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Tips for Retaining and Recruiting Town Volunteers
- Hold a Community Service Awards event (could be a barbeque, e.g.) to honor outstanding local volunteers who have demonstrated selfless devotion for the betterment of the community.
- Have an "at-home tea party" (send volunteers a tea bag in a card and ask them to enjoy a cup of tea in the quiet of their own home).
- Write a news article to be published in the local newspaper, highlighting their contribution or impact upon the program or clientele.
- Write a news article to be published in the town's newsletter.
- Send a thank-you note.
- Ask a volunteer for their input about a program or evaluation.
- Utilize a volunteer suggestion box. Carefully consider their suggestions!
- Ask a volunteer to serve in a leadership role.
- Ask a volunteer to conduct an orientation or educational program.
- Ask a volunteer to coordinate a program, event, or initiative.
- Invite volunteers to staff meetings. Encourage them to contribute and participate.
- Ask a volunteer to develop a window or tabletop display to promote a program.
- Send a volunteer to a conference.
- Ask the volunteer to present a report, lesson, workshop, or seminar on some aspect of the conference they attended.
- Cultivate volunteer’s special interests. Whenever possible, encourage pursuit in their volunteer role.
- Share the success or impact of one volunteer with others at a meeting or gathering.
- Provide extrinsic rewards (certificates, plaques, pins, etc.). Have a "volunteer of the month" award.
- Host a banquet, luncheon, dessert, tea, or reception in the volunteers' honor.
- Establish a Volunteer Honor Roll.
- Provide educational resources for the volunteers to utilize (videos, pamphlets, books, curriculum, etc.).
- Ask effective volunteers to each recruit another volunteer who is "just like them."
- Debrief with volunteers following a conference, program, or activity that they participated in or assisted with.
- Nominate a volunteer to teach a workshop. When the workshop is accepted, assist the volunteer in preparation.
- Ask an effective volunteer to mentor a new recruit.
- Provide an effective orientation for each volunteer position.
- Send peppermint candies to your organization’s volunteers with the message "You're worth a mint!"
- Recognize and share innovative suggestions or programs.
- Recognize volunteer’s tenure and/or the number of hours contributed to the agency, organization, or program.
- Ask a volunteer to speak at a volunteer meeting.
- Run a photograph and news story about the volunteer in the local newspaper.
- Ask a volunteer to make a television appearance or radio announcement.
- Enable a volunteer to move on to expanded or higher level responsibilities.
- Share the volunteer’s personal success story.
- Surprise a volunteer with a birthday cake.
- Nominate volunteers for awards.
- Attend personal celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)
- Make sure that the volunteer is a "good fit" with their volunteer role.
- Plan a volunteers outing (picnic, theater, ball game, family day, pool party, etc.).
- Praise volunteers in public, especially in front of family and friends.
- Send a thank-you note to the volunteer’s spouse to thank him/her for sharing his/her spouse’s time and talents with the town.
- Secure complimentary gift certificates from businesses or the Chamber of Commerce.
- Print business cards for volunteers.
- Plant a tree or flowerbed in a volunteer’s name.
- Encourage volunteers to assume community leadership roles.
Volunteer Fire-Fighter Recruitment and Retention Ideas
With the disclaimer that “the best solution is a local solution,” and that what works great in one town may not necessarily work in another, here's what I consistently hear: Without question, the best tool of all is a “cadets,” “juniors,” or “explorer's” program. Departments that pull them in when they are 14 do best, followed by departments that pull them in at age 16. Working with local OSHA officials, many departments have creatively designed programs that give the older kids a chance to actually go to work under certain conditions, though obviously not interior firefighting. Some departments run these kids through the whole firefighter I training. That way when the kids come of age, it's a breeze to get them certified and put them to work. The next best recruitment
tool seems to be running an MRT or EMT training course. It pulls in members of the public. While some may just be looking for free training to start a career, departments often find it a fertile ground for new recruits. This holds true, even if the department itself is only a secondary responder. Once you have the audience in the tent, you have their attention. Third on the list is a presentation at the first PTA or PTO meeting of the school year, letting people know that the fire department has a table in the hallway, and that after the meeting, if they'd like to learn more, to stop by the table. The presentation typically nets two categories of people. Moms who have time on their hands between the time the kids go to school and the time they come home. This is a great source of daytime help. The second category is the Dad who either came on his own or was dragged along. All of a sudden there's another type of volunteerism put in front of his nose, and it
sounds like maybe it could be a lot more fun. Statewide, it helps when departments use the national recruitment and retention number 1-800-FIRELINE. People get inspired to respond to the call at odd times and odd places. We get people who saw an 800 sign in Norwich and want to volunteer in Greenwich, just because they heard something on the radio that clicked. Last but not least, the organization has to give off a “welcoming vibe.” More than one department was aghast at tattoos and piercings until one day, they ran out of manpower. Suddenly, all those “punks” turned out to be pretty responsible kids who made great volunteers. Because in any department the “down” time is always greater than the “action” time, the quality of the “down” time actually matters more than the perfection of the “action” time. If people are used to getting along off the fire ground, they have a lot better odds of
working well together on the fire ground. While every organization has cliques, it is important that the department as a whole make the newcomer feel welcome and included. Some departments use a simple symbolic gesture to drive the point home. They let the new member try on a set of turnout gear, hang it in somewhere where he can always see it, and tell him it's his as soon as he completes the program (whatever the program happens to be). Later on, they can always replace the symbolic gear with stuff that actually fits.As good or bad as some of these ideas may be, every department is different, and its fun to be creative. Some departments run a food booth at the local county fair. Some departments have Iron Chef competitions. Some departments have Christmas parties for the neighborhood kids. Some departments have demonstrations of extrication techniques at car shows, which are typically well-attended events. Whatever course of action a volunteer
organization chooses to take, most importantly, the affirmative act of forming a recruitment committee, particularly where one or more other town officials are included, creates a linking of various cliques to form a joint venture to advance the department and the recruitment agenda. Best of all, if the committee itself is seen as having fun advancing their recruitment agenda, it can sometimes create a bandwagon effect that eventually develops enough momentum to solves the recruitment problem as presently perceived.
Roberto (Rob) Lucheme, Esq., Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, State of Connecticut
More Tips for Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers
Tips on Recruiting & Retaining Boomer Volunteers
How to Recruit and Retain Volunteers
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