Dean Rieck wrote a great post on Six Ways to Get People To Say Yes over at Copy Blogger that’s a must read for anyone who’s ever asked “how do I get volunteers?”.
It’s about understanding fixed action patterns which are “precise and predictable sequence of behavior” that is set in motion by a trigger. Dean suggests that by using a trigger you can get a customer to say “yes” to a request you make. He goes on to offer 6 triggers any of which can be applied to the volunteer equation. But my favorite is Commitment and Consistency. The principal here is that humans are essentially driven to maintain consistency in our lives which in turn drives us to remain consistent with commitments. And Dean suggests (and shows) you can build on small commitments. Echoes one of the findings of Decision To Volunteer which says members want ad hoc, lower commitment opportunities which lead to greater volunteering.
So read this posting and discover six ways to get yeses from members.