Sending Love Out To Volunteers

When volunteer leaders ask me how can I find more volunteers or how can I
get them to do what they promised? My first response is have you shown
them the love?

We get so mired in our to-do lists that we sometimes forget these are volunteers who are giving their time and talents. So pause for a minute, and ask have I’ve send out the love lately? Here are few ideas if you’re finding you’re a little love-starved:

  • Write a thank you note … learn more about how to make your note stand out and collect a few other ideas in this post.
  • Celebrate National Volunteer Week big! Start planning now with a visit to the #NVW site; April 12 is fast approaching.
  • Make their job easier! Give volunteers access to tools and resources that let’s them be uber-efficient with their time or more satisified with how they are spending their time. Follow A.S.P.E.N.’s lead – Debra BenAvram created a series of simple videos to let her board members orient themselves at their pace and leisure. Plus, she embedded small questions like “ask me about [  ] when you see me” and then rewarded those volunteers who asked. (Contact me and I’ll share her links!) Or follow NIGP: Institute for Public Procurement‘s lead – they use video calls for all their council and board meetings and so they send inexpensive webcams to anyone who doesn’t have one.
  • Spend some time learning about why your volunteers give and then create programs to support them. Here are two good pieces from AssociationsNow.com that offers some new research insight and a case in point: What Makes Members Volunteer and Keeps Them Coming Back and Strategy Session: How To Improve Volunteering.
  • Join Elizabeth and me as we kick-off ASAE’s Marquee Management Series – The Mission-Driven Volunteer on Febrary 17 at ASAE HQs. The afternoon program is focused on volunteering and there will be lots of great ways to help you share the love!

What do you do to share the love?

Image courtesy of domdeen at
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