1995 Midwest Regional Conference

Recruit, Recognize, Retain - the 3 R's for Volunteer Management

Linda Doede, Manager of Volunteer Services, Chicago Botanic Garden -- (Workshop Description)

• Volunteer Recruitment Tool Kit
• Volunteer Job Description
• Volunteer Recruitment Planning
• Volunteer Questionnaire/Application
• Special Benefits For Volunteers
• When And Where To Recognize Volunteers
• Volunteer Recognition Tips
• The Top 25 Methods To Retain Volunteers

Volunteer Recruitment Tool Kit

1. Ask
2. Word of mouth
3. Spread the word in newsletter, at meetings, in flyers, in person
4. Target specific people and groups
5. Think benefits, why volunteer?
6. Be inclusive, not exclusive
7. Keep high expectations
8. Match volunteers with the job -- be selective
9. Be specific -- job description
10. Be flexible

Volunteer Job Description

• Objectives/Purpose
• Responsibilities/Expectations
• Qualifications
• Time commitment
• Reporting structure
• Training/Supervision
• Evaluation
• Benefits

Volunteer Recruitment Planning

I. What are the skills, attitudes, traits needed to do this job?

Draw a picture of the type of person who could do this job. Consider age, sex, hobbies, possible occupations, related interests and whatever better illustrates the picture.

II. Based on this picture, where can we find these types of people?

Think about work setting, educational institutions, leisure time organizations and activities, publications they might read, parts of town in which they are likely to live, etc.

III. What motivations of this person can we appeal to in our recruitment effort?

Self help, job enhancement, socialization, learning new skills, career exploration, leadership testing, giving back to the community, keeping productively involved, meeting new people, etc.

Volunteer Questionnaire/Application

• Name, address, phone, employer Who and how to contact
• Work experience, volunteer experience; check list for experience
• Interests, hobbies, skills, talents; check list for skills
• Availability: days or times preferred, long term/short term projects
• List volunteer opportunities
• List specific events

Special Benefits For Volunteers

Here are some of the benefits museums offer volunteers:

• free catalogs and exhibition information
• special exhibition previews
• discounts on museum memberships and purchases at the museum shop and restaurant
• privileges such as use of the museum library of the staff dining room
• special visits to other museums
• free of discounted admission to lectures, concerts, films, and other public events at the museum
• reimbursement for transportation and lunch expenses (for retired people and other special groups)
• reciprocal admission to other museums with presentation of volunteer card
• special courses and lectures for volunteers only
• social events for volunteers

When And Where To Recognize Volunteers

When:

1. At the time they sign up to volunteer (send a welcome letter)
2. Daily or weekly (informal thank yous and praise)
3. Monthly (volunteer of the month, newsletter articles)
4. Annually (annual banquet or volunteer appreciation day)
5. At the completion of a special project
6. On their birthdays or other holidays
7. When they are sick
8. At the time they leave
9. During National Volunteer Week

Where:

1. Agency bulletin board or newsletter
2. At home
3. At their place of employment
4. In the media
5. Anywhere people they know will see it.

Copyright 1993 by the American Association for Museum Volunteers

Volunteer Recognition Tips

1. Put an article about a volunteer in the local newspaper, their college alumni publication, their business house organ or organizational newsletter.
2. Leave candy kisses at the volunteer work sites.
3. Give a pacifier to a volunteer who is worried.
4. Send handwritten holiday notes to people.
5. Ask a volunteer's minister to recognize them in church.
6. Offer 'Volunteer of the Month' awards.
7. Send 5 cent valentines all year long.
8. Keep track of birthdays and send personalized cards
9. Offer volunteers a chance to attend all agency training.
10. Hold a volunteer `love in' where volunteers bring in a loved one who helped them with a volunteer project.
11. Offer free meals to volunteers where cafeterias are part of the setting.
12. Name the coffee pot after a volunteer.
13. Present each new volunteer with their own coffee cup, monogrammed with their initials.
14. Provide clearly written and updated job descriptions for all volunteer jobs.
15. Create a bulletin board that features pictures and accomplishments of special volunteers.
16. Send personalized "Thank you for sharing your loved one" notes to parents, spouse, children, grandparents, etc.
17. Invited skilled volunteers to train other volunteers
18. Acquire special discount coupons from local movie houses, restaurants, etc.
19. Involved volunteers in the long range planning for your agency.
20. Be nice.

Copyright 1986, Steve McCurley & Sue Vineyard, 101 Ideas

The Top 25 Methods To Retain Volunteers

• 25. Each of us has our own unique motivators. If you really want a volunteer to stay, learn what motivates that person and then put that information into practice.
• 24. Successfully place the volunteer in the beginning. If you place a volunteer in a position that maximizes their potential for success, logic says that they will succeed. And successful people tend to be happy people and happy people tend to stay.
• 23. If your agency doesn't already have one, hire a professional Volunteer Program Administrator.
• 22. Don't be afraid of saying "Thank You" too much. I've never heard of a volunteer quitting because they felt over appreciated. Over worked, yes! Over appreciated, no!
• 21. Vary your recognition program. The same old banquet every year with the same old rewards gets boring. When a volunteer stops attending because they've already re papered their house in certificates of appreciation, you know it's time to move on to something new.
• 20. Take the time to train the volunteer so that they know what they need t know in order to do their job.
• l9. For absolutely no reason at all, send the volunteer a note just to say "hi."
• l8. Once a year, ask the volunteers to give an anonymous evaluation of the agency, the paid staff, and the programs (including the volunteer program).
• l7. Promote volunteers to new positions that require new skills, additional training, and added commitment. Just because Dan is great at stuffing envelopes, doesn't mean that he is going to be happy doing it for the next ten years.
• l6. Acknowledge that the agency is not your volunteer's number one priority in life. Guilt may have worked for your parents, but it doesn't work with volunteers.
• l5. Don't call the same volunteers over and over again. It's too easy to become dependent on the "Yes" people and burn them out. You also miss out on developing a new pool of talent.
• l4. Use the media to promote your active volunteers. The media just loves stories about volunteers; next to all the depressing headlines, these stories create a nice balance. Plus, no matter what they say, people just love to see their name in print.
• l3. Begin a Volunteer Advisory Committee. (Please note: they key is "Advisory") Such committees help to empower the volunteers, giving them a stronger connection to the agency and its mission, and a reason to stay involved.
• l2. Practice the fine art of information evaluations. It's amazing how much feedback you can get by just chatting with your volunteers.
• ll. Resist the urge to "play favorites." In other words, be consistent with your policies.
• l0. Always emphasize your agency's mission statement. People no longer volunteer for agencies, they volunteer for causes.
• 9. Be flexible as an agency.
• 8. Be flexible as an individual.
• 7. Smile. No matter how much you want to grab the computer terminal and throw it across the room, don't let it show. Never let them see your stress.
• 6. Make the volunteer environment at your agency fun. No matter what work the volunteers are doing, they should have a good time doing it.
• 5. Set limitations with the paid staff. If the Operations Manager suggests that they use volunteers to clean up at the annual "Farm Animal and Petting Zoo Fundraiser," just say "No!" Your volunteers are too valuable to be given the tasks that nobody else wants to do.
• 4. Every once in a while, work alongside your volunteers. Give them the sense of teamwork and the knowledge that you won't ask them to do anything that you wouldn't do yourself.
• 3. Consider your volunteers as Unpaid Staff and include them whenever possible in office parties, lottery pools, etc.
• 2. Be sure to balance the needs of the agency with the needs of your volunteers. Remember, it has to be a mutually satisfying relationship for both parties.

  And the number one method for retaining volunteers drum roll, please

• l. Convince the entire paid staff to follow rules 2 through 25 because one person can't do it alone. Volunteer programs only work with a commitment that starts at the very top of the organization and continues all the way down through each successive level.

Copyright 1993 by the American Association for Museum Volunteers

This CCS Web Site is made possible by the donation of a virtual Web server by MCSNet of Chicago, Illinois. CCS Webmaster: Harold A. Driscoll, email: <harold@driscoll.chi.il.us>.


Copyright © 1995 by the Chicago Computer Society. All Rights Reserved.