The following resources on recruiting and screening volunteer mentors were been developed by our National Mentoring Center project (1998-2012). These resources can help any mentoring program recruit appropriate adults for the mentoring role and ensure the safety of program participants through rigorous pre-match screening.

Effective Mentor Recruitment: Getting Organized, Getting Results

This resource combines strategies for identifying and recruiting potential mentors with planning worksheets that can help organize a comprehensive recruitment campaign. It begins with an emphasis on planning and building a recruitment team, followed by sections that address broad-based program marketing and common recruitment strategies, such as formal business partnerships, presentations at community events, and coordinated “personal appeal” campaigns.

The U.S. Department of Education Mentoring Program’s Guide to Screening and Background Checks

This guide, developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, addresses all aspects of screening adult volunteers to serve as mentors to youth in school-based settings. It examines the key characteristics of effective volunteer screening practices, provides an eight-step framework for screening applicants, and includes sample forms and worksheets programs can use as they set up their volunteer screening process. Detailed information is provided about the many different types of background checks and how to interpret the information they provide. A special section on screening youth for peer mentoring programs is also included.

Marketing for the Recruitment of Mentors

This comprehensive guide connects the principles of marketing with the recruitment of volunteer mentors. Designed as a workbook, it offers numerous worksheets and tools to help your program plan for and implement a marketing plan. It covers everything from creating effective media messages to building a strong program "brand" in the community.

Putting the "Men" Back in Mentoring (Fact Sheet)

The recruitment of sufficient numbers of male volunteers is an ongoing struggle for most mentoring programs. This fact sheet provides tips for maximizing the number of men in your community who will commit to mentoring a young person.

Volunteer Motivation and Mentor Recruitment (Fact Sheet)

This fact sheet explores research into the common motivations of people who volunteer and how your mentoring program can turn those motivations into effective recruitment pitches.

Mentor Recruitment Postcard

Programs can download, print, and use this generic recruitment postcard (PDF format) as part of a campaign in which current mentors recruit friends and family members to volunteer. This can be a simple, but effective, way of boosting mentor recruitment.