular skills which might benefit them. Why not find other groups and organisations to connect with too?
Once you’ve connected, you can message individually or in groups to share news, share a conversation or highlight your latest volunteering opportunity. This way, your message gets to the right people at the right time.
Establish an online network. Collaborate, discuss, work as a team:
Part of the Can Do vision is to help assist people in starting new ventures which will have a positive impact on their neighbourhoods or just stay in touch and chat about topics that interest them and inspire collective action.
The Can Do teams function exists to help groups network and deliver impactful community projects
The project team function enables members to share files, create task lists and run chatrooms in order to organise around a common theme or good cause. So whether you’re a group of local people trying to set something up or an existing team looking to bring your project into one place, why not try setting up a project team for yourself?
Feedback
We want to ensure that Can Do Bristol serves the needs of different groups from across the city. If you think there is an area of Can Do that could be improved or a digital solution that Can Do could provide, we’d really like to hear from you.
Connect and message the Community Resources team to start a conversation.