Category Archives: group volunteering

Volunteer or You’ll Lose Everything!

31 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in group volunteering, messaging, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, Uncategorized, volunteer ads, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer recruitment

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Volunteer or You'll Lose Everything

In decision theory,  a loss aversion  means that the pain of losing something is much greater than the pleasure of making an equivalent gain. Marketers everywhere utilize this theory to hawk their goods.

“Get it before it’s gone!”

“Act fast. Limited supplies available!”

In volunteer management, we prefer the gain theory when marketing to potential volunteers. We use phrases such as “the life you change may be your own,” or “do something meaningful” to entice others to join our cause. But what if these researchers are correct and we are hard wired to respond more to fear of loss?

How would this advertising trick work with volunteer recruitment ads?. To find out, I stopped in to see my good friend, Svin Dler who runs an ad agency in town. He’s the genius behind such memorable ad campaigns as “Proud to Be Under Federal Investigation” and “Without Our Product, You’re a Worthless Pile of #$%@.”

I walked into his inexplicably empty office and asked Svin to take some of our volunteer ads and apply the loss aversion theory to them. Here’s what he came up with. (after I passed a ten spot under the table to him-no, really he made me pass it under the table)

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to file papers! All the beautiful people are doing it. File those papers before they’re gone and then you won’t be beautiful!

Volunteer now, or our charity will go out of business. Then, when your family needs help, no agency will help you because all agencies share a list of slackers. Don’t get turned away you slacker.

Volunteer now or keep being your worthless selfish self. BTW, everyone hates you.

Save the world by volunteering. If you don’t, the world will end and it will be YOUR FAULT.

Hmmmm, I don’t know if those will work. Well, maybe the third one will….. no, no, they won’t. But can we write worthwhile ads and throw in a bit of the loss aversion theory?

How about:

There’s only a limited number of volunteering slots. Call 555-5555 to get started before the good ones are gone.

Don’t miss our next life changing volunteer orientation. Refer to this coupon code:

Act now! Don’t lose your chance to be a better person. Call this number:

Well, that’s soul-less, isn’t it? Maybe loss aversion can’t be applied to volunteer recruitment. But wait. Perhaps if we lightly sprinkled in some loss aversion techniques, we could:

Create an ad using the wish list and implied loss:

“Do you wish to be more (circle all that apply): accomplished, social, engaged, in-tune, appreciated, worldly, satisfied, prepared, rejuvenated, self-aware, respected, content, experienced, understood?  Join us next Saturday. We have just three Volunteer Training slots still open. Come, let’s explore your wish list.”

Create an email reminder for those who have expressed an interest:

“Our volunteer training is this Saturday at 1pm. Seats are filling up and we would love to see you there. Click here to join our amazing volunteers.” (or diverse, or award winning or whatever adjective fits)

Use urgency:

“Our last volunteer training of the year is being held next Saturday at 1pm. As one of our volunteers, Jamal says, Don’t miss out on this life changing experience!”

So, can we actually use marketing techniques for volunteer recruitment? Is that ok?

Well, here’s a question: When designing volunteer recruitment ads, do we inadvertently give these impressions:

There is no limit to the amount of volunteers we take

Time is never of the essence-we’ll always be there kinda like death and taxes

The choice volunteer positions never get filled

Is there a boring and stale element to our ads that imply volunteering is a never-ending constant so heck, why not put it off?

We are not gimmicky marketers looking to sell something and move on. We deal in cultivating real human beings who offer meaningful involvement, so tricks and slick words are not us. However, we are also not complacent.

Here’s a recent ad I came across:

“Join us for a Volunteer Orientation (date) to learn more about our organization and the many different ways you can help us. You will get an overview of our work and learn how you can help improve the lives in need by volunteering. To learn more about our volunteer program, check out our website.”(here)

Now, let’s re-imagine this ad with a sprinkling of loss aversion theory:

“A limited number of slots are still available for volunteer orientation on (date). Don’t miss out on exploring the many flexible ways you can help.” Visit our website (here) for a quick sign up. See you on (date)!”

So, as long as we are truthful about our ads, why can’t we use some marketing techniques to recruit volunteers?

Try it before it’s too late. (ooops, sorry)

-Meridian

 

 

 

 

 

New Words Added to the Volunteer Management Dictionary

05 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in charities, corporate volunteering, group volunteering, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, staff and volunteer relationships, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer project, volunteer recruitment, volunteer retention, volunteer statistics

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Added to the Volunteer Management Dictionary

It’s that time of year when the Committee to Define Volunteer Management gets together at a back table in Pete’s Bar, Grill and Bait Shop. Together, these brave members scratch their heads over several pints and attempt to come up with a succinct explanation of volunteer management. This year, they gave up once again after rejecting the phrase “herding cats,” but they decided to add the following words to the dictionary of volunteer management.

Volvorce: When a volunteer divorces the organization as in “No, I just can’t go get new volunteer Dinesh, because since no one called him back about getting started after I introduced him to finance, he volvorced us.”

Meetcolepsy: When too many meetings cause you to simply fall into a stupor at the thought of another talk-fest as in “No, I couldn’t make that fourteenth meeting about using the volunteers to stand by the back door in case someone gets confused because I contracted meetcolepsy. Want to see my doctor’s slip?”

Latespectation: A last-minute request for volunteers that is expected to be filled as if you were given weeks to prepare, as in “Oh, so you need 5 volunteers tomorrow morning for an assignment that you said was extremely important? Your latespectation is showing.”

Creditjacking: When another staff member takes credit for a successful endeavor that you or your volunteers accomplished as in “Yes, I’m glad you praised that project during the senior managers’ meeting, but let’s not creditjack the volunteers’ work, ok?”

Duhtistics: Stats that are so incredibly obvious, like volunteers are super nice as in “I won’t bore the board with duhtistics that you’ve heard before. No, instead I want to point out some new and exciting projects we are undertaking.”

AVOL: A volunteer who inexplicably does not return calls, emails or letters as in “I’m glad you noticed volunteer Myrna has been missing lately. I’m trying everything in my power to get in touch with her. Right now she’s AVOL.”

Volunteer Lite: A request for a volunteer to do a menial, mindless task as in, “You’re asking me for one of our highly trained volunteers to clean out the storage closet so you can use it for your supplies? You don’t want a full-bodied volunteer, you want a volunteer lite.”

Miracalls: Calls made to volunteers for an especially challenging or late request as in, “Woah, that’s a really challenging request (or time frame). I’ll be holed up in my office for the rest of the day, making miracalls.”

Informashunned: (pronounced in-for-may-shunned) Not given the essential information needed to properly place a volunteer as in “I have recruited four of our best volunteers for that assignment, but my pleas for crucial information have been ignored. Right now, our volunteers are informashunned.”

Nopinion: Volunteers wanted, but not their opinions as in, “I’m glad you were able to use volunteer Mark’s expertise, but he felt rebuffed when he offered additional knowledge. I guess you really want an expert but nopinion volunteer.” 

Vombie: That volunteer everyone is afraid of and no one wants to council or fire, as in, “I know Janey is a handful and she’s been here for what, twenty years now. I guess she’s been allowed to attain Vombie status and now that I’m here, I will deal with it in a professional manner.”

Callwaiter: The notion that volunteers sit by the phone just waiting to hear from us as in, “It is Friday afternoon and most of our volunteers have already made plans for tomorrow. I’ll make some miracalls, but our vibrant and diverse volunteers aren’t callwaiters.”

Marathonitor: The running around, checking, double-checking and rechecking to ensure that volunteers have all the information and tools they need to succeed as in “Our fifteen volunteers are ready for Saturday’s important annual event, but in order for them to excel, I will be marathonitoring their involvement, so I won’t be attending any meetings tomorrow or making miracalls to fill latespectation requests.”

Well, there you have it. As one of the senior members of the Committee to Define Volunteer Management said after several glasses of Pinot Grigio, “Dang, defining volunteer management is really impifficult.”

-Meridian

A Corporate Volunteering Interview Part 2

01 Wednesday Feb 2017

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

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Part 2 of the interview with Sadie on corporate volunteering-the day of the event.

 

VPT: So, on the day of the event, you and several other employees met up at the location. How did it go?

S: Well, we had an issue with parking. There were street parking spots, but a sign said ‘two hour parking only.’ We parked anyway. It was a four-hour shift so we figured we would have to come out and move the cars. Later, when we asked, they told us that the city had waived that rule and we could stay in our spots.

VPT: After you parked, you went in and what happened?

S: The building was a warehouse type of building and we had no idea how to get in.

VPT: What did you do?

S: We went around back, found a back door and went in through there.

VPT: And then what?

S: We found the makeshift kitchen where there was coffee and donuts and we announced ourselves to the people in there. They asked if this was our first year and we said yes, so they got another person to come and train us.

VPT: Were they volunteers or staff? How did you know they were part of the event?

S: I honestly don’t know if they were paid or not. But they wore stick on name badges.

VPT: Did they greet you?

S: They seemed stressed. It felt like they didn’t know what to do with us. They consulted the printed out sign up sheet and saw that we were listed so they said they would try to find a spot for us.

VPT: What did the training consist of?

S: About two minutes worth of what we were supposed to do.

VPT: And that was….

S: We were to walk around with the clients. They would have a shopping cart and we would go from station to station where they would pick out toys according to how many children they had and their ages. Then we would escort them to the stations where they would get boxes of donated food. I will say, the person who showed us what to do was very nice.

VPT: How were the stations?

S: The stations were very well set up, and organized. You could tell they had done this many times before.

VPT: Were you given any information on how to act around the clients, anything about sensitivity or confidentiality?

S: (laughs). At one point we were told to try to get stories of hardship from the clients so that we could direct them to a station that had extra toys. They had more toys than they needed, so I guess that’s a good thing.

VPT: Did someone check in with you during your shift to see if everything was ok.

S: Not with me, I don’t know about the others.

VPT: And you were there for four hours.

S: Longer. One of our group, Justin, who was helping at a food station, was told he could not leave until his replacement showed up. After thirty minutes of waiting, we just left. Some of us rode together and had to go.

VPT: Did anyone acknowledge you when you left?

S: No. Justin told his station manager and we left.

VPT: How was it working with the clients?

S: That was great. The people were very grateful and appreciated our being there to help.

VPT: Were you comfortable with the clients, given you had minimal training?

S: Surprisingly, yes. It felt very natural.

VPT: Did your firm get any acknowledgement, thank you, write-up, mention on website, anything?

S: No, nothing that I am aware of. In hindsight, we should have worn company t-shirts or brought something for them to use. They didn’t ask, though.

VPT: Did you have some sort of follow-up meeting with your fellow employees after the event?

S: No, we probably should have done that. But I did check in with them individually.

VPT: What feedback did you get from the other employees?

S: They thought it was worthwhile. They felt like they made a connection with the people being helped.

VPT: Will you be back next year?

S: Yes.

VPT: What will bring you back?

S: As much as I didn’t appreciate how it was run, it is about the people I was helping and it makes me feel good to help them. I wasn’t able to volunteer until I was a point in my life where I felt I was able to help others. Now that I can do that I feel like I’m also able to take on obstacles such as the people running the show. Maybe they started off like me, caring about the people more, and they never transitioned over to caring for the volunteers that help the people in need. I’m not sure, but I do feel like it comes with the territory.

VPT: Anything else?

S: Second reason I’ll go back is because it might not be the best environment to make me feel appreciated, but I’m comfortable now. I do have a busy life and I chose this organization for a reason. To find another one like it is time-consuming and what if it was just the same or worse? I feel comfortable at this organization now and next year I will be able to walk in, do what I came to accomplish and leave.

VPT: Thank you Sadie for sharing your experience with us.

Huh. Well, that was definitely eye-opening. So, I guess the takeaway is we should be relieved when volunteers put up with us because it’s just too darned time-consuming to find another place to spend their time and talents. And luckily for us, that new place might be worse.

And hey, here’s a thought. Maybe we should thank the people we serve for being needy. Maybe we could just give them a reward for keeping our volunteers coming back. We could call it the “Sob Story of Retention” award.

Or maybe we could just do better.

-Meridian

A Corporate Volunteering Interview

25 Wednesday Jan 2017

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

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I was really lucky to catch up with and interview Sadie, a busy mother and professional who took charge of a corporate volunteering event this past December for her financial firm. Here is the interview:

VPT(volunteerplaintalk): Thank you for speaking with me today. I understand that you took the reins on a corporate volunteer project over the holidays?

S: Yes, my firm allows us 4 hours of paid time to volunteer and I wanted to do something myself around the holidays because it felt like the time to give back. And because our 4 hours does not accrue for the following year, so I either had to use the time or lose it.

VPT: How were you chosen to head up the corporate volunteering event?

S: Quite by accident. I was just looking to fill my 4 volunteering hours.

VPT: So you had planned on only volunteering yourself?

S: Initially, yes, along with one of my friends.

VPT: Did you find the organization you chose on your own or did they reach out to you?

S: I found it on my own. It is a local toy drive put on by a local city organization and my mom had done something similar in Florida and I thought it would be a festive, holiday experience and I know that there is actual work that needs doing during the holidays to pull off these events.

VPT: How did you end up doing a corporate volunteer event?

S: Well, I approached my HR department to see if this organization would count towards my 4 hours and they told me that a number of employees hadn’t yet taken advantage of the volunteering hours for the year. They asked me if I would take charge of making it a corporate volunteering event and I agreed.

VPT: How did you feel about taking charge?

S: I really didn’t mind, because at our firm, we run projects, and so we are often in charge of other team members. But I will say, that there is more pressure when you are trying to create a worthwhile experience for a group. You don’t want to waste your fellow volunteers’ time.

VPT: So, how did you set up this volunteering event with the organization?

S: Well, I went to their website and saw that groups could volunteer. There were several categories, including sorting toys and food, setting up and also volunteering to help the people shop on the giveaway days of the event. I wanted our group to volunteer on the day they actually gave away toys and food to needy people, because I thought that it would be very meaningful for us.

VPT: And how did you sign up?

S: There was a place on the website to sign up for a particular date, so I did that with the names of the members of my group. I signed up two groups on two successive days. I also called the number listed on the website and left a message, because I wanted to make sure that my sign-up was recorded and I did have a few questions.

VPT: And what did you ask when they returned your call?

S: I never did get a return call.

VPT: What? No one called you back?

S: No, no one did.

VPT: Did you try again? Did you get a confirming email?

S: I called again and left a message. I did not get an email either.

VPT: Were you worried at that point?

S: Yes, very. I was now responsible for my co-workers’ volunteer hours, and time was running out on the year.

VPT: What did you do?

S: Well, I was very busy, what with all the family things to do and at work we had some projects with deadlines, so I waited for some sort of acknowledgement.

VPT: Did it come?

S: Luckily, yes. When I was about to look for another volunteer opportunity, I received an email asking me to sign up again through a website called signup genius. I clicked on the link and re-signed the  two groups for two separate days.

VPT: Did you get a response then?

S: Yes, an automated one from signup genius saying thank you and confirming.

VPT: But no personal response?

S: No, none. I did get a reminder from signup genius, so that was helpful.

VPT: Was that enough?

S: It would have been reassuring and helpful to get a personal phone call or email, but I just trusted that we were good to go.

VPT: And did you inform your group that you were good to go?

S: Yes, I forwarded the confirmation email to them with their names listed.

VPT: Did you meet with your group before the event?

S: No, we did not meet. It seemed pretty straightforward.

VPT: Did you have an idea of who and where to report to on your volunteer day and what role you would have?

S: I was in the day one group, so I could inform the group on day 2 of anything they needed to know. But, no, I had no idea who we were supposed to report to or where. I did have the address, though.

VPT: And so, in good faith you just…

S: (laughs) We just showed up.

VPT: And how did it go?

S: Well, parking was a real issue and we couldn’t figure out how to get into the building..

Sorry to cut it off here, but the interview is longer than one post. Next time-what happened on the day of volunteering: The conclusion of Sadie’s interview.

Thanks and have a great week!

-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

They Laughed at My Wall of Binders Until…

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in charities, group volunteering, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer background checks, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer retention

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binders

“I took over from a really nice older lady,” volunteer manager Meghan says, “but one thing I couldn’t understand is why she kept all these reports and sign-in sheets from meetings that were two and three years old. I shredded those in an attempt to keep a cleaner office. Then one day we needed to find a volunteer log from a couple of years ago. I had to admit that I got rid of it.” Meghan’s eyes got bigger, “I mean, what were the chances that we would need it?”

Oh, the stacks and stacks of paper we create. Information on prospective volunteers, sign-in sheets from meetings, policies reviewed, applications, surveys, new volunteer interviews and volunteer logs are just some of the records kept in volunteer management. But are they necessary?

For years I was teased about my “pack rat” behavior and folks laughed at my bookcase full of binders that held all the signatures and information I gathered. The binders were in addition to the personal files on past, present and future volunteers that were kept under double lock and key in several file cabinets. These files included background check results,  addresses and phone numbers.

Did I need it all? Most of the time, no, but once in a while, it proved pretty handy,

So here are just a few of the occasions when my “pack rat” binders helped out.

Lawyers for a family needed access to care center front desk sign-in sheets to see if a prohibited family came to visit a client.

A volunteer was reprimanded for breaking new policy. She claimed she and other volunteers were never informed until the policy she signed at a volunteer meeting was produced.

The executive director wanted to know if his neighbor actually came to a volunteer informational session.

A new volunteer insisted that she came to an advanced training but remembered that it was a meeting when shown the sign-in sheets for that training.

Auditors arrived unexpectedly and requested proof of volunteer trainings. (the actual signatures of volunteers)

Odd stats concerning volunteers were needed to apply for a grant application.

A representative from a group of workers that volunteered wanted to know who actually signed in so that they could recognize those employees at the annual company picnic.

Newer volunteer reporting systems have replaced many of the old binder systems. But the point is, the proof that signatures provide may just come in handy one day. Keeping records of meetings and asking volunteers to sign new policies help keep track of those who are and those who are not yet informed of important regulations. And if a volunteer does not attend an important informational meeting, then a copy of the meeting minutes and policies can be mailed or emailed to the absent volunteer with a request of acknowledgement. (and a friendly encouragement to ask questions or give feedback so that you can explain those regulations).

While reports and sign-ins may not be flashy volunteer management, they do serve a useful purpose. Signatures are legal proof that you have done your due diligence when it comes to the proper training, conducting educational meetings for and providing necessary information to your volunteers.

It’s no easy day when you have to prove something and you cannot. Binders and folders on hard drives do not take up that much room.

Besides, when the CEO wants to know if her second cousin once removed was informed of the new dress code, those boring but carefully maintained wall of signatures will give you the answer in a pretty impressive short amount of time.

Who’ll be laughing at the binders then?

-Meridian

 

 

 

Staff Are From Mars, Volunteers Are From Venus, and We Are Earth-in the Middle

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in charities, group volunteering, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, resale shops, staff and volunteer relationships, Uncategorized, Volunteer, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management, volunteer retention

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“‎” when men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom ”
― John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

Jay, the volunteer manager for a disaster relief organization walked into the monthly staff meeting and took the last seat near the back of the crowded meeting room. The two managers in front of him were snarking about the “annoying always perky operations manager” who stepped forward to give a report on the number of clients served during a recent flood. Jay began to grumble to himself. “Where are the volunteers in this meeting,” he said under his breath. “They are a huge part of these statistics and would love to feel a real bonafide part of this organization. They do everything for us, so why can’t they ever be included in staff meetings?”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like Jay. Why aren’t volunteers included in staff meetings, celebrations and outings. (and no, having them decorate the Christmas Tree in the staff lounge doesn’t count) Why are we the only ones who think of involving volunteers as equals? Then, when my head was about to blow from my fantasies about never providing another volunteer for you ingrates again, I had a quiet staff member tell me that she felt her job was threatened by a dynamic volunteer. What?????

Do staff have needs different from volunteer needs and how can we, volunteer managers be the grounded terra firma middle men who are able to intuitively understand both sides? And will thinking about the vastly different needs give us better insight into helping staff and volunteers to integrate? Let’s look at some of these separate needs:

1. Volunteers need to feel included and valued. Staff need to feel that volunteers will not take their jobs.
2. Volunteers want to do meaningful work. Staff want help so they too, can do meaningful work instead of laboring over boring paperwork and attending endless meetings.
3. Volunteers need flexibility. Staff needs a paycheck.
4. Volunteers want to utilize their skills. Staff wants to feel that their skill-set is not upstaged.
5. Volunteers want to help. Staff is afraid to let go.
6. Volunteers want to engage with staff. Staff has deadlines and wants time to work.
7. Volunteers need teamwork. Staff needs alone time.
8. Volunteers may be in awe of staff. Staff may be jealous of volunteers.

We spend a great deal of time trying to educate staff on the treatment of volunteers. Perhaps we can look at staff’s needs as well and take those needs into consideration when introducing volunteers into the mix. Can we reassure staff that we get that they too, have wants and needs when working with volunteers so that they in turn, welcome volunteers?

I think yes, if we look at it through their eyes. Staff can be intimidated by a highly educated or talented volunteer. Overworked staff just slogging through the day may feel inadequate next to an enthusiastic volunteer who is fresh and able to leave whenever they choose. Staff may have a deadline and not be able to chat with volunteer after volunteer. Staff may have worked hard on a project and may be reluctant to just turn it over to someone who only comes in once a week. So, taking this into consideration, we might:

Talk to staff before introducing a new volunteer. The old Venus me would have sold a new volunteer by saying, “I’m bringing in Sally, a former CEO and a published expert on human resource management. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and will be awesome at working with our clients. She’s a very busy young retiree with lots of energy and talents. I know you will love her!”

But what Mars staff heard me say was, “Move over, idiot. I’m bringing in Sally, a way better worker than you. She’s smarter and will probably point out every thing you are doing wrong and that’s a lot from what I hear through the grapevine. You’ll have to spend all your time answering questions and listening to her glory day stories and you’ll fall behind in your work. As a matter of fact, they’ll probably hire her which is ironically kinda funny, don’t you think?”

Eeeck! Maybe I, as Earth should say, “I have this wonderful new volunteer Sally. She is a retired professional who wants to get to know our organization from a starting point and I thought of you and all your skills and knowledge. I am hoping that she will be a good fit for your tasks but I will be checking in with you frequently, especially during her first few times volunteering to make sure that you are getting the kind of help you need. I want you to alert me to any issue you might have with this new volunteer because I know your time is valuable and I want to make sure this is a help, not a hindrance. I know from experience that you will treat her with the respect that will make her a long term volunteer. Thank you for giving her this opportunity.”

Let’s face it, we volunteer managers are good ol’ Earth, in the middle of staff and volunteers. And since we want to ensure that volunteers are integrated into organizational culture, we may have to mediate that integration in a balanced way by taking into consideration the needs of not just our Venus volunteers but also our Martian staff.

It can be a tough, mud-filled, seemingly bleak task for us-being the planet in the middle. But, take a moment and look at Earth from space. It is a bright blue haven of all things possible, creative and vibrant. I’ll take being Earth any day.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-Meridian

Hands On Network Tokyo: The Ease of Volunteering

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in charities, group volunteering, NGO, non-profit, organizations, part time volunteer manager, prospective volunteer, recruitment, Volunteer, volunteer background checks, volunteer coordinator, volunteer management

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http://www.handsontokyo.org/en/home

I was incredibly fortunate to have spent the month of September in Japan visiting my daughter who teaches English as a second language. While visiting this amazing and beautiful country, I was honored to be able to spend some time at Hands On Tokyo, the volunteer center affiliated with the Hands On Network and the only Points of Light affiliate in Japan.

The Japanese people are incredibly kind, generous and considerate, from the man who left his train car to steer my husband and I to our destination to the couple who shared their dinner with us at the Hanshin Tigers’ baseball game. I imagined that the directors of Hands On Tokyo would be welcoming, and they were not only welcoming, but enthusiastic and infectious.

My gracious hosts, Mimi Yoshii, Co-Director and Aya Higa, Co-Director warmly welcomed me to their office in the Minato area of Tokyo. The office was bright, full of schedules and deadlines and event planning. But these two dynamic ladies took time from their busy schedules to tell me about Hands On Tokyo’s many activities.

Hands on Tokyo was founded in 2006 by a group of volunteers including a woman who had been active at Hands On Atlanta. The really neat thing about Hands on Tokyo is their model of partnering the needs of the community with their 5,000+ corporate and individual volunteers. Mimi Yoshii said with understandable pride, “we are unique in that we are the go between for corporate projects and those who need help.” Hands On Tokyo is also distinguished by Japanese and foreign nationals volunteering side by side and as Aya Higa related, “about 60% of volunteers are foreigners living in Japan.”

Interest in Hands On Tokyo really took off after the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Many foreigners stepped forward to offer help, which, under the dire circumstance, was quickly accepted. I asked if the foreigners were viewed in a positive light and Aya Higa stated that the Japanese recipients of help truly appreciated all the faces from other lands. I could only imagine the monumental tasks this organization faced at that time.

I asked about the challenges they face today and as you would expect, they have the same challenges we all face. Background checks are becoming a necessity as is the need for new and meaningful projects. They too experience lopsided periods of time in which there are more volunteers than projects.

Mimi Yoshii emphasized their desire to create an ease of volunteering to encourage the Japanese people to become more involved. One of the barriers to volunteering is the desire by the Japanese people to not shame their friends and neighbors by highlighting the fact that they are in need, a practice referred to as the “culture of shaming.” It reminded me to be more careful when working with clients, so as not to let our desire to help overshadow clients’ need to be treated with dignity and respect.

Mimi and Aya lit up when talking about the interns they work with primarily during summer. These young volunteers, even though they may initially join to work in the office, bring fresh new ideas, something Hands On Tokyo loves to cultivate. One intern, they recalled, a dancer, began a program that brought dance into a nursing home. The residents not only loved it, they asked “when can we do it again?” It quickly became a staple at that nursing home.

Hands On Tokyo cultivates their volunteers by encouraging them to become volunteer leaders. Every project has a volunteer leader on hand. These volunteers demonstrate leadership abilities and possess the skills and experience needed to lead a team. Every month team leaders meet to discuss issues, challenges and methods of motivating and keeping the volunteers on track. A few of the many projects include Special Olympics bowling and basketball, senior home activities, English lessons for the blind, assistance to farmers, rice ball making for single mothers and excursions for Down syndrome children.

Crane made and given to me by a total stranger

Crane made and given to me by a total stranger

Hands On Tokyo volunteers can conveniently sign up for an activity through the website portal. Besides the ongoing projects, there are volunteering events such as “A Taste for Volunteering,” and the “Spring charity concert for Tohoku.”

Recruitment for Hands On Tokyo is through their website and by corporate partners providing interested employees. Aya Higa said that in Japan, if a crowd of people is asked to volunteer, no one will raise their hand, and so their strategy is for volunteers to ask people they know directly, face to face, a practice that yields much better results.

All in all, it was encouraging to find volunteer management in Japan mirroring the same challenges and solutions that we face in the US. I was deeply impressed by the dedication, excitement and pure joy of Hands On Tokyo’s co-directors, Aya Higa and Mimi Yoshii. Their hospitality was so appreciated.

Thank you ladies for sharing your passion for volunteerism with me and for showing me that the rewards and challenges of volunteer management are universal. Visiting Hands On Tokyo is a treasured moment from a wonderful trip to an amazing country.

Arigatou gozaimasu!

-Meridian

Gobble, Gobble, Good God I’m Frazzled!

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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

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Willow, a new volunteer manager for a small organization providing aid to the homeless population in her town, answered her phone the day before Thanksgiving. She had spent long hours that week, organizing and recruiting volunteers to help prepare the annual meal held at a local high school auditorium. Exhausted, her brain overloaded, she tried to muster up enough energy to sound human on the incoming call.

The caller identified himself as Harry, the coach of a soccer team consisting of 15-year-old boys. “I’d like to get these boys involved in helping others,” he told Willow. “We’d like to come out and feed the homeless tomorrow.”

Willow felt a throbbing in her forehead. “How many players are we talking about?”

“Not the whole team, mind you, about 7 or 8.”

Tears filled her eyes like the bubbles in a natural spring. The volunteer slots were set in stone. It had taken every fiber of her new volunteer manager being to accomplish that. She was bone weary and wondered, why did this man wait until now to call? How could he think that there was no coordination in putting together something so incredibly complicated? Why does no one understand?

It’s happened to all of us. Often, people call at the last moment to help, especially at holiday times. After it happens, you begin to expect it and it is incredibly frustrating to have to tell a group of willing helpers that they are not needed because they procrastinated or called on a whim. They are, after all, potential volunteers. Granted, most might never volunteer again, but there’s always that little voice in our heads that sneers, “there goes a group that might just have been the greatest group of volunteers known to man. And you denied them. Tsk, tsk.”

So, what to do if you are not able to just dust off those last-minute potential holiday volunteers? If you feel that a part of your job is to give people the chance to experience the deep, satisfying joy in volunteering, then you will feel a twinge of guilt or sadness when having to refuse someone, even if they called too late. We all know that holidays bring out the desire to help and that each “drop in” volunteer might become an advocate for our organizations.  Can we accommodate those late comers without making the holidays a nightmare for ourselves?

Yes, there is a way. It’s not perfect mind you, but it’s better than feeling overwhelmed and guilty at the same time. And it takes implementing now.

So that the future you is not caught in a holiday trap, prepare for the season right now. Before the holidays creep up on you, create some projects that last-minute folks can do. Don’t save the work that must be done but be ready with some extra projects that are off premises and not in direct contact with clients. (No background checks needed). You can invite these one time volunteers to become official volunteers at a later time.

Start now by asking everyone in your organization for fantasy projects. Ask, “If you had 3 or 5 or 10 volunteers over the holidays, what could they do?” Does marketing fantasize about hundreds of distributed holiday flyers? Does the thrift store secretly salivate over a huge deep cleaning and resorting for the season? Does finance have a tired office that cries for a fresh coat of paint? Is there a corner where an extra decorated tree would look lovely? Do you partner with other agencies and can you ask them if they have projects? I’ve always been able to find a nursing home that was extremely grateful for some extra help during the season.

You can also create your own meaningful projects. Go to social workers and ask if they have a family that needs Christmas presents because of financial need and then create a “gift tree” with the ages and sizes of family members on paper ornaments. Buying a gift for someone who is going through a tough time is a very satisfying introduction to volunteering. Don’t be afraid to create a project in which the participants will have to spend a bit of money. That never seems to matter.

One time volunteers can certainly write holiday cards and wishes to older clients or children. They can have a card writing party off premise. Ask a willing volunteer to attend to explain how much these cards mean to your clients. The point is to be creative. You know the difference between meaningless work and projects that can actually enhance the holidays. Have an extra tree to decorate, or paper place mats to color (good for youth groups to do). Ask your existing volunteers if they would be willing to mentor a group when necessary. Stock up on craft supplies now.

Then, when someone calls last-minute, instead of having to say, “sorry, but there’s nothing I can give you,” you can invite the late comers to get their feet wet by tackling a small but worthwhile project. If the latecomer says no, at least you offered something. I’ve had folks tell me that my organization was the only one  who even tried to place them. That good feeling can translate to future volunteers.

You, by virtue of being a volunteer manager, take care of everyone around you. Take care of yourself this holiday season by preparing now for those inevitable 12th hour but sincere calls to help. Your future self will thank you.

-Meridian