volunteerplaintalk

Category: Volunteer

  • The Honestly Honest Truth

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    Brad sighed. “I haven’t had a response from our volunteer, Ashwan in several months. He hasn’t answered emails or phone calls, or come to our monthly meetings. He was a good one. I just don’t know what happened. Did we do anything wrong?”

    This frustration ranks up there along with wondering why I was never employee of the year. Why do good volunteers fade away? Why don’t they tell us the truth about why they leave? Why aren’t they honest with us? We’re really nice people and we listen, right?

    Well, maybe because we need to be more than honest with volunteers right from the start. We need to be honestly honest.  Oh sure, we say to them, “hey, this volunteering might not be for everyone,” but doesn’t that just smack a bit of sanctimonious superiority? Doesn’t that just have an undercurrent of “oh, our volunteering is only for the good volunteers, and that’s probably not you?” If someone said that to me, I’d be looking for the nearest door and planning my exit move too.

    Maybe the breathy tales of our great volunteers can be a bit, well, off-putting for new volunteers. Who wants to have to live up to a Gandhi or a Mother Teresa?

    Maybe, instead of peppering our new volunteer training with story after story of long-term volunteer successes, we could also talk about volunteers who leave and how that’s ok.

    Maybe we could say things like:

    “Take our volunteer Shirley for example. She only stayed with us for three months, but we are so grateful for those three months. We still keep in touch with her. No matter how much or long you are with us, when you’re done, you’re done. Only you know when that is. And that’s ok. All volunteers leave and each volunteer that leaves has made a huge difference and trust me, we are grateful for each one.”

    “Volunteer Craig left after he tried a few different positions and found that they weren’t what he was looking for. Let’s be honestly honest here. We MAY FAIL YOU. Yes, that’s right, we may not intend to, but we may seem to take you for granted, or fail to use your skills. We’re human too and we want to fix things, for you and for other volunteers, so please, tell us when something is not right, because we are not perfect. Craig discussed this with us and we fixed some things because he shared his experience.”

    “Believe it or not, we don’t expect you to stay forever! And believe it or not, losing interest or moving on is something we experience all the time. That happened with our student volunteer, Sheri. She finished her degree and moved on. She got what she wanted from her experience here and took those skills with her when she left. That’s great! You are growing and changing and so are we. Nothing remains the same and if you find yourself feeling restless and wanting to move on, let us know. We want to have the opportunity to talk about it with you. Please don’t rob us of the chance to say thank you.”

    “If you find volunteering elsewhere a better fit for you, let us know so we can send a great recommendation along with you. All volunteering is good work and we are not in competition with other organizations. Our volunteer Marvin found that another organization was a better fit for him. We were so pleased that he took his volunteering to the next level. He comes back and helps us with special events and we love to hear about how he’s doing.”

    Every volunteer leaves a lasting impression on us. And while we strive to make volunteers comfortable with us, they may not be comfortable enough to share the reasons they leave. They may just think that our conception of a good volunteer revolves around how long they stay. Then, when they fade away, we lie awake and night and wonder why.

    So why not be honestly honest from the beginning and try to make it easier on them. And ultimately, easier on us too.

    -Meridian

  • A Corporate Volunteering Interview Part 2

     

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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

  • Back to Work

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    The holidays, like the saved for since childhood vacation or the once in a lifetime visit to a restaurant with that one meal that beats all meals ever consumed in history, must at some point come to an end. Then the letdown, or the blues or the blahs set in. The little piece of owl wrapping paper hurriedly left on the corner of your desk stares at you, evoking memories of gift exchanges and the excited sharing of upcoming plans and the anticipation of fun.

    Now, work looks stark in contrast. Those colorful post it notes have a utilitarian feel and the decorations that need to come down are just one more job along with the shoveling of emails and the cleaning out of the gutter of voice mails. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

    Or maybe you’ve had to work over the holidays, overseeing volunteer involvement in events or client interactions or special projects. Then your holidays feel stolen somehow, because at the time, it was festive to know you were helping others, but now it just seems all too short.

    So, I’ll make this quick and not add to your stress. You have better things to do with your time like sneak into a bathroom stall and weep a bit. And, since I am no therapist and usually don’t know what the hell I’m talking about anyway, here is my advice for this week’s return to work:

    1. Don’t feel guilty about feeling blah: No, nope, nada, nyet, iie, non, kao, nej. Your feelings are real and justified.

    2. Plan for your next getaway: Yep, put something on your calendar to look forward to, especially if you need it right now. Next week, you probably won’t need it so much, but right now, it is the light at the end of this back to work tunnel.

    3. Take it super slow: Only do what is absolutely critical to not lose your job. Other than that, allow the me comfort to continue all day, mainly to avoid telling the marketing director to ##!@ off because you weren’t ready to be asked for six volunteers to get those New Year’s flyers distributed asap.

    4. Make your work about your choice: “I choose to do..” rather than “I have to do..” will help shift that out of control feeling.

    5. Reflect on joy: What made you happy during the holidays? Studies show that the act of remembering joy can reawaken the joy. Go ahead and let that happiness wash over you again.

    We can’t inspire others if we are not healthy and whole. Please don’t ever think that your well being is not crucially important to this work. It is. Take good care of yourselves, because you are more important to furthering your mission than you will ever admit.

    Happy and Joy Filled New Year!

    -Meridian

     

     

  • But I Don’t Have All the Answers

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    “I’ve been managing volunteers for oh, say about ten years now,” Evan said. “Just recently, my organization sent me to a national conference on volunteering. “I was thrilled, you know, so happy that they invested that money in me and in the volunteer program. I signed up for every session I could and some of the presentations were about ideas that I already implemented, but there was this one presentation that just blew me away. It was from this young presenter who showed some pretty innovative ways to advertise on social media. When I returned, I have to admit, I was pretty embarrassed that I hadn’t thought of these social media ideas on my own. Is that normal, or am I being overly sensitive?”

    Evan, this is perfectly normal, trust me. If you’ve ever had a fellow staff member attend a conference and come back with an idea that they felt you should already have implemented, then you know what Evan is talking about. Volunteer managers, who daily strive for a superior volunteer program can naturally feel inadequate when shown an innovative and successful program implemented by another volunteer manager. “Why hadn’t I thought of that,” rings in our heads. “I must be slipping,” says that interior voice that constantly critiques.

    “Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers” …Voltaire, (1694-1778)

    Let’s break that down. Presentations at conferences are about innovation and success and the presenter is giving us the best of their programs. And that’s exactly what we want from them. But like that old adage that tells us to imagine an audience in their underwear in order to calm our speaker-nerves, we can realistically imagine that a presenter with a successful program may not have some of our innovative programs. Therefore, they are not better than us. They just have something different from us.

    We have to remove our sensitive emotions when researching volunteer engagement and instead, approach it with a logical open mind. Taking pride in the fact that you are continually searching for better ideas makes you smart and innovative yourself, not “behind” or “backward.”

    Successful volunteer management involves researching and attending conferences and seminars. Make researching part of your job description and lobby for the money to attend conferences and webinars and peer group meetings.

    None of us has all the answers. Our volunteer manager community, committed to sharing best practices,  lifts all of us, our programs, our profession, our volunteers and ultimately that sharing benefits our clients.

    Instead of feeling inadequate for not having all the answers, feel empowered because you are continually searching and implementing innovations to improve your volunteer program.

    -Meridian

  • What Am I Thankful For? Fantasies

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    Ok, so maybe we, volunteers managers can’t control everything in our little sphere (gasp, but I want to, so, so, so badly). Maybe we sometimes retreat to a fantasy world in our heads that exists across from the “10 super easy ways to get volunteers” list that inhabits our nightmares.

    Is that so bad? Well, no, not when you consider that maybe our fantasies are really brightly disguised goals on steroids. Unless of course the fantasies involve the demise of someone at work, then, well, find some help, ok?
    But positive fantasies can tell us a lot about our wishes and dreams and dismissing them as nonsense may also help push our goals to the back of our minds (next to the dream of being the first person ever to have dinner with Bigfoot-in the forest, with wine, a nice Chablis, but I digress). So heck, let’s just descend into a positive fantasy world for a moment where we can let our volunteer manager minds run wild. What would we fantasize about?

    • A volunteer manager is chosen as CEO after the CEO quits in frustration while yelling, “No one, and I mean no one, except that amazing volunteer manager we have, what’s his name again, can do this job!!!”
    • At the all-staff end of year meeting, the award for ‘Supreme Being of All Things Non-Profit’ which is only given out once in the entire life of the organization, goes to…. YOU! And then, everyone would sit through fourteen hours of long speeches about how volunteer management saved the organization (dinner and yummy rainbow cupcakes would be served, of course, in between speeches).
    • At the annual volunteer appreciation luncheon, the CEO, when giving the welcome speech, says, “..and we couldn’t do it without our volunteers.” Then she stops and with a wink adds, “Wait, that’s just lip service. We really mean that and I will show you.” At that, the curtain opens and every staff member comes flooding out to mingle with the crowd of happy volunteers. There are hugs and tears and stories and neck massages and homemade cards and selfies that all culminate in the entire room singing “We Are The Champions” with locked arms. And no one would forget about it the next day.
    • The board of directors, in their quarterly meeting, all stand up in unison, rip up their prepared agendas and with one clear voice declare, “We hereby unanimously elect to increase the salary of our volunteer manager in proportion to the money saved by utilizing volunteer resources. Hey, that looks to be about $76,000, and that means no gala for at least five years, but what the heck, it’s worth it!”
    • At a new project exploratory meeting, one of the senior managers muses, “We need some fresh thinking from someone who has all the skills necessary to help us get this new project off the ground, someone who is creative, has people-skills, professional management ability, public speaking chops, mediation experience and is a darned nice person to boot!” At which every other manager moans that there is no such person on the planet and that same senior manager lifts up her hands and yells, “yes there is! Our volunteer coordinator!”

    Ahhhhhhhhh, I can’t stop smiling. That felt doggone delicious. But anyway, positive fantasies just might be an exaggeration of our heart’s desires. We can shut them out or we can turn them over in our heads and look at them as a springboard to work towards personal goals. Do we want more respect, salary, recognition, voice or any number of positive outcomes? What are your positive professional fantasies and how do you achieve these goals?

    Hard work is not something that chases volunteer managers in nightmares. No, hard work is the stuff of our every day working lives. Our fantasy goals, once sorted out in logical thinking, will require that same hard work.

    Don’t feel alone in fantasizing about positive changes. There is an entire community all around us of volunteer resource managers working to create positive change.

    And we all fantasize too.

    -Meridian

  • Maybe We Have Some Splainin’ To Do

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    What is the great question of the ages? Forget about “What is the meaning of life?” Pffft to “is there life on other planets?” Is that all you got to “What really happened to those adorable dinosaurs?”  And finally, oh puh-lease to “Is Spam really a food product?”

    Here is the question of the ages: Can we possibly make it any harder for people to volunteer?

    I thought about this a while back as I chuckled along with this video from musician and songwriter, Dave Carroll: There’s Got to Be a Better Way

    In this clever video, Mr. Carroll laments the extra crazy legal steps he has to endure in order to volunteer at his son’s school. Somehow, he shares a birthday with a person who has a criminal record, so, well, you know how that can go. He tries to have his fingerprints taken at a local police department and of course, the LiveScan equipment fails to capture a clear reading, so they advise him to go home and put lotion on his hands while wearing gloves to bed. Mr. Carroll takes that advice to the extreme and tells himself, “it’s for the kids.”

    It’s really a cute video and the hilarity illuminates how frustrating and seemingly ridiculous it can be for someone who just wants to volunteer. Or wait, let’s amend that: For someone who doesn’t have ulterior motives who just wants to volunteer.

    And there you have it. We, volunteer managers, especially those of us who regularly deal with background checks, fingerprinting and drug testing, understand that all the time spent on these legal requirements adds hours to our workweek. But we plod on because we are working to protect our vulnerable populations. And frankly, background checks are here to stay, unlike the vacuous idea that volunteers sit around breathlessly awaiting our calls. (Pick your battles.)

    The question, “Can we possibly make it any harder for people to volunteer” has an answer. Yes, we can, and probably will. For any organization that does not yet require volunteers to submit to background checks, enjoy yourselves while it lasts. The first time an unchecked volunteer does something bad, you will be instructed by a senior manager with pulsating temples to institute this requirement. Most likely, we are not going to make it easier to volunteer. So, what do we do?

    Explaining the whys of background checks goes a long, long way to assure prospective volunteers that we are not suspicious of them, not unduly peering into their private lives, and not trying to keep them from volunteering. Using verbiage that focuses on the vulnerability of our clients moves the emphasis from volunteer hindrance to client protection. A few ways of framing this shift in focus are:

    • Would you want us to allow just anyone off the street to volunteer with your child?
    • If we placed a volunteer with your elderly or sick grandmother, would you want us to be certain that this person is completely vetted?
    • When you donate money to help a cause, are you comfortable with random persons handling your money?
    • If just one out of a hundred volunteers is here for nefarious reasons, what if that one volunteer is alone with your son, or daughter?
    • In a perfect world, everyone volunteers because they want to help. But we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?
    • If you, or your loved one needed our help, what would you want us to do to make sure our volunteers have altruistic motivations?

    Life for volunteer managers would include tea breaks if we weren’t required to make our new volunteers jump through so many hoops. The enormous time and effort we spend on interviewing, checking backgrounds, training and explaining rules and regulations heaps hour upon hour of getting things right.

    But no matter how cumbersome vetting volunteers can be, the time and effort spent cleaning up a mess created by an unchecked, untrained volunteer who has done harm to our clients is vastly greater and more importantly, will shake our faith in our ability to provide the best volunteer care.

    So the next time a prospective volunteer is asked to complete a background check, think about explaining the whys to them. Because, just as Dave Carroll said,  it really is for the kids.

    -Meridian

  • Is it Time to Start Selling Volunteer Perfume?

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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

  • Mrs. Most Perfect Woman of ItsaMadeUppa County Pageant

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    Purity Pirate

    “Well heck,” Ivan said, “the surprises in volunteer management just keep surprising me.” He adjusted his purple framed glasses. “I just had this one volunteer, Julie, who took orientation a couple of months ago. It was a great class, full of people ready to help. They had different interests and skills, and varied ages, but they all got along; we laughed and cried together. It was great and I had high hopes for all of them. Now ours, being that we work with disadvantaged children, is a very intense training. And Julie stood out. She was passionate, and entertaining, really a big personality. She is married to a prominent doctor, and you know how it is. I figured that not only would I have her as a volunteer, but also I would have her telling her influential doctor husband about our program and maybe I’d get some quality speaking engagements out of it as well. So I was pretty pumped about her joining our group.”
    Ivan paused. “I paired her with one of my most accomplished volunteers, Sal, who took Julie out on visits. Then, about two weeks later, I get a call from Sal who tells me that all his calls and texts to Julie are going unanswered. So I try and nothing. I asked Sal if anything upset her, but he can’t think of a thing, as a matter of fact, he found her enthusiastic. So, now I’m worried. I send emails, even a written letter and still nothing. Short of becoming a stalker, I just leave her a message that we are very much interested in her continuing with us and I leave it at that.”
    Ivan picks up a newspaper clipping on his desk. “Then, last week, one of our volunteers, Della, was at the county fair and sees the pageant for the married women of our county and she tells me that one of our volunteers won. So, I said, who was it and she says, Julie, the new volunteer.” Ivan holds up the newspaper picture. “Here she is and in Julie’s interview she gushes about volunteering with us. Then the article goes on to list other organizations that she is involved with.” At this point Ivan laughs. “I wonder if she did the same thing to them too. But I guess I should take this as a compliment, I’m just not sure.”

    Yep, there it is. Should we feel used, or do we take the robbing of our reputation as a compliment, shrug our shoulders, furiously work our worry beads and go on?

    Well, there are going to be volunteers who use us to their own gain. Resume padding job seekers, corner cutting students, court avoiding offenders, ebay selling thrifters and even parent hood winking teens all can find a nice warm blanket of self benefit by tacking us on to their veneer. These thankfully few and far between folks are truly different from the volunteers who come to us for other more varied and sometimes multiple reasons.

    These Reputation Robbers are singly focused on our good name as a means to their end, and want the name recognition without doing any work. I remember the first time I was plundered by a Purity Pirate. I was so mad that I pumped my fist into the air and yelled, “how dare you!”(at the blank wall of course. The pirate was long gone, having snatched up all the loot he needed, then he paddled away in his rowboat. I think I can still hear him laughing.)

    Well, these experiences teach us to expect volunteers to exhibit altruistic motivations but to prepare for occasional leeches on our work. I’ve been burned more than once. It hurts to think that you can be duped, but it happens. So, here are a few things to do if we think that a potential volunteer just wants to write a book, using our clients as subjects, entitled, “I Personally Saved This Hapless Non-Profit From Disaster.”

    Do Not Sign Off: Don’t sign off on work done if the work is not done. Ever. And don’t succumb to those sad little baby alligator eyes that see right through your easy kind nature.

    Do Not Be Pressured: A senior manager has a neighbor who has this niece, Lita that needs to complete 30 hours of community service. That’s an entire month of your time! Yes, I can do math, well basic anyway. But 30 hours becomes:

    Meeting with Lita after she is two hours late and trying not to reach across the table and choke her when she asks whether she’ll be paid.

    Calling her repeatedly when she does not show up as scheduled and getting her brother on the phone who makes Lita look like the responsible one.

    Trying to explain to her again and again in a nice way (oh heck, just trying not to scream at her to get out) that signing in and leaving does not constitute hours volunteered.

    Continually assuring all the other volunteers who happen to work alongside her that you have not, in fact gone completely insane.

    Re-doing the event packets Lita totally messed up. It’s the night before the event and you have to miss your best friend’s birthday celebration.

    Wooing back the volunteer who quit because he happened to be there the day Lita laughed at the name of an elderly client in front of the client’s son. So, in order to convince the volunteer to return, you host a ‘bagel while begging’ two hour coffee brunch. And then you spend the rest of the day on severe caffeine jitters, pacing the halls, barking at volunteers to “stop looking at me!”

    Walking down to the reception area every couple of hours when Lita is actually on property because the receptionist needs you to come up and tell the little pack of Lita’s friends that they cannot hang out here.

    And having these surreal phone interruptions with Lita’s parent who chastises you for not making Lita “like it there.”

    So, yeah, I stand by it-that’s a month of your professional life that you can’t get back.

    Put Policies in Place: Having policies will not stop all reputation robbers and thankfully most folks who need something from us are not purity pirates and honestly want to do something meaningful with their time spent. But, well thought out policies can be used effectively, especially if you discover one of these pirates has sneaked into your midst.

    As for Lita? How about policy #2, paragraph #1, sentences #3 and #4: ‘A volunteer shall be counseled if said volunteer does not exhibit the necessary attitude and respect for the mission and program. After due counseling, said volunteer may be dismissed at any given time so as to protect our clients  from undue stress.’

    Arggh.

    -Meridian

  • Caring Volunteer Wanted: Well, Duh!

     

    caring-volunteer-wanted

    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.

     

     

     

  • Patchwork Quilt or Fluffy Comforter?

    quilt

    “That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Raelinn huffed as she stared at the cacophony of colors and fabrics hanging before her eyes. “I mean, who would ever think that was art?”

    Her best friend, Edna, slowed her pace and was at first taken aback. This quilt, entry #37, was indeed a mess. Irregular shapes, jumbled colors and materials ran every which way over the body of the cover, rendering it a shreeking noise in a choir of lilting quilt voices. But as she peered closer, she noticed a cat with an umbrella on a powder blue patch that had come from a baby blanket. She scanned the oddness and found another sort of large circular patch that must have been an old stained t-shirt from a wine tasting trip. It proclaimed, “Wine Not?” There was a somber black piece of cloth next to a tattered lace collar with the tiniest of stitching. She leaned in and saw the remains “Mothe” embroidered on the faded lace. Looking over the rest of the quilt, she took in the snippet of army uniform, the worn apron, the wedding dress, the graduation robe, the bloodied football jersey, the funeral attire.

    As Raelinn pulled at her arm to go, Edna felt the the ugly quilt tug back and she smiled, thinking of all her volunteers. She gave a quick nod and the smallest of curtsies to the intimately messy display of the quiltmaker’s life and followed her friend.

    When we field a request for volunteers, does the requesting person think they will get a volunteer who is a soft, new smelling fluffy comforter? Do they imagine the perfection of a perfectly laid out and sewn quilt?

    We, who work with volunteers, know that each and every volunteer is really a wildly irregular patchwork quilt. These folks who volunteer their time are the cumulation of their life experiences to date and most are looking to add another patch to their diverse collection. Some volunteers want us to sew up gaping holes in their quilts, while others want us to erase the stains that mar their perception of beauty. A few have blank spots they want us to fill with something inspiring. Once in a while. someone would like to rip apart everything on their quilt and start over, hoping that we have the skilled hands to help them sew something redeeming.

    But after all, we are a cumulation of who we are and who we have been. No volunteer is a fresh from the package down comforter that we can shake free and fluff to meet expectations. Edna, who looked into the details of the ugly quilt and found meaning in each and every patch possesses the ability to recognize the complexities of volunteers’ motivations and needs. She understands that volunteers are not manufactured fluffy comforters but are individually sewn quilts of textures and fabrics.

    That is why volunteer managers are so good at placing the right best correct most deliberately chosen volunteer in every position and situation. It is our job to see the many patches and know how they will affect a volunteer’s performance and experience. The more compounded and complicated the job, the more relevant those patches become.

    One of the greatest challenges facing volunteer managers today is enlightening our fellow staff on the nuances of volunteer recruitment and retention. Pulling a fluffly comforter off a shelf of hundreds of fluffy comforters is never what we do.

    A patchwork human being takes a lifetime of experiences to create. Reading the meaning behind those patches requires a tremendous amount of perception and skill.

    And when a quilt wraps a bed in harmonious warmth, it is then that the volunteer manager can stand aside and admire the perfect pairing.

    -Meridian