What do our volunteers do?
Administration volunteers
We have a growing number of volunteers who donate their services in administration areas. We are always looking for help in the following areas:
- data entry
- word processing
- basic accounting
- letter opening
Call centre volunteers
Volunteers in our call centre take calls from members of the public who are interested in adopting our shelter animals. This vital role puts volunteers on the front line at RSPCA QLD where they become the first point of contact for interested members of the public.
Full training is provided before volunteers begin to take calls and training is available to move on to other call streams once a satisfactory level of performance is reached.
Photographers
We require photographers to form part of a small team that takes photographs of adoption animals to post on online adoption sites and to take photos of incoming lost animals for identification purposes. Photographers also assist with special projects like posters to help long term animals get a home, or photographing specific events.
Specialist Volunteers
We require volunteers with special skills to assist our management team. Examples of these volunteers are as follows:
- Management Consultants
- Change Management Specialists
- Motivational Speakers
- Business Coaches
- Trainers
- Consultants
Fundraising and events volunteers
We require volunteers to assist with preparing materials for events and fundraisers.
- Data entry of new and existing donors
- Database management
- Marketing assistants
- Membership recruiters
- Gratitude assistants
- Basic administration
Vet surgery and desex clinic
Volunteers in our Vet Surgery and Desex clinic are essential and carry out the following tasks:
- assisting our vet nurse preparing animals for operations,
- cleaning animals cages,
- administering basic medication,
- feeding and bathing our animals.
Thrift shops and retail
We require volunteers to help sort and store our thrift shop donations, and to work in our thrift shops helping to merchandise our stock and to assist with pricing and displaying of new donations.
- Sorting and pricing donations in our thrift shops statewide
- Merchandising new stock for sale
- Customer service at the point of sale
- Thrift shop management
- Sorting of donations at our central warehouse for delivery
- Delivery driving
- Assistance with events
Education volunteers
Volunteers in our Education Team are required to:
- visiting schools and presenting brief lessons on humane animal care for groups of school children,
- work at events in our mobile education unit – working with young people and adults, educating about humane animal care,
- assist our mobile education team to prepare materials for lessons on the road,
- perform general maintenance tasks around the education premises.
Finance
Mathematically-minded volunteers are very much appreciated to assist with reconciliations and ledger within our accounts department.
IT
Hardware specialists are able to assist our IT support manager to fix and rebuild donated computers for use in the shelter.
Animal Enrichment
Shelter animals are often in pens for long periods of time so having one-on-one contact with people is an essential part of their rehabilitation and adoption.
An enrichment training program is an essential part of this volunteer role and you will be trained to interact, train, exercise and work with our adoption animals.
- Train our animals in the pens
- Walk our dogs
- Cat/puppy cuddle
- Take part in our 4 Paws Forward program
Shelter volunteers
Shelter volunteers are the primary care givers to all of our animals. The tasks our shelter volunteers undertake include
- cleaning animals pens
- feeding our animals
- managing the laundry
- assisting in keeping the shelter tidy and presentable
Wildlife volunteers
Wildlife volunteers feed and care for birds and other wild animals such as possums, owls and baby wallabies. They also:
- assist with animals identification,
- prepare varied diets and cleaning cages,
- monitor the health of sick and injured wildlife.
Maintenance/Gardening
We are looking for self-motivated individuals to help keep maintain our facilities and keep our gardens looking good. This is an area of high need within the organisation.