Volunteering

“I’ve got a full plate. I don’t know if I’ll be available for those meetings. I just can’t commit right now.” I’ve said that in response to an invitation to volunteer. Now, I don’t. Instead I ask will the volunteer opportunity help me meet my personal and business goals. Volunteering isn’t simply a time commitment, […]

Recycling leaders. Empty positions. Tired leaders. So how can we at the national level help solve this problem so common at the local level? Help local groups think differently. Coach your chapters on how to attract the new volunteer. And then take one more step and actively help them. (1) Embrace new volunteer model and […]

A look at the history of associations tells us that chapters were often the seed for what is now a national or global organization. Take for example The Philadelphia Bar Association. It was founded in 1802, making it the oldest Association of lawyers in the United States; 64 years later in 1878, 20 state associations […]

A common theme I hear from chapters across associations is no one wants to volunteer. The counter to this statement is the 58% of the non-volunteering members in an ASAE Foundation study said they were interested in being more engaged. Given the context of the question which was on volunteering and accepting the premise that […]

13 Days before the official #NVW18 begins. I know you probably thank your association volunteers all year long, right? I serve on a volunteer council for NIGP and this very topic was a key part of our conversation. We asked are those one-up thank you’s, while meaningful, giving us the biggest impact to stir volunteering. […]

What chapter doesn’t need more volunteer muscle? While associations in general are feeling the pressure in engaging volunteers, chapters’ pain is more acute. We could go into depth why chapters are struggling however simply put it’s a time/flexibility issue. One counterpunch is to make volunteering fun and appreciated.