Volunteers are essential to many non-profit organizations, but with increasing family and work pressures on individuals' time, it's becoming more difficult than ever to recruit and retain great volunteers.   Thus, we think it is important to discuss some of the ways your organization could try to attract volunteers, including:

1. Avoid asking for a long-term commitment. People are less likely to be involved in a project if they are uncertain of the time commitment required of them. Rather than recruit a volunteer with no fixed term, or a fixed term that they can't commit to because they don't know where they will be in life a year or two from now, recruit volunteers to ad-hoc committees to tackle specific tasks that can be completed within a short, fixed amount of time. 
2. Ask potential candidates directly. People are more likely to volunteer if you ask them directly rather than posting a generic advertisement in a newspaper or online.   People would rather be asked to join a team rather than signing-up themselves.
3. Ask again. Just because you asked someone to volunteer in the past and they declined doesn't mean that they won't reconsider the request at a later date. It's possible that they just weren't ready at that time in their life.
4. Know where to look. People are more likely to volunteer if they are asked by a friend or someone in their social network. Use the resources that you have such as the board of directors and your network of family and friends to help search for and recruit volunteers.
5. Promote the social aspects of your organization. Many people volunteer to increase their social network. If organizations promote and do activities in groups, word will get around and they will be more likely to attract new volunteers.   
6. Have a specific job description. Before people are willing to commit they need to know what it is that they'll be doing. People will see right through any sugar coated message so be honest about the details and let people know if they will be doing mundane tasks - sometimes that's what people are looking for, but if not, at least they'll know what they're getting into.

The key to getting people to volunteer is to understand what motivates people to volunteer in the first place. Below is a web link that explains some of the personal reasons that people volunteer. You should find this helpful in understanding how you can promote your organization and at the same time satisfy the needs of volunteers.

http://hubpages.com/hub/10-Reasons-People-Volunteer