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June 2004

In this issue -

- Survey Sez!
- Looking for New Volunteers?
- The Four Words that Volunteers Hate to Hear

A few weeks back, I sent a message requesting your thoughts and questions about fundraising. Thank you for your wonderful responses! I hope to address as many of the issues you brought
up as possible.

One of the questions that came up rather frequently was about how to attract and lead volunteers. So this month’s newsletter is all about volunteers.

As always, if you have any specific needs or questions, don’t hesitate to email me at Sandra@stepbystepfundraising.com

Best wishes for your continued fundraising success!

Sandra Sims
Editor & Publisher,
Step By Step Fundraising

Looking for New Volunteers?

This great tip for connecting with new volunteers comes from Susan at C.A.R.E. For Animals in Raleigh, NC:

There is a volunteer matching service called (you guessed it!) Volunteer Match. The site is volunteermatch.org. I signed our group up a couple of months ago, and we are getting a LOT of hits from it. I’d say I get 1 response about every week. I’ve found that not all of them follow-through once I contact them
(my guess is that they are also sending out to other groups as well), but we have gotten several volunteers from it thus far. So, check it out, and see if you think it would be helpful…..goodness knows one thing we can NEVER have too much of is VOLUNTEERS!!

http://www.volunteermatch.org

“Oh, By the Way!” The Four Words that Volunteers Hate to Hear

by Thomas W. McKee

Lauren was recruited to work as a helper for her daughters’ girl’s club. As a parent she felt obligated and really wanted to help. “What can I do? I would be happy to be a helper,” were her
responses. She was eager and felt that she would be happy to bake cookies, drive, stuff envelopes, attend activities and anything else, as long as it was behind the scenes stuff. That
is Lauren. The leaders said, “Great. We are excited to have Sabrina and Savanna in our club, and we would love to have you volunteer to help.” Lauren went to the first meeting and said,
“What do you want me to do?” The leader handed her a huge manual and said, “Oh, by the way, we ask all volunteer leaders to read this.” Lauren took it home and started to read it when the phone rang. The leader said, “Oh, by the way, we are giving a test on the manual. We want all our leaders to know the philosophy and what we expect from our volunteers.” Lauren said, “I’m happy to read the manual”–she was being polite, “but I’m more the behind the scenes type of person. Can I be a helper?” The leader then said, “Well, we really want the parents to be leaders. Oh, by the way, we are having an eight-hour training session next Saturday and want all our leaders to attend.”

Lauren is conscientious and wanted to be a support. After all, her girls were taking part, and she felt that she should help. Lauren had a big decision to make, and it was troubling her. Should she quit, feeling guilty that she had not kept her commitment, or should she continue, hating every minute of it and feeling duped by the continuous “Oh, by the ways!” Classic Oh, By the Ways:

* Oh, by the way, all volunteers need to be fingerprinted.
* Oh, by the way, all volunteers pay dues to the national organization. Dues are $150 a year.
* Oh, by the way, each year each board member calls 10 donors to ask for end of the year contributions.
* Oh, by the way, all volunteers attend our annual planning retreat.
* Oh, by the way, all volunteers spend at least 12 hours just before the 4th of July working in the fireworks booth.

The classic come back for the volunteer is, “Oh, by the way, I quit! You deceived me.”

What is wrong with this picture? The problem is not Lauren. The problem is not even with the demands—there’s nothing wrong with asking volunteers to be fingerprinted or with asking volunteers to attend our annual planning retreat. The problem is the volunteer organization that follows the “Oh, by the way” recruiting method.

But wait a minute. Many volunteer recruiters find that if they ease the volunteer into the job, they have better results. If they told the volunteer how many hours, some of the unpleasant
tasks, and the level of commitment they expect, they wouldn’t get anyone. After all, when people begin to volunteer, they begin to get excited about the organization and want to do more.
So the reasoning goes—but that reasoning is wrong.

The “Oh, by the way” approach has never been a successful strategy for managing volunteers, but it is especially ineffective for the 21st Century volunteer. Today’s volunteers are too savvy.

They want you to be up front and follow these four rules:

Develop a list of volunteer positions: Develop a form with a statement asking for volunteers and a checklist of what you need. Be sure to add an “other” to your list in which people canvolunteer their unique talents.

Be flexible: The 21st century volunteer is eager to volunteer—according to their schedule, not yours.

Develop position charters for each position: A position charter outlines the position, the roles and responsibilities and commitment expected. See a sample of the volunteer position
charter at http://www.volunteerpower.com/resources/charter.htm

Interview each potential volunteer individually: You can clarify your expectations and their concerns when you interview each volunteer and go over the position charter.

When I was in graduate school, our oldest son was in first grade. My wife Susie was working full-time as a high school English teacher while I was taking a full load of courses. We got a note from our son Thom’s teacher asking for mothers to volunteer as room-mothers. Susie and I discussed it. Looking at the schedule we knew she could not be available at the times
they needed help, but I could. So I filled out the form by crossing out the words “room mother” and wrote in “room father.” I got a call from Thom’s teacher saying that they would love to
have me help. However, at the first meeting the women were talking about how they would make cookies and arrange for holiday goodies for the school. I kept thinking, “This is not
what I signed up for.” I felt out of place, even though the women were gracious and tried to find a place for me.

When I got home, I called Thom’s teacher and told her I would love to volunteer to help in the classroom, attend field trips, and perhaps even bring my guitar to the class and lead the group
in a singing and story time—that is something I could do. The teacher quickly changed the program and classified me as the room father. I had a great year volunteering for the first grade
because the school was willing to let me work according to my interest and our busy schedule.

About the Author: Tom McKee is a leading volunteer management speaker, trainer and consultant. You can reach Tom in at (916) 635-9677 or e-mail vtp@advantagepoint.com. Other articles and free resources are available at http://www.volunteerpower.com.
©2003 Volunteerpower.com - Reprinted with Permission

To Your Continued Fundraising Success,

Sandra Sims Editor & Publisher Step By Step Fundraising Newsletter Archive Newsletter Sign-up & Free e-Book