Search results for: volunteer fresh

Volunteer Fresh

03 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by in burn out, charities, fund raising, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, staff and volunteer relationships, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer project

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Volunteer Fresh

Every day, volunteer managers witness the passion brought by volunteers. We marvel at their skill. We see their pure work, unencumbered by thoughts of pay, or chains to the financial burden of staying somewhere not fulfilling.

But there is another positive that we can attribute to our volunteers. The number of hours they volunteer a week or month is often misconstrued as a shortcoming, but in reality is a gift: Volunteers are not burdened by the stress of working for us full-time.

Volunteers who show up once a week or month are like opening the window to let in the breeze. They come in, trailing currents of fresh air. They bring with them new experiences, a taste of outside ideas, and rejuvenated enthusiasm to our stale environment.

What factors contribute to a stale environment? Compassion fatigue, burnout, overwork, repetition, familiarity, slow to change movement, it’s always been done thus mentality, funding worries and stress. Each of these freshness killers lurks in the halls of non-profits, waiting to blow their stale breath into our lungs.

There is an under current of pressure on non-profit workers to be “on” at all times. This Pedestal of Perpetual Caring implies that every moment is as intensely compassionate as the first one. Who can live up to that standard when reports are due, projects need attention and budgets are withering?

Enter Volunteer Fresh:

Our volunteers, unburdened by the stresses of working with us full-time can and do exhibit the intense compassion every client needs.

Our volunteers are out there in the world 98% of the time and bring with them outside opinions, trends, ideas and methods.

Our volunteers bring infectious enthusiasm and continually remind us why we love our work. They plug us back into our missions.

Marketing Volunteer Fresh: (or, at your next staff meeting, use gimmicky but visual aids to encourage your organization to embrace volunteers as more than just those people who fill preconceived slots)

Bring a sandwich from a vending machine along with a fresh sandwich from wherever staff loves to eat. Use each ingredient of the fresh sandwich to explain the layers of volunteer fresh and compare the two.

Videotape volunteers speaking from the heart. Show staff the infectious enthusiasm volunteers bring. Remind them that opening up to each volunteer re-ignites their own passion.

Use a radiating circle of connections chart to show the connections our volunteers are making within the community. Use arrows in both directions to illustrate the wide swath of information and influence our volunteers create, both coming and going.

volunteer fresh pp

 

Here are some concrete ways to offer Volunteer Fresh:

Schedule “sit downs” between community engagement officers and volunteers. The engagement officer can ask volunteers to take the pulse of the community by asking pertinent questions of their friends, neighbors, civic groups, church members etc and then report back.

Create a campaign via WOMM (word of mouth marketing). Marketing can release a sub-campaign via volunteers to reach out into the community on a specific hot topic. Equip volunteers with flyers, business cards, etc. to launch campaign and monitor feedback.

Engage volunteers in stress relief. Create a team of volunteers to develop a stress relief program for staff and other volunteers. This volunteer team can institute ways to help over burdened staff cope with burnout.

Volunteers are a gift of freshness. How fortunate we are to be able to incorporate fresh ideas, enthusiasm, and passion into our culture by people who offer all of this for free.

Let’s encourage our organizations to open the window and let the freshness in.

-Meridian

Volunteer Managers and Decision Fatigue

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by in burn out, Uncategorized

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adult dark depressed face

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Zack pushed back in his chair and stole a glance at his watch. 1:30. His lunch lay half eaten on his desk. A new volunteer, Karey was on hold, waiting for Zack’s decision on which volunteer would mentor her and what day she could start. Several new emails pinged on his screen. Task force volunteers needed an update on the choice of meeting spaces. In front of him, Nadia, the event coordinator was pointing to the unfilled volunteer slots at the Walk-a-thon this coming weekend.

Weariness blanketed Zack. He forgot what it was the new volunteer on hold wanted. The subject lines on the newest emails blurred in his vision. He snapped at Nadia, “I told you, I was working on the event. I haven’t heard back from the volunteers I called. I will figure out who else I can call, but I can’t just make volunteers magically appear.”

Decisions. Volunteer managers are faced with making hundreds, maybe thousands of decisions a day. Think I’m exaggerating? Let’s look at a simple request for a volunteer to fill a task and a sampling of the decisions involved.

  • Do I give this request priority?
  • Do I work on this now or put it in a queue?
  • What volunteers are best suited for this request?
  • Who should I call first?
  • How should I frame this request?
  • Do I ask for more information or do I have enough?
  • How much time should I spend on this?
  • What is the best time to call volunteers?
  • Should I also ask survey questions while I have them on the phone?
  • What points should I stress about the impact this task will have on our mission?
  • What is the best way to plead this case?
  • What recent activities has each volunteer I call been involved in and how can I acknowledge that?

That’s 12 decisions before even starting. All day long, volunteer managers make decisions that directly impact the success of their volunteer programs. Daily major decisions include:

  • How should I answer this email and get my point across?
  • What tactic should I use when asking for more time finding volunteers for a hard to fill task?
  • How can I better explain this task to a volunteer?
  • What methods should I use when mediating the brewing dispute between a volunteer and a staff member?
  • What questions can I ask on the upcoming survey?
  • What do I want to measure on the next volunteer evaluation?
  • What can I streamline in today’s training to save some time?

Decision fatigue occurs when the brain has made so many decisions that fatigue sets in, causing a breakdown in ability to make new decisions, or making snap decisions, or a lack of self-control and diminished willpower. It leads to poor decision-making.

Decision fatigue can show itself with an irritated voice or a curt answer. It can show itself with “giving in” instead of standing ground for principles you believe in. It can show itself with forgetfulness or shutting down. It can show itself when you finally go home and can’t decide what to make for dinner so you order something unhealthy from that expensive take out place down the road because it’s the easiest thing to do.

The 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama famously said:

You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.

Beyond filling volunteer tasks, a volunteer manager’s day is fraught with other carefully considered decisions.

  • How do I best approach senior management regarding an issue?
  • How do I politely extract myself from a conversation that is going on too long?
  • How do I mediate between a staff and volunteer or a volunteer and another volunteer?
  • How do I politely answer snarky questions?
  • How do I show volunteer value?
  • How can I manage all my tasks?
  • How can I remember all the small things?
  • How can I find new volunteers?
  • How can I listen to volunteers, genuinely hear them and yet not spend too much of my day in what appears to others as chit-chat?

Volunteer management is the antithesis of assembly line work. There is no manual outlining each step because each step changes hourly. It involves careful people skills by leaders of volunteers with high emotional intelligence. Decisions are weighed and made in fractions of seconds. No wonder volunteer managers go home exhausted.

So what can we do?

Make the important decisions first thing: Before fatigue sets in and while your mind is clear, make your most important decisions early and stick to your decisions. Our minds are equipped to think more clearly and rationally before fatigue sets in so work on your most important projects or challenges when you first arrive. Do you have to counsel a volunteer? Do you have a yearly event? Do you have to give an important report? Work on those tasks first, set a deadline for your decisions and stick to them.

Limit your decisions: Lay out your work clothes the night before work. Prepare your lunch or decide where you will have lunch the night before. Decide your 5 goals for the next day the night before. Put off making major decisions when you feel yourself losing willpower. There is nothing wrong with telling people you have to think about something and get back with them.

Realize decisions will not all be perfect ones: Volunteer managers tend to hold themselves to a pretty impossible perfection standard, thinking that every decision must be the optimal one. This unrealistic standard creates paralysis when making decisions, slows down productivity and increases fatigue. Major decisions need time, but lesser decisions can be made more quickly and efficiently. Remember, after mulling over option upon option, we can still make an imperfect decision, so it’s best to leave the agonizing to major decisions.

Carve out quiet time: Ideally, find an isolated space to work on projects. If you don’t have one, turn your computer monitor to the wall, turn the volume down, let the answering system pick up phone calls and work on your “need to do” list. One hour disconnected from the chaos will reap enormous benefits in not only making better decisions, but in your overall mental health. Two hours would be even better.

Become a by-appointment office: It’s hard to do when you have an open door policy, but you can slowly begin to change that. Hang signs on your door that keep people from dropping in with questions or information that can wait. Signs that indicate “volunteer interview in progress,” or “volunteer strategy meeting in progress,” clearly announces that you must focus on the crucial task at hand. Having to make a major decision while constantly being interrupted with having to make smaller, snap decisions wears you down. It creates decision fatigue and robs you of any ability to make a good decision. If you find yourself continually putting off big projects, it’s a good sign that you suffer from decision fatigue and probably the effects of a chaotic office.

Pare down the upfront work and utilize volunteer brains: For projects needing research, input from volunteers etc., ask volunteers to help you by completing the research or polling the volunteers. They can even assist by presenting you with decision options and their recommendations for best choices.

What’s frustrating about decision fatigue is how it silently chips away at willpower. And a worn down volunteer manager will be ineffective when presenting volunteer contributions or advocating for better volunteer engagement practices.

People who love us will tell us to take care of ourselves. They’re right. We need to take care of ourselves mentally and physically if we truly wish to create a successful volunteer program.

So, please, while your brain is fresh and unencumbered, make a commitment to limiting the effects of decision fatigue.

-Meridian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers: The Ultimate in Recycling

05 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized, volunteer engagement

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alternative alternative energy clouds eco energy

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You know, typically, when we think of recycling, we picture a bulldozer scooping mountains of trash to process for reuse and hmm, this is a really demeaning way to picture volunteers. But the word recycling also has nuanced meanings that have nothing to do with trash and maybe everything to do with the incredible potential volunteerism brings. For instance, some of those nuanced words are:

reclaim: Think of working or retired teachers, nurses, executives, web designers and every skilled human being out there including social workers, advocates, and parents. Think of the wealth of experience and practiced skills they bring. Reclaiming those skills and putting them to work helping organizations achieve goals is reclaiming at its best.

restore: Giving volunteers the opportunity to restore and hone their skills after any change in status is one of the things we do best.  Think of the student who is unsure about her potential. Think about the worker who lost his job and confidence. It’s one of those life win-wins that we live for.

re-purpose: Volunteer skills take many forms and often, volunteers find new uses for their skills by volunteering. Think of the accountant who privately loves to draw and how they added hand-drawn figures to the volunteer stats report that illustrate impact.  Re-purposing talents infuses fresh ideas into our organizations and helps volunteers see their skills in a new light.

re-imagine: Finding that hidden volunteer talent is one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment for any volunteer manager. By delving into a volunteer’s skills and interests, we can often pair them with a role that brings out that buried talent. Think of the stay at home mom who has mad organizational skills or the retired law enforcement officer who has this incredible ability to get at the heart of things when talking with people.

There are so many ways in which volunteers contribute their knowledge, skills, talents and ideas. But what about our organizations? How do they reap the rewards from this ultimate in recycling?

Let’s flip those recycle meanings and apply them to our organizations and see how they benefit.

reclaim: As organizations grow and adapt to the changing landscape, they can easily lose the original passion for the mission. Competition for donors, risk management, reporting and HR functions all contribute to the more business-like atmosphere. Tapping into volunteer enthusiasm is an organic way to reclaim and keep the passion alive. Volunteers can speak at staff meetings and bring their inspiring message to overburdened employees. We can pass along the praise volunteers share with us about hard-working staff members and infuse some new energy into their work.

restore: Everywhere organizations are doing more with less. Overburdened staff need help. By offloading projects onto volunteer task forces, organizations can restore staff workloads to a more manageable state. Holding on to every task and function when there are capable volunteers willing to step up keeps organizations mired in minutia and stuck in the last century. We can pilot volunteer programs that take tasks away from staff. We can lead up and out by offering expert volunteer help on projects.

re-purpose: How many organizational functions are outmoded? Skilled volunteers with fresh ideas can transform stale programs into current and relevant campaigns designed to move organizations forward. We can showcase volunteer accomplishments and if need be, add a dollar value to the volunteer’s expertise, as in “if you paid a consultant in this area of expertise, you would be paying $175 an hour. Our volunteer is willing to weigh in with proven methods and years of experience for free.”

re-imagine: Volunteers bring fresh perspectives, world experience and have the latest in trends and programs at their disposal. Our organizations can be kept abreast of changing trends by inviting volunteers to serve on task forces, the board and campaigns. By listening to the diverse voices within the volunteer base, an organization can re-imagine policies, direction and focus so that they are positioned for the future. Instead of looking in all directions to find expert voices on marketing or finance, organizations can look within to find expert volunteer voices, ones who already know and believe in the mission.

The perception of volunteering has to change globally. The outdated notion that volunteers are timid souls that just want to fill whatever mundane role we offer them is gone. Let’s bury it.

We, volunteer managers are managing the ultimate force in reclaiming, restoring, re-purposing and re-imagining. We have talent, knowledge, skills and passion at our fingertips. We have mission success in our reach.

We, leaders of the volunteer movement must recreate the perception of volunteerism, from one of volunteers as tools to one of volunteers as the ultimate way for organizations to refresh, to reinvigorate, and to rejuvenate our goals. Ignoring the wealth of recycling volunteer gold organizations have in hand is short-sighted and backward.

And, in order to cultivate all that potential, organizations must re-invest in volunteer management leadership.

Let’s get to work and re-frame the image.

-Meridian

 

 

Volunteer News Stories: Does This Good Press Really Help?

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in treatment of volunteers, Uncategorized, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management

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Emma set her cup down on the table and opened her laptop. She could hear the kids arguing upstairs as they got ready for school. Jenna needed to be picked up after soccer practice, and Harvey still needed to finish his science project or he’d get an incomplete. Emma’s phone pinged. Her mother’s tests came back. The cancer had returned. Holding back the tears, Emma scrolled through her news feed. She clutched at her life spinning out of control, desperately grasping at something to ground her. She read the headlines. So much political in-fighting. Too many vapid celebrity news stories. One heading came from her local newspaper: Volunteer Receives City Council Award. Emma paused for a second, and then scrolled on.

For years, I thought that any story on a volunteer would produce a tsunami of people trampling each other to join our team. “I want to be just like Herman, or Zafir, or Maria,” they’d proclaim, their fresh smiling faces eager to give back. “Pick me! OOOOOhhh, pick me!” They’d come in wearing t-shirts sporting the face of my smiling volunteer. It would be cult-like, but so what, my volunteer was a star!

Having press cover volunteers was so rare, that once a reporter showed up, I was slobbery grateful for any mention at all. I grovelled at the reporter’s Birkenstocks. And so, stories about volunteers receiving some plaque or attaining some milestone were all I could get. I never challenged the content and I always suspected the reporter was being punished by doing a “filler” or “human interest” story and really wanted to get on to digging out news stories about that bank robber wearing the Nixon mask or the mayor’s brother suddenly being awarded a lucrative city contract.

While scrolling through news-feeds this week, it felt like the I was back in the 90’s. I could hear Alanis Morissette singing in the background. Ironically, the overwhelming majority of volunteer news stories are identical to the ones written about my volunteers 20 years ago. Here are some news-feed headlines from just two days worth of searching articles: (names and places removed)

    • Seniors recognized for volunteer work
    • Doing what comes next: Man keeps working, volunteering
    • Volunteering “immensely rewarding” for local woman
    • Duo shares gifts through volunteering
    • Local woman finds volunteering a positive influence
    • Local man honored for volunteering by Service Center
    • Couple’s love of volunteering keeps them on the go
    • SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Volunteering can have numerous benefits
    • Volunteer receives medal for dedication
    • These volunteers provide help, friendship

Have you nodded off yet? And to think I used to titter excitedly, “my volunteer in the newspaper, wow, we’re at the summit of the recruitment mountain! Break out the oxygen!” Seriously, what was wrong with me?

I’ve been reading targeted news-feeds for years. Anything of real substance I share on my Pinterest site, Volunteer Management Talk. But most articles on actual volunteers by actual reporters are frothy little yawn-fests. Yes, they’re positive. Yes, they paint volunteerism in a good light.

But where are the meaty stories that outline the results of volunteering? Where are the intriguing headlines that proclaim, “These Volunteers are Alleviating Homelessness,” or “These Volunteers Are Creatively Saving the Wetlands,” instead of “These Volunteers Have Really Big Hearts and Are as Boring as Their Organization’s Website.” (ok, sure, I made up the last part-sorta)

I was wrong about the recruitment potential of the few articles that were published in my local press. There was no mad rush to volunteer. I didn’t see our phone lines light up, or volunteers stampede in with news that their friends and neighbors were outside, clamoring to join our awesome team. I didn’t yell, “Put more coffee on, guys, it’s going to be a long night!”

In retrospect, I failed to get the real message out. The real message is the impact.
Volunteer managers everywhere are fighting to elevate the volunteer role by changing the perception of volunteer contributions and volunteers. If we want volunteers to be recognized for their work, we have to take volunteers out of the “human interest” column and push it into the “news” division. But, how?

When a reporter shows up to cover that award or story about Jane and Hermione, partners and your volunteers for 10 years, ask the reporter these questions:

      • “Where does this story fit in your publication’s divisions? Why?”
      • “What is the end game of this story? What do you want readers to take away?”
      • “Do you want to know the bigger story, that of the impact on our community?” (be prepared to offer relevant information and if you can, an interview with someone helped by your volunteer)
      • “Can you come back and do a follow-up story on the results of the volunteers’ work? We have some juicy human interest stories to share about the people who have been impacted by our volunteers.
      • If the reporter is doing a story on a particular volunteer or volunteers, (let’s take life partners, Jane and Hermione) prepare some eye-opening stats about them. “Yes, it’s true that Jane and Hermione have been here for 10 years, but here are the stats and stories on the impact they’ve had on our homeless population and by the way, that’s the reason they’ve been here for 10 years. “

I know you’ve experienced this. A volunteer is chosen as the subject of a local newspaper piece because of an award or milestone. The humble volunteer doesn’t want to be the center of attention. The reporter is just on an assignment. You convince the volunteer to do it because it will inspire others to volunteer. You tell them that whatever they say will be inspiring, because hey, they are a great representative of the work, right? Well, maybe they really don’t know what to say.

Well, why not take it one step further and plan with the volunteer what he/she will talk about? Pick out real impact stories to focus on and explain to the volunteer that these stories are the impetus for encouraging others to get involved. Tell them to turn the interview message around from “you can be like me,” to “you can impact our clients too, in these ways.” And throw in, “we can sure use more help.”

Why not help the reporter see that they could turn the story into something more, something with real substance? Plant that “juicy” story in their heads.

There’s a complex mathematical equation that explains the phenomena surrounding news stories about volunteers: It’s tricky and complicated, but it goes like this:

Press Stories on Volunteer+Fluff=Where are the new volunteers?

We have more than just our organizations needing to be convinced that volunteers are not just decorative marshmallows of pillowy goodness. We also have to target press, media and the community.

I’m disappointed and sorry I didn’t do anything about this disconnect before. But, the perception of volunteer contributions needs to change, both within and without. I think that together, we can change this perception, one story at a time.

-Meridian.

Volunteer Department Ground Rules

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in NGO, non-profit, organizations, Uncategorized, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management

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volunteer department ground rules

In this dream you walk up to a woman sitting at a desk. Behind her, a closed-door is visible in an otherwise blank wall. “I need,” you say to her, “two camels, a box of jellied donuts and a ladder.”

“When?” she says, writing it down.

“Tomorrow.”

“I see.” She rips the sheet of paper off the pad and disappears behind the heavy door, closing it with a thud.

That’s volunteer management. Where has she gone? Are there actually camels back there? Will the donuts be fresh? Is the ladder being used by someone else? Is mine the only order she is filling? Will she be back by tomorrow?

This is why there are ground rules. Take baseball. If a batter hits a ball that bounces off the left field grass and goes into the bleachers, that’s a ground rule double. It prevents the runner from unfairly advancing and the left fielder from climbing into the bleachers and fighting the fan who picked up the ball. (well, ok, that’s a bit overblown) But without ground rules, how can anyone requesting volunteer help know what goes on behind the closed-door? How can they possibly know priorities, or time frames, or volunteer availability or the feasibility of their request?

Too often, volunteer departments operate reactively, disappearing behind the door to field multiple requests at a time. Many of those requests are last-minute, some are more complicated than others, and some morph on a daily basis. On top of these requests, the volunteer department is tasked with keeping revolving or permanent volunteer spots filled, spots that are routinely being vacated by volunteers who are absent for a myriad of reasons such as illness, vacation, moving or quitting.

And sometimes, if we are brutally honest, the most reliable and skilled volunteers are paired with the squeekiest wheel and not the most engaging assignment.

So, let’s imagine two volunteer spots are vacant. One spot is for a volunteer receptionist on the weekend when the staff receptionist is off. Phones have to be answered. The other spot is for a volunteer to deliver vital equipment to a client, also on the weekend. The client needs the equipment. Which one of these vacant spots takes priority?

With no ground rules, volunteer managers are expected to fill all spots, every time and in every time frame. It doesn’t matter when the requests are made, or how many volunteers are needed, because there are no ground rules. So what if the volunteer manager is fielding ten requests at once.

Volunteer departments need ground rules in order to end the scrambling madness. We need to outline the process behind the door in order to organize our systems for the good of everyone. With that in mind, what might these ground rules include?

Priorities: What volunteer requests are the most important and need be filled first, should all requests come at the same time? Client based? Permanent or recurring roles that fill in for staff? Recurring roles that make the organization work such as kitchen or receptionist help?

Time frame: Should a request made two days before an event have the same priority as one made weeks in advance? Having a clear chronological order or queue is a necessary ground rule. First asked, first filled will force staff to amend the last-minute request behavior. But wait. What if a volunteer calls in sick last minute for a higher priority position? Does that go to the front of the queue?

Feasibility of time spent: Requesting 20 volunteers who are willing to wait tables versus 5 volunteers to pass out flyers have differing time investments. How can this be addressed? Does a request requiring more time spent finding volunteers take precedence over one that is simpler? Or does one major event attended by potential donors and stakeholders take precedence over smaller, lesser events?

Setting ground rules won’t work if the volunteer department simply types them up and hands them out. There must be a buy in from the CEO on down through the department heads and a willingness to support the volunteer manager in the instituting of them. Asking senior management to outline priorities in say, a task force is not unreasonable and may also have the added benefit of encouraging the hierarchy to outline other organizational priorities as well.

Look at it mathematically. If there are too many requests with too little time frame and not enough skilled volunteers, then some requests will go unfilled, right? With priorities set and ground rules established, the most beneficial, most time worthy and most bang for the buck requests will be filled first.

How many times have we mused that “no one knows how to do our job until they do it?’ We are like that lady in the dream. We take the order and then disappear behind the closed-door. We are hiding the effort, the juggling, the piecing together, the circling back, the reaching out, the doubling down, the soothing over, the listening to, the rearranging, the sorting, the skills assessing and all the other components needed to engage volunteers. We are tearing our hair out behind the door and then smiling, stepping back outside while covering our bald spots with that crazy hair paint.

Ground rules are not just for baseball. Next time: Setting ground rules, or how to prioritize what’s going on behind the door.

Volunteer managers, let’s set some ground rules and play a better game of baseball.

-Meridian

 

 

 

Non-Profits, Your Volunteer Manager Wanted Ads Say A Lot About You

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in NGO, non-profit, organizations, Uncategorized

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The Volunteer Manager wanted ads out there remind me of a fish market.  Some offerings are fresh, appealing and beautifully displayed and some just, well, stink.

Let’s ask some questions, then look at recent ad excerpts and what they say about the organization posting them. How do these organizations view the volunteer manager’s role?

Do you view your volunteer manager as a leader? Or as someone who simply fills tasks?

Here is one ad that gets it:

Your role as an executive overseeing volunteer management is thus an important one as you will be there to work with volunteers and support them in their projects. You will also explore ways to help volunteers grow personally and professionally (e.g. as volunteer leaders) so as to enhance their giving experience.

This is an exciting opportunity for you to shape an emerging culture and to inspire impactful collaboration, kickstart new projects and ultimately enable better care with and for seniors in our home.

But then there’s this uninspired ad:

Manages volunteer scheduling, activities, and screening. Processes incoming volunteers to ensure they meet requirements. Maintains volunteer files and matches volunteers with projects suited to their skills. Manages all aspects of volunteer appreciation events and assists with developing the annual budget. Manages volunteer office to include scheduling, providing information, maintaining records, ordering office supplies and generating appropriate reports.

Do you understand the skills needed to engage volunteers? Or do you believe it’s about having tea parties?

In this ad, the appreciation of engagement skills is clearly non-existent: Do they think the leader of volunteers is just one of the volunteers? Or do they mean the VM will not supervise staff, so that tells you something right there, doesn’t it?

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None

But then, here is an ad for a Director of Volunteer Engagement:

LEVEL OF AUTHORITY :

Operates with direction from the President / CEO and is given appreciable latitude for independent action and decisions corresponding with the demonstrated ability for following policy guidelines, department objectives, and applicable laws, rules, and ordinances.

Are you forward thinking? Or are you content with outdated programs?

This ad just sounds so dreary: (And they want 5 years of experience-why? Wouldn’t someone with 5 years experience want to take on more leadership?)

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Oversee the recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, and scheduling of volunteer workers.
  • Respond to inquiries, schedule, and train volunteers.
  •  Coordinate volunteers by organizing, planning, and managing the volunteers’ assignments.
  • Coordinate with staff in order to ensure all programming has appropriate and timely volunteer coverage.
  • Manage volunteer software and train volunteers on software usage.
  • Solicit and answer volunteer questions and evaluate volunteer performance and provide constructive feedback and positive recognition.
  • Plan, prepare, and conduct volunteer meetings/continuing education and training seminars at least once annually for volunteers to enhance skills.
  • Manage communications and notifications to volunteers.
  • 5 years of experience in high-level volunteer management.

But then, look at this ad. Lead STAFF and volunteers? Be still my heart:

 3. Lead staff and volunteers in building a plan of action, including effective service and serving an increased number of clients 4. Involve staff and volunteers in ways that will bring high visibility and public esteem. 5. Cultivate, develop and maintain a close working relationship with the key leadership in each department to help them effectively achieve their goals and objectives. 

Do you appreciate how passionate and creative volunteer managers are? Or does your volunteer manager take a back seat?

This ad hints at understanding how dedicated VMs are:

  • Passion for a mission of civic engagement
  • Demonstrates a high level of professionalism at all times across a variety of business sectors
  • Demonstrated ability to build relationships and communicate with a variety of stakeholders and cultivate strategic partnerships
  • Strong conflict management skills
  • Entrepreneurial spirit while maintaining the ability to work as part of a team
  • Ability to think outside the box
  • Capacity to develop and implement new concepts and strategies including creating context setting, educational components to enhance existing events and create new program initiatives
  • Able to recognize and successfully navigate the office dynamics of our clients and stakeholders (Political Savvy)

This one, not so much:

  • Recruit, schedule, and retain volunteers for various tasks within the organization
  • Ensure that all volunteers have viewed the Safety training video
  • Coordinate parking for volunteers when necessary.
  • Schedule and coordinate volunteer recognition and appreciation events.
  • Maintain Volunteer Manual
  • Manage and participate in the goals, objectives, and policies affecting volunteers
  • Maintain a database of volunteer workers and record hours of work; prepare monthly and annual reports as required

Do you truly believe in the untapped power of volunteerism? Or is volunteer involvement just “fluff?”

In this ad, one has to wonder if volunteers are just potential donors:

  • Promote T-shirt sales and donations creating a pipeline for volunteers to donors
  • Contribute to development of department budget.
  • Coordinate Volunteer Calendar
  • Responsible for coordination of court ordered volunteers
  • Provide periodic (weekly, monthly, yearly) reports when needed.
  • Submits volunteer data for Annual Activity Report
  • Other duties as assigned.

But then, here’s an ad that does believe in volunteerism:

The Volunteer Program Manager is an important role in our organization. Because our organization values and depends on our volunteers in every facet of what we do, the person in this role will be a key collaborator assisting in the delivery of (our) programs and services.

Want ads say a lot about an organization. Ads reveal the culture, the expectations, the value placed on the skillset of the applicant, the support offered and the perception of the position.

What does your ad say about you? 

-Meridian

 

 

Your Volunteer Manager Horoscope for 2017 Part 2

18 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in charities, group volunteering, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, Uncategorized, volunteer management, volunteer retention

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…and the rest of the volunteer manager horoscopes for 2017 are…

Leo
July 23 to August 22

This is a very social year, and a lunar eclipse in Leo awakens your self-awareness, giving you the confidence to advertise your many program successes, which means you will wake up one morning, after having dreamed about vicious little Gavin in third grade who always copied off your papers and then threatened to rub your face in his tuna sandwhich if you told, and you will borrow a megaphone from your football crazed cousin who smells like ham and lives in your aunt’s basement. You will don your wizard’s hat left over from your Gandalf Halloween costume and you will arrive early at work, and stand near the front door, fist raised, blasting loudly all the things you’ve accomplished as staff and volunteers arrive. You continue to amplify stats such as “our volunteer team increased by 15% this year, are you listening?!” and “volunteers now have a hotline to call thanks to me,” until you feel a tap on your shoulder and you turn quickly, hitting the CEO in the side of the head with your megaphone which sports a sticker that reads ‘Balls are for Playing,’ knocking his new designer glasses to the pavement, breaking them in half.

On the flip and positive side, you do think about real ways to trumpet volunteer successes so you enlist businesses up and down the main thoroughfare in your town to post pro-volunteer messages on their marquee signs. These messages announce volunteer stats and words of support and thanks during volunteer appreciation week, which increases awareness and not only brings in more volunteers, but also creates new corporate donor partnerships with your organization. Your CEO forgives you while sporting new glasses and asks you to increase your campaign of awareness, enlisting other departments to help.  (You social guru, you!)

Virgo
August 23 to September 22

Uh, oh, Saturn is still squaring your sign giving you lessons to learn, and encouraging you to take it slow and steady. This means you will suddenly declare your office space a “No Emergency Zone” and you will send out a memo to all staff that you have hand printed on recycled gift paper with scented markers from a co-op in India. The memo reads in part: “Placement of volunteers is no mindless task, like making coffee or calling donors. NO! It is a thoughtful, nuanced and carefully crafted exercise that takes experience, level-headed planning and the most bodacious, artful begging in the world! There are at least 20 steps to making the correct volunteer assignment, and if you need me to read those steps to you, send me a note and I will read them to you when I am good and ready. From here on out, volunteer requests must be submitted no less than three weeks in advance, to ensure excellence in all volunteering assignments.” You will nail a box to your door marked. “Properly Planned Volunteer Requests. No Last Minute Filing Need Be In Here! This means you, too, administration.”  When you smugly open the box the first time, you discover chewed gum, used tissues and a note that says, well, I can’t print it for all the profane language. Your immediate supervisor will force you to remove the box after you submit a volunteer name to marketing one week after their event is over.

On a more positive side, this is a year of putting down roots, so one afternoon while accompanying a friend who is apartment searching, you come up with an idea for a volunteer education program you call  “Rooted in Learning.” This idea resonates because you have experienced the growth or your volunteers due to their hunger for knowledge about your program. You enlist virtual volunteers to help create a monthly educational newsletter filled with articles, tips and research not only pertinent to the volunteers’ jobs, but also to the volunteers’ personal well-being and development. It is such a hit that it becomes a weekly newsletter with contributions from a growing team of virtual volunteers, who then ask for more work and they begin to aid other organizational departments as well. This new program wins a local award for innovation and creativity. (You innovative master, you!)

Libra
September 23 to October 22

Oh, Libra, Jupiter retrogrades in the spring, bringing rapid change which means that you will suddenly decide after visiting that new Turkish coffee shop  to complete all your pending projects in a weekend you dub, “Rapid Fire Volunteering.” You decide to camp out at your office, bringing in a sleeping bag, toothbrush and soap, and a picture of your ex-partner because the sight of him makes you wildly aggressive. You schedule volunteers in one hour shifts to help you arrange all your notes and binders on the floor and tables in your office and you work non-stop while listening to vintage Prodigy albums. At 4am, a security guard finds you sleeping among strewn potato chip bags, “Firestarter” playing in a loop, and, thinking you are a vagrant, he calls the police.  He pokes you with his night stick and almost tasers you when you jump up swinging because in the dark, the policeman slightly resembles your ex-partner.  The policeman helps you to your feet and then confirms your employment by phone with a very angry and sleepy senior manager. Your organization circulates a memo, initiating a “no sleeping in your office policy,” and they include a picture of a sleeping you, dried saliva running down your cheek.

But ironically, this energy serves you well and one day, you are in a departmental meeting involving volunteer services, marketing and PR. While listening to the marketing manager talk about their wish list,  you hatch an idea to create a volunteer marketing assistant group. You enlist your most vocal volunteers and with a marketing training course, these volunteers accompany speakers to speaking engagements, providing support, volunteer success stories and that personal touch. The volunteers also contact local groups to book more speaking engagements, increasing your organization’s community awareness, support and donations. (You brilliant thinker, you!)

Scorpio
October 23 to November 21

Good ol’ Jupiter hangs out in your 12th house allowing you to reboot, creating a desire to really recharge. This means that although you pore through brochures about retreats to Nepal, the grim reality is that you can’t afford such a lavish trip, so you decide to go on a pilgrimage right there in your own town. You dress in Buddhist robes and sandals and carry a gnarled walking stick that you name “Metaphysical Mike” and begin your odyssey, quoting the Dali Lama as you walk through the main shopping area to raise awareness of volunteering. One morning, while pausing in front of Donna’s Diner to adjust the placard around your neck that reads “non-violence is volunteering,” you are approached by a man dressed in fur. He claims to be Sasquatch and although he just wants to hug you, you defensively bonk him on the head with Metaphysical Mike. He backs away, knocking over the diner’s cute cafe tables and Donna herself comes out to yell, but you hike up your robes and run. You finally breathlessly stop outside your office building, where a group of retired seamstresses are politely waiting for a tour of your organization. One of the group’s members is a volunteer who happily announces, “Oh, here’s our volunteer manager. She’ll take us on a tour!” Trapped, you lead the group through the building, your dirty and tattered robes falling off as you raise Metaphysical Mike and point out a startled group of administrators having lunch.

On a saner and positive flip side, you do create a retreat for your volunteers, enlisting the services of your town’s business owners. You feature alternative therapies, such as yoga, massage, healing touch, reiki, and aromatherapy in a day of “Recharge and Refresh.” It is a resounding success and your CEO asks you to head up a committee to create annual staff and volunteer retreats. You agree and find that you are now recruiting more alternative therapy volunteers who go on to create innovative and meaningful programs for your clients. (You freakin’ guru, you!)

Sagittarius
November 22 to December 21

Since your ruling planet is in your teamwork zone, you are pumped to make teamwork a priority and after spending an evening at a local sports pub because your friend wanted to meet the cute new bartender, your mind is swirling from all the television sets broadcasting various sports channels. While watching extreme sports, you decide to create your own team atmosphere by hand printing shirts for your volunteers that say, “Team Bestest Ever.” You wear a cap proclaiming yourself “Head Coach of Team Awesome” and one afternoon, you pass out pom poms to all employees in a staff meeting, claiming that they are the cheerleaders for team volunteer. You then pull three random staff members to the front of the room and attempt to lead them in a cheer, asking them to respond to your cheers by shouting “volunteer:” “Who’s the team that’s underappreciated? Volunteer! Who’s the team we fail to notice? Volunteer! Who’s the team that everybody should be thanking but don’t cause we don’t really know what they do and how complicated it is to keep them engaged? Volunteer!” When you realize no one is participating, but rather looking at you in total shock, you sulk back to your seat and sit down. You then are made to take down all the posters you have put up all over your organization, especially the ones that read, “Team Volunteer is Smarter Than Team Finance” and “Team Volunteer Challenges Team Grant Writers To a Cage Fight!”

Thankfully, when the talk of your ” epic breakdown” fades away, a more positive team idea formulates. You create teams of volunteers made up of a mix of seasoned veterans, new volunteers, prospective volunteers, varying age groups, gender, culture etc. to promote a spirit of volunteer teamwork. The ensuing by-product is these team members support one another, disseminate crucial information, fill in for one another when necessary and work at retaining the members of their group. It is a teamwork win-win and your organization asks you to help recreate the concept for staff which infuses a positive and recharged organizational spirit. (You winning coach, you!)

Capricorn
December 22 to January 19

Saturn rounds out a tour through your 12th house, meaning you will reveal many hidden things and so, one night while reaching for another tissue while watching “How to Train Your Dragon” again, you conjure up a volunteer department based on honesty and revelation. The next day while speaking to a volunteer who asks why she wasn’t told there were no chairs for her to sit upon at the table she manned during the last community fair, you try out your new communication style and answer, “Well, because Doris, the manager of PR, didn’t tell me that we needed to furnish our own chairs.” And in a fit of honest lunacy, you add, “let’s go up and give her a piece of our minds!” Horrified, the volunteer reluctantly follows you up to administration where you rap on Doris’ door, smiling sweetly at your petrified volunteer. When a puzzled Doris invites you in, you point to your volunteer and say, “our volunteer has something to say to you. Go on, be honest.” At this point, the volunteer bursts into tears and runs from the office, bumping into another volunteer who just collated 100 copies of the new procedures manual. Both volunteers drop to the ground, sobbing while gathering the scattered pages and you end up spending your day re-collating the manual and apologizing profusely. Doris, meanwhile bans you from her office for the next three months.

When fellow staff stop avoiding you, you feel the time is right for your volunteer department to spread some much-needed positive joy within your overworked and stressed organization. You obtain permission for your volunteers to read “words of joy and inspiration” at staff meetings. The volunteers recount some of their personal journeys and experiences while volunteering and these 3 minute episodes are a huge hit with grateful staff. Based on the new-found camaraderie, your volunteers decide to create a “spa day” for overwhelmed staff, an event that features massage, and art therapy and stress relieving journal writing. Spa day becomes an eagerly awaited yearly staple and fosters a new appreciation for volunteers.(You wicked good leader, you!)

Well, there it is! After she rolled up the charts, Ms. Crystal Ball-Starrzowie wiped the sweat from her brow, either because she had worked really hard, or maybe because the broken furnace in her basement kept running on super high, I’m not sure which. But she did grab my face, locked her eyes on mine and said, “Now this is vitally important. Listen very carefully.” She tightened the grip on my cheeks and added, “your credit card was denied. You owe me $78.”

Cheers and here’s to 2017!

-Meridian

Is it Time to Start Selling Volunteer Perfume?

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in charities, group volunteering, messaging, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, recruitment, resale shops, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteering good for you, why should I volunteer

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In 1886 America, a struggling door to door book salesman, David H. McConnell discovered that the small vials of perfume he offered as “door opening” incentives were more popular than books and from that realization, the Avon Company was founded.

Well, huh. Volunteer managers know that volunteering enhances the lives of those who volunteer with us. We have seen the grief-stricken person begin to socialize again, the quiet student learn to trust their abilities, and the senior come alive with purpose. We’ve seen volunteers learn so much about themselves that we could write a textbook.

What if we borrowed from Mr. McConnell and compared books and perfume to recruiting and managing a volunteer force?

The books: volunteer jobs (Volunteers Needed to Stuff Envelopes)

The perfume: the benefits of volunteering (Learn New Skills) (Socialize with Caring People) (Change Your Life)

Maybe the time is right to symbolically begin our own perfume company. Many articles are being written and statistics kept on the benefits of volunteering. Since the evidence that we knew all along is overwhelming,  we can become a greater positive force in our communities by looking to not just fill organizational needs, but to help our fellow citizens enrich their lives by volunteering.

What if we put as much emphasis on our perfume as on our books? Would developing our perfume company create a larger volunteer force of outstanding volunteers and in return, more books would be sold, er volunteer positions would be filled? I’m thinking, yes.

We have the most fragrant life enhancing perfume. And yet it is secondary, mostly kept in our desk drawers until a class of new volunteers begin. Then we pull it out and spritz it in the air, letting that intoxicating life enhancing scent fill their nostrils with promise. We should be pumping that scent all over town by the gallon.

What if, besides volunteer coordinators, we also became “life enhancement coordinators?”  How would that look? Well, for starters we would:

Add a new focus: We would create positions in our organizations that serve our volunteers and in turn, those innovative jobs would help our clients in new creative ways.

Put volunteers first:  We would partner with other local organizations to share volunteers instead of operating in dark, isolated caves, all trying to lure the same people inside and clinging to the ones we have, even if we can’t offer them a great volunteer experience and someone else can.

 Create new benefits for our organizations: We would create a community of fluid volunteers who could share talents with many organizations and therefore bring fresh ideas to help each organization grow. (or are non-profits really just in competition with one another for the same donations, publicity and volunteers?)

Lower volunteer attrition: We would end the cycle of volunteers bouncing from organization to organization and giving up because the process is so tedious.

Expand organizational reach: We would measure the impact on our communities, thus exponentially mushrooming the outreach and standing of our organizations.  Wait, measure perfume?

What are some measurable volunteer life enhancing statistics?

  • The number of unemployed people who were able to fill in gaps in their resumes and garnered new recommendations from organizational staff.
  • The number of students who used service learning and organizational recommendations to seek entry into the college of their choice.
  • The number of corporate teams who made a commitment to service, learned team building skills and became supporters of a cause (donations, marketing etc).
  • The number of people who were able to garner people skills as they learned about inter-generational connections or diversity because they were paired with someone different from them.
  • The number of people made aware of X disease or Y social issue or Z traumatic experience by peering firsthand into our missions which gave them word of mouth marketing skills.
  • The number of isolated individuals who were able to socialize and connect, thus decreasing their risk for illness and depression.
  • The number of retired people who were able to launch volunteering careers and stay active with meaningful work.
  • The number of seniors who served critical roles and utilized skills which is proven to ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s.
  • The number of students who will become the citizens of the future due to skills learned, such as philanthropy and leadership.

What if our organizations showcased these statistics as part of their end of year report? How big and beautiful would that report be? And wouldn’t those incredibly heartwarming stats increase each charities’ standing in the community?

I think the time is right for volunteer managers to come out of the shadows and lead. Think about all the times a prospective volunteer walked through your door and you instinctively sensed they had a secondary reason to volunteer. Think about all the volunteers you have spent time with, tweaking positions until the right fit presented itself. Think about the programs you have created because you had a group of dynamic volunteers that needed something more. How many times have you heard your volunteers tell you that they get so much more out of volunteering than they give?

Most of the emotional time and commitment we spend cultivating volunteers and meeting their needs never gets reported. This is why the misconceptions abound. “Managing volunteers is easy.” “All you do is have tea parties and socialize”. “Why can’t you just ask? Someone will do it.”

While we continually struggle to justify the hours we spend with each and every volunteer, we discover that the biggest part of our jobs lies outside the scope of the organizational definition of volunteer management because our jobs as “life enhancement coordinators” is not properly recognized or measured. We possess the tools to change this misconception.

Instead of continuing to just peddle books while we possess this life changing fragrance, let’s take matters into our own capable hands.

Let’s sell perfume.

-Meridian

Director of First Impressions Volunteer

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in charities, messaging, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, recruitment, resale shops, thrift store, Uncategorized, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer retention

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Director of First Impressions Volunteer: Wow. What a concise, succinct way to advertise for a front desk or receptionist volunteer. The ad then goes on to talk about how important it is for clients to experience a first impression that is compassionate and helpful. Gosh, I want to be that volunteer.

So, what verbiage appeals to prospective volunteers? Is it silly, eye-catching titles or serious, touching the heart ads that bring volunteers in? And does the same ad appeal to millennials and baby boomers, working adults and students, community service needing and weekend warrior potential volunteers alike? And anyway, are there foolproof ads that once you’ve created them, you can then just magically sit back and answer the ringing phone?”

Clearly, marketing has a tremendous impact on companies that sell goods and services. If we think of ourselves as selling goods (enhanced life experiences) and services (ways to help the community), then we can think of our potential volunteers as consumers who can pick and choose where they will spend their valuable time. So, how do we market to them?

Here are just three creative ways to frame a volunteer ad:
1. Describe the benefit to the organization.
2. Describe the benefit to the client served.
3. Describe the benefit for the volunteer.

So, let’s take a simple job title such as “volunteer receptionist” and re-imagine it in the above three ways:

“Director of First Impressions:” The word ‘director’ exudes importance, and ‘first impressions’ neatly describes how this organization genuinely cares for their clients and is striving for excellence with every paid and/or volunteer position.

“Imagine How Hard It Is To Need Our Help:” This immediately frames the position in the eyes of the client and elicits an empathetic feeling for those who are being served.

“Where Else Can You Feel Like You Have Thrown Out a Lifeline:” This ad goes right to the heart of volunteerism-making a difference.

And what law says we can’t use all three ads for one position at the same time? Who knows which approach will attract the kind of person you are looking for because ads exist to quickly capture attention. All three ring true; they are just different ways of framing meaningful volunteer roles in punchy descriptions. If you can combine all three ways without becoming too verbose, then by all means, give it a go.
But can we even go further and be even more creative?  Why can’t we inject some playfulness? How about an ad that asks, “What Intergallactic Volunteer Character Are You?” (Or another current and popular theme). Create a description for a few popular characters, such as:
The Scavenger Captain: You’re roguish and free wheeling, this job is flexible. We won’t tie you down!
The Robot Sidekick: You’re diplomatic and precise, this job needs your attention to detail.
The Galaxy Princess: You’re strong and smart and destined to lead our rebellion against hunger.

Want to advertise for a thrift store volunteer? How about “Are You the First One at Garage Sales? Come, Help Sort Through Our Treasures Where It’s A Garage Sale Everyday.”

Do you need something very specific? Celebrate it! Web help might become, “If You Know What This Is, Call Us: 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000.”

There are catchy volunteer ads out there that say, “show off your basketball skills,” “do you love cats and acting,” “do you walk by homeless people not knowing what to do,” “be the role model she’ll remember always,” “50% of school age children in our town go to bed hungry.” A few great ads tell a personal story: “Meet Ed. He will sit alone in his room today unless a volunteer comes to visit. Will you be that volunteer?” “Sarah received a scholarship in part because she volunteered. If you can you use a scholarship, call us!”

Do you have multiple locations? Tack the location onto the ad so that potential volunteers know they can stay close to home or work or school. You can say, “Be the Role Model She’ll Always Remember in Springfield” or “Calling All You Bristolians Who Dress Up Their Dogs.”

And if your program has won an award or has been feted in any way, use that to your advantage: “Join our award-winning volunteer program!”

Refresh your ads frequently. Keep statistics on the more successful ads so that you can start to track what is working and for whom it is working.

You can also put together a focus group of volunteers to come up with creative ads that they believe will appeal to their peers. Marketing students are also an excellent resource for help in crafting creative and appealing ads.

Well, then, how can we jazz up that soul-sucking Data Entry Volunteer ad? (and you know what always surprised me, there are people who want to do this kind of volunteering because it’s sort of like washing dishes by hand, it gives them a chance to just quiet the mind).

“Monotonous, Repetitious Data Entry Volunteer Job For That Amazing Person Who Knows This Work is Critical.  Help Our Clients While Decompressing in a Calm Environment. We’ll Play Some New Age Music.”

-Meridian

Caring Volunteer Wanted: Well, Duh!

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in charities, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, recruitment, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management

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Every day, potential volunteers peruse volunteer want ads. What do they find? Are they intrigued? Do they dial us up immediately, hoping to not miss the wonderful opportunity we offer? Or do they thumb through ad after ad that says basically the same tired thing?

According to research, the science of naming brands is so much more than just descriptive words. Research and real thought goes into names that resonate with consumers. Clever word coinage, rhymes that fall off your tongue and words that sound like the actual word (think fizz) all play into the careful selection of names. Maybe it’s time we borrowed some of that science and applied it to volunteer recruitment ads.

So what if we rename some common volunteer wanted ad titles, using techniques from this science, such as rhyming words, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and coining words. Here are just a few straight forward volunteer job titles reimagined.

Office volunteer:  Shredding Goddess; Tasktastic Volunteer; Phone Joan; Receptionista; File Jockey; Scanning Scientist; Gossip Ignoring Go-Getter.

Volunteer Driver: Go-fer Chauffeur; Transporter Supporter;  Joyager; Food Trucker; The Dean of Clean Driving Records.

Marketing/Fundraising Volunteer: Money-Honey; Goods Grabber; Shake-Down Shirley; Bucks Buckaroo.

Events Volunteer: Darling of Developement; A Party Hardy; Our Gala Girl; Work Till You Drop Wonk; Jamboreally Need You.

Volunteer Recruiter: Captain of Coercion; Rope ‘Em In Randy; Soul-Snagger; Goodie Two Shoes Gatherer; Codger-Finder; Tenderfoot Tender.

Thumbing through volunteer recruitment ads pretending to be a prospective volunteer looking for potential opportunities can give us a sense of what is and is not appealing. What ad stands out and is at least worth exploring further?

While ad titles such as Program Volunteer, Marketing Assistant, Resource Specialist and the soul-sucking Dracula of all ad titles, Data Entry Volunteer may accurately describe the positions, they lack the enthusiasm and meaning that volunteers wish to experience by spending their precious time with us.

Other outdated, but somewhat descriptive ad titles such as “Caring Volunteer;” “Hold a Hand;” “Make a Difference; “Become a Mentor;” “Friendly Visitor;” can feel like they were written with a chisel on stone and a potential volunteer may just pass them up because they are so “yesterday.” Recruitment ads written once and left up on social media sites gather more dust than my speech written in case I am employee of the year.

Or how about these dusty goodies: “Buddy;” Bring Your Smile; “Inspire Youth.” Picture paging through volunteer ad after volunteer ad that basically heralds the same vague thing no matter what or where the volunteering position.

Writing volunteer ads is passive recruitment and sadly quite often overlooked. Passive recruitment means that the ads we post keep working for us while we are out talking to civic groups or sitting at community fairs or having lunch. That is why spending time and energy on writing these ads and regularly refreshing them is one of the smartest things we can do.

Picture a student, late at night, smart phone in hand, swiping through ads that will enforce their desire to be a change maker. Or picture a retired senior, recently widowed, searching in the still morning for something that will add meaning to a bruised soul. Or a working parent, sneaking a peek at ads while helping with homework, looking to spend some me time helping others. What will speak to each one of them?

Volunteer recruitment ads should be working every bit as hard as you do.

-Meridian

Next time:  A volunteer ad that says it all and 3 ways to re-imagine volunteer ads.