Find a volunteer

Looking for communications support but not sure where to start? We’ll connect you with a skilled and experienced volunteer from the media and creative sector who can guide you through your communications challenges, help you raise your profile and create engaging campaigns.

About our Volunteers

Media Trust’s volunteers are talented and experienced media and communications professionals who want to share their skills and time to support your organisation’s work, whether they’re freelance filmmakers or marketing directors. All our volunteers have a minimum of two years of professional experience working within media, digital, tech or communications.

How our volunteers can help

Our skilled volunteers are here to help you with specific communications campaigns, challenges or projects you want to develop for your organisation.

Our volunteers can support you by:

  • Mentoring your organisation to develop strategies and campaigns that engage your audiences and achieve your communications objectives
  • Creating compelling content for your organisation, from films and photography to branding and logos
  • Training your employees, colleagues, volunteers and beneficiaries to develop their own communications skills, confidence and capacity

The Media Trust Volunteer Platform is an invaluable resource. As a small charity with limited resources, this service allows us access to skills we simply wouldn’t be able to buy. The Volunteers are super helpful, personable and knowledgeable.

Rebekah Wilson, Communications Officer & Volunteer Coordinator, The Wish Centre

How to find a Volunteer

It’s simple. Follow these three steps:

Step 1 – Register and set up your charity profile

Give a clear summary of what your charity does and the people or causes it supports. It should be easy for volunteers to understand your mission and how your charity’s work makes a positive difference.

Step 2 – Create a Volunteer Opportunity

Outline the specific communications challenge you’re looking for help with. Explain how you think a volunteer can help, and the impact their work could have on your charity and the cause it supports. Looking for examples? Check out our current live opportunities and read up on how to write a great volunteer opportunity.

Step 3 – Connect with your volunteer

If a volunteer applies to your opportunity, you can review their profile and choose to accept or decline the volunteer match. If you choose to accept, you’ll be introduced via email.

Once you’ve accepted a match, you’re ready to get started. You’ll work directly with your volunteer to deliver the agreed project or piece of work. We try not to interfere in this process too much, but if challenges come up, our team will be on hand to help you resolve them.

Keep in touch

We want to hear about your progress and understand how your matched volunteer has supported your charity. Whether you’ve made a beautiful film with your volunteer, launched a report, created a campaign or sent your first social post, let us know! We can share your success with our networks and help you spread the word.

If you have any questions or need further help, please contact us at volunteering@mediatrust.org.

Sign up today

Get the most from your volunteering relationship

Here’s some top tips to ensure you get the most out of working with your volunteer:

  1. Respond quickly: We leave it with you, the charity, to contact the volunteer. So, we recommend being prompt! It’s good etiquette to get in touch with them as soon as they’ve accepted the opportunity. Our volunteers are in high demand, so we recommend you snap them up fast!
  2. Agree on a main point of contact: Be clear on who is managing the relationship with your volunteer and schedule regular catchups to help them feel part of the team.
  3. Be prepared: Make sure all information, logistics and planning are in place to enable your volunteer to start work right away.
  4. Provide a clear brief: Be clear on what you need and any deadlines for the work. Discuss it with your volunteer and agree your timeline together and allocate roles and responsibilities between you.
  5. Keep an open mind: Our volunteers work for some of the most innovative media companies in the world. They may come up with new ideas or approaches you hadn’t considered. Be willing to talk through their suggestions and try your best to be open to their suggestions.
  6. Ask questions: Be upfront with your volunteer about what you do and don’t know. There are no silly questions – they are here to help! 
  7. Be realistic: Tell your volunteer about your workload and the time and resources you can make available to them. Ask them about their capacity and workload too.
  8. Communicate regularly: Keep in touch and regularly update your volunteer with progress, challenges and deadlines. Be clear about how and when they can contact you and ask them to do the same.
  9. Be clear on ownership of work: If your volunteer is going to be producing creative content or assets on behalf of the charity, make sure you discuss who has final ownership of the work and how/if they will be credited.
  10. Say thank you: Make sure you show your volunteer your appreciation. They are giving up their time to help you. By keeping them updated on success stories and case studies, you can show the real impact of their work.

Want to know more about the Volunteer Platform?

Read our Volunteer Platform FAQs

Our Corporate Partners

We enjoy outstanding support from the media industry. Our partners include: