ABC’s of Volunteer Retention

Recruiting and retaining volunteers is an on going challenge for most non-profit organizations.  Once THE place to volunteer, hospitals have seen an overall decline in the number of individuals who choose to volunteer their time in  auxiliaries and volunteer departments.  So when you do find those precious volunteers, keeping them should become a number one priority!

After careful thought and a little bit of research, it is my opinion that successful volunteer retention can be enhanced with a few simple steps.

A. Make your organization attractive. Shar McBee, in To Lead is To Serve, says that when you are feeling positive about your work (and your organization) it attracts others to participate.  On the other hand, when you feel overwhelmed or burdened, no one volunteers to join in.  A great exercise to rekindle a feeling of spirit at your next meeting is to have members break into pairs, and ask the following questions:

• What did you love about your volunteer work in the beginning?
• What was important about this work?
• What is challenging about it now?
• What is fun about it?

Take the feedback from this exercise and put it in your newsletters and promotional materials, post quotes and pictures of these folks on your bulletin board and website, and share it with the staff and friends of your hospital.  And then, watch as the energy of your organization goes up!

B. Create a great, big welcome mat! Individuals who “join”  volunteer organizations want to be able to network and build quality relationships that fulfill both their personal and professional needs. Cynthia D’Amour’s, How to Turn Generation Me into Active Members of Your Association, has some great tips on helping your new members make a successful entry:

• Create a new member welcome kit which includes a current directory, a welcome letter from your President or leader, details about membership benefits, a current newsletter and information on how to get involved in fundraising, special events, etc. Get it to your new members as soon as possible.

• Have enthusiastic volunteers call and personally welcome new volunteers to your organization.

• Don’t stop contacting them after the first month. Call again in three months. Survey them in six months to see how they are doing.

• Provide board members with a list of new volunteers at each board meeting. Discuss how to tap into their skills.

• Get board members to call individuals who come a few times and drop out. The feedback you get from these interviews will tell you if you need to shore up your systems and make course corrections.

C. Remember the WIIFM’s!

That’s right-the “what’s in it for me.”  In days past, hospital auxiliaries often had waiting lists.  If you wanted to be a member, you often had to start out in a job that did not necessarily match your interests or skills.  Today’s volunteer will remain if personal and professional development is honored and encouraged.

• Do your volunteers perform meaningful work?

• Do they have a chance to learn new skills or use the ones they have?

• If they chose, can volunteers move up–gaining increased responsibility?

• How much flexibility do you create in your scheduling? Do you have interesting work for individuals who have limited time?

Because of the increased competition for their time, volunteers are frequently reevaluating whether or not your organization is a worthy investment for them.  Therefore, helping your volunteers stay involved requires a bit of effort, a willingness to actively serve your new and old members, and regular communication from leadership.

Finally, if people are to give up free time to volunteer–away from friends and family–their work environment must be enjoyable.  I recently started a new job, and one of the main reasons that I took the position was because staff showed me great courtesy.  But most importantly, I could tell that they enjoyed their work and were committed to making a difference in the lives of the people they served.  I saw a lot of smiling faces.   As Shar McBee says, “nothing attracts like joyous heart!”

Fundraising Planning – A Vital Key To Nonprofit Success

As a professional grant writer and consultant, I am often amazed at how few nonprofit organizations actually have a fund development plan beyond a vague idea of applying for a few grants and sending out an annual appeal letter. Recognizing that lack of planning, I am not amazed at how often these same organizations have rounds of emergency budget cuts when they realize that they have no assured streams of income.

Very typical is the agency that has received a large grant to run their programs for one year. Then, in the tenth month of the grant period, comes the realization that they have no idea how they will fund the next year’s programs. With less than two months of money left in the bank they go into emergency fundraising mode.

Their first impulse is to start applying for another large grant. But at most foundations, the process – from letter of inquiry to proposal to acceptance – typically takes at least three months, and often six to eight months.

Their next idea is to turn to their individual donors with a panicked letter that essentially says, “Send us money now or we might go out of business.” That, of course, is the least effective fundraising letter you can write. Donors want to invest in your successes, not bail out your failures.

So, how do they avoid these situations? The answer is to plan. Through the planning process, you will achieve the following:

• Limit crisis fundraising: This, as the example above illustrates, is our primary reason for creating a fund development plan, but there are others as well…

• Diversity builds in flexibility: Changes in other sectors of the economy can have a major impact on nonprofit funding. A cut in the state budget can be passed down as fewer contracts for local service organizations. The dot-com bust of a few years back cut foundation endowments, reducing the funds they had available to grant. Agencies that had become comfortable relying on one or two sources of funding found themselves struggling to survive these changes. Those with plans and diversified funding bases had the flexibility to adapt and survive.

• Planning for diversity brings in more opportunities: Through the planning process you come to identify funding opportunities you never knew existed. Further, when you stop having to scramble to pay next month’s bills, you will be able to devote more time to developing new sources of income for your agency.

• Setting priorities, strategies, and goals: New opportunities present themselves all the time, if you are open to receiving them. But which opportunities should you pursue? When you have a clear mission and a plan, the answer becomes clear. By following the plan, you know where your efforts are most needed at any given time, and you can turn down distractions that don’t further your defined goals.

• Increasing board involvement: I always hear nonprofit staff complaining about either their un-involved board members or board members who meddle too much without knowing what they’re doing, and yet they don’t create opportunities for the board to be constructively involved. Asking your board to be a part of the development planning process will both motivate them and educate them at the same time.

• Integrating fund development with other program activities & plans: If you’re lucky enough to have staff who work on fund development full-time, you’re also risking a disconnect between program people and fundraisers. The result is an annual event that’s held the same week as the busiest part of the program staff’s season. Written plans that are shared by all staff help to avoid such conflicts and encourage a working team environment.

• Most productive use of team’s time: The bottom line is that by being organized, and having clarity as to what is expected of every team member, all your activities will be more efficient.

So what’s holding you back? Put your team together and start planning for success today!

About the Author

Ken Goldstein is a grant writer and consultant working and living in Silicon Valley. Since 1989 he has been an executive director, a board member, volunteer, and consultant to nonprofits. His education includes a BA in Politics from UC Santa Cruz and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from CSU Sacramento. Goldstein Consulting can be found at goldsteinconsulting.com. Ken is also the author of “Introduction to Fund Development Planning” – Please see fundraisingplanbook.com for more information.

(c) 2006 by Ken Goldstein, all rights reserved.

Eight Reasons All Non-Profits Need a Website

A nonprofit organization can take advantage of the Internet for at least eight purposes:

• publicity
• public education
• fundraising
• volunteer recruitment
• service delivery
• advocacy
• research
• communication

Let us look at brief examples of each of these uses in turn.

Publicity

Good sites gain attention. Attention or awareness is exactly what all non-profits need… it accelerates fund-raising efforts, and enhances all the following essential needs:

Public Education

There’s a fine line between grabbing the public’s attention and educating the public about an important social problem or cause.Whatever the mission statement of your non-profit organization is, it needs to be presented with clarity to the various “publics” that all non-profits must influence if they are to be successful. All organizations have several different “publics” which they must influence in a positive way in order to achieve their organizational goals. Read more

It’s A Dog Eat Dog Nonprofit World

You would not be working at a nonprofit if there was not a passion for your mission that compensated for the sacrifices in salary and other benefits you could probably earn in the commercial world. That says something about the kind of people we are. Most of us are:

• Trusting. We cannot imagine that there might be bad people in our idealized world

• Optimistic. How could we survive if we did not believe we really could make a difference?

• Sympathetic. We are mostly attracted to needy causes or people;

• Non-confrontational. We mostly like consensus and seek agreement.

• Collaborative. Our comfort level is with working as a team rather than going it alone.

These are admirable and useful qualities to have in the nonprofit world. However, there are other people in your industry who do not fit this description. Read more

Seven Steps To Compete In The 21st Century

Every year is finding nonprofits with more challenging environments for funding their programs and operations. There is less support from Federal and State Governments as they reallocate resources to meet their own expanding needs. Grants from foundations are harder to qualify for, and more difficult to obtain. Yet expenditures keep going up. Programs are more costly to fund, and salaries need to be kept competitive with the commercial sector. There are things every nonprofit needs to do to stay viable. Nonprofits need to recognize that they are operating in a competitive environment. Every donor and every grant are being sought by other nonprofits. Here are seven things you can do to stand out from the crowd.

1. Modernize your website. Make it a place that people come to for current information. Keep adding new features as your webmaster makes them available to you. Incorporate features like webmail, flash, search and other applications. Use your website as a conduit to accept donations online. Be sure to include an ‘About Us’ section that does much more than list staff email addresses. Use pictures and biographies to make your web visitors feel they know that person on your staff. Read more

The Value Of Teamwork

Have you ever been part of a highly functioning team? One where your unique talents were valued, and where you were highly energized every time you were with this team? If you have been so fortunate, you are probably in the minority.

Many of us have had negative experiences being on a team. In fact, often the term “team” is used to describe any group of people assembled in proximity to each other. So, what is a team? There are numerous definitions out there, but here is a particularly good one: “A team is a group of people who go out of their way to make each other look good.”

A team is made up of a small number of people (seven to nine is ideal) who have a common goal, who are accountable to each other and who have a diverse set of talents and skills.

Most of us have probably been involved in some form of “teambuilding” activity over the years. Although they can be fun for an afternoon, how do you create any lasting value? And why should you create a culture that values teamwork anyway? Isn’t it just faster and more efficient to tell people what needs to get done? Read more

Managing Behavioral Styles

How do you handle the differences in style among your employees? Do you wonder how to motivate someone who seems not to care? Are you dismayed when your management style seems to work with a few beautifully, but misses the mark with others?

First, you must come to grips with a rather tough realization: you really cannot motivate another person. Perhaps you can cause them to get motivated for the short term (“If you are late one more time, you are fired!”), but we all know the motivation for true, lasting behavior change must come from within.

Yet you can do much to create an environment where people will become self-motivated. Understanding different styles of behavior and what each style needs is the key. You also can begin to create a high performing team when you use these principles. Read more

Decision Making For Nonprofit Boards

Many nonprofit organizations struggle, quite understandably, with technology planning and investment. New computers, sophisticated websites and database systems can be expensive. Staff members may be resistant to change and to learning new applications.

But, to quote a famous saying from my homeland: “penny wise can be pound foolish”. Sound and well-thought out purchases in the short term have the potential to save significant resources in the medium to long term.

So, how should your Board of Directors and/or your Technology Committee approach technology planning and investment?

One technique is to start out with a “blue-sky” session. First, take an inventory of the capabilities that you currently have, what’s working in your operations, and your limitations and frustrations. Then, without consideration of constraints such as cost or staff resources, list the things that you should ideally be able to do.

I like to use “What’s the One Thing” questions for this process to help you focus and prioritize:

• What’s the One Thing that you’re currently doing that is most valued by your constituents? (i.e. Board, members, founders, staff, the general public . . .)
• What’s the One Thing that you currently don’t do that your constituents wish that you would?
• What’s the One Thing that would give you maximum competitive advantage? (or fundraising edge, or whatever is your most burning need . . .)

Look at the procedures that are currently absorbing staff time and resources. Is there potential to streamline these, or to recreate them in a way that would be more cost-effective?

For example, many organizations produce small informational leaflets, brief white papers, or regularly updated research findings. These are sold for a few dollars, which may not cover the true cost of printing, mailing, and check or credit card processing.

An alternative is to provide these as downloadable e-books on your Website. When the buyer enters their credit card, they gain instant access to your materials in whatever format you choose – Adobe Acrobat (pdf), Word, html, etc. Once this system is set up, you should have few maintenance or support issues, and you’re in business on a 24/7 basis. You can change the documents whenever you need to, without leaving stocks of outdated print copies.

Are you using e-mail as effectively as you could?  There are elements to successful implementation of e-mail:

• Maintaining a comprehensive database of all the contacts that your organization has, including appropriate details of your dealings with each one.

This allows you to create personalized, targeted and timely e-mail messages that you can send to selected recipients, such as:

• News updates about your organization
• Special events, discount purchase offers
• Legislative alerts and tracking notices
• Fundraising appeals
• Membership renewal reminders

Of course, you should include and adhere to a privacy policy whenever using e-mail, and you must honor requests to be removed from your mailing list.

Having clear e-mail usage procedures. Sometimes it is preferable to use direct personal contact such as telephone or letters instead of e-mail – for instance, when responding to complaints, or thanking donors for gifts.

• But your staff should be clear and comfortable about using e-mail to save time and resources. Sending bulk e-mail from a good database is faster and cheaper than sending bulk faxes. One association that I consulted with recently linked their staff bonuses directly to savings realized from using e-mail over fax.
• A great deal of Board business can be conducted via e-mail. This may not include actual voting (check your by-laws and legal obligations for this). But much of the background information that is provided at a typical Board meeting could be disseminated by e-mail ahead of time, thus freeing up valuable meeting time for substantive discussion.
• How effective is your Website in promoting and achieving your strategy? An intranet (password protected area) can be very useful if you have staff or chapters geographically distant from your head office. It can provide training materials, mentoring discussion boards, templates for frequently used documents, etc. And, you can have a private section of your site for your Board, as an alternative to sending information via e-mail.

Depending on your operations, there are other technologies that might be appropriate for you to consider as you plan your future strategy and investments. These could include handheld devices and laptops if you have employees who are often out of the office. Voice recognition software can be used for dictation by disabled staff, or those who are really not comfortable with keyboards. For larger organizations, virtual private networks may be appropriate for file sharing and synchronized database maintenance.

Whatever your size, use the strategic and prioritizing “What’s the One Thing . . .?” questions that I listed above, together with your estimation of current inefficiencies in staff time and resources to come up with a wish list. Then you can start to analyze the potential investments that you need to make, and the potential savings or revenue that you can realize in the longer term.

About The Author

Philippa Gamse helps her clients develop e-business strategies and maximize their use of technology to gain sustainable competitive edge. She has extensive corporate experience both in Europe and the US, ideally positioning her to interpret our increasingly global market place. She brings to her clients and audiences a continuously growing body of knowledge about emerging technologies, their integration with existing “real-world” strategies, and their effect on marketing, public relations and customer service techniques. For information about inviting Philippa to speak at your next event, contact the FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@FrogPond.com

Copyright© 2002, Philippa Gamse. All right reserved.

Are The All-Volunteer Groups Taking Over?

Twenty years ago there was something of a mystique about raising funds for a nonprofit organization. Getting 501 (c) (3) status from the IRS was a difficult matter. The process was long and confusing. There were few sources of information about the process available and most of those were complicated and confusing. Even if an organization obtained 501 (c) (3) status, therefore making it possible for donors to make tax-deductible donations, most fledging nonprofits did not have someone on staff who was fully versed in any but the most rudimentary fundraising techniques.

Quite often “fundraising” was synonymous with the annual campaign letter. Only those in the “big leagues” of nonprofit operations seemed to be involved with such sophisticated techniques as “planning giving” or extensive grant writing.

According to the IRS there are twice as many 501 (c) (3)s today as there were 20 years ago. No doubt many of the small nonprofit groups (those making less than $25,000 a year) are all-volunteer groups. Even some with larger incomes (who, therefore, must file returns with the IRS) operate only with volunteers. And guess what? Some of these groups are doing a fantastic job of fundraising! They are writing successful grant applications and raising large sums of money for their nonprofit endeavors. Just nine miles away from the offices of The 501 (c) (3) Monthly Letter, an all-volunteer group was recently awarded a $65,000 grant to use in the restoration of an historic ferry house near Lewis, Iowa, population 600. Even closer to home, in Atlantic, Iowa, (7,000 population) volunteers are conducting a campaign to raise $7 million for a town recreation center . . . and it looks as though they will be successful. This is happening all over the country.

There is a new breed of volunteer out there toiling in the trenches . . . dedicated, educated, and resourceful. They have passion for their mission and are willing to use the information age to achieve their objectives.

As many as 90 percent of the e-mail inquiries to the editor at mmiller@nishna.net are from neophytes wanting to know how to set up a nonprofit organization.

So, how long will it take for the number of 501 (c) (3)s to double again? We are willing to venture that it will be closer to five years than twenty.

Do these emerging groups pose any competition for donor dollars? You can bet they do! So, remember that the mystique of fundraising is gone. Others are willing to take the time to learn how to be successful fundraisers. They do this on their own time, at no pay, and they love doing it.

So, beware, professional fundraisers. In order to do a better job of attracting donors than the “amateurs”, the professionals among us must keep honing their skills. Just as importantly, they need to keep their mission vital.

Look back at the founding days of your own nonprofit organization. Did it begin with a small group of dedicated volunteers? Were these same people able to engender enough support so that the organization could eventually have paid staff? Do you, perhaps, owe your job to the efforts of such people?

While you are at it, take a look at the volunteers that presently serve your organization. If they come “to work” with more eagerness and dedication than your paid staff, it may be time to start “tuning up” your internal communications for your own “most important audience”.

Excerpted from 501 (c) (3) Monthly Letter and written by Marilyn Miller.

Found in the Energize Website Library.

Training and Consulting Solutions

Wendy Biro-Pollard is a Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA), speaker, facilitator and consultant with over 30 years of practical experience

* organizing special events
* marketing products and services
* raising funds
* leading nonprofit boards and associations
* managing programs
* chairing local, state and national conferences
* directing successful volunteer programs

She has led hundreds of workshops and seminars for individuals in the public and private sector, for state and national associations, and for national service and faith-based programs.

Mission Statement

Wendy is committed to helping your organization identify new strategies and solutions that will improve services to your clients, customers, employees, board members and volunteers.

©Wendy Biro-Pollard, CVA – 512-914-8176 – RESUME

FOR MORE INFORMATION: longandshortnonprofits.com