The Secret To Making Volunteers Like You

Don’t waste valuable volunteer labour on tasks that can be easily automated. Challenge volunteers with meaningful work.
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A couple of days ago I had a conversation with a volunteer, we’ll call him Bob, in which he said, “I know online registration is the way to do it, I’ve used it at another organization, but they say we don’t have the budget for it here, so we’re doing it manually.” Bob’s chuckle at the end of this explanation was very telling. Free labour is a myth. Volunteers are in demand. Finding and recruiting these people takes time and effort and though there are no salary costs, there are expenses in covering:

More importantly, if you’re wanting to keep your volunteers happy and keen to offer their time again, you need to make sure that they feel their contribution is worth it. Getting them to physically send out and receive registrations, fax and phone confirmations, process payments and enter data, especially when they are aware of the automated systems now available that do it all for you, is not the best use of their skills and they know it. A smarter use of their time would be getting them to:

Not only will your volunteer’s efforts bring in more money for your organization, but you will have given them a stimulating experience.

Another comment from one not-for-profit organization that recently stopped me in my tracks was:

“We don’t need online registration because our Treasurer manually processes registrations by fax.”

You wouldn’t dream of paying your lawyer to pick up your office supplies would you? Or getting your accountant to do your laundry?

The problem here, which I’ve found to be common in not-for-profit and charity organizations, is the perception that they can’t afford to use online registration – have no allocated budget for it. It’s like saying we aren’t going to buy a computer because it’s an expense. If you don’t have a computer you can’t run an organization. The same applies with online registration, you can’t afford not to. Here’s why:

 

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The Secret To Making Volunteers Like You

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  • The equipment they require
  • Possible office space
  • Someone to train, manage and supervise their efforts
  • Market your event to drum up more participants and generate more revenue.
  • Find sponsorship for your event to help cover costs.
  • Put more effort into the actual planning of the event, so it runs smoothly, is enjoyed by the participants and has them wanting to attend the next one.
  • Follow up with people to thank them for attending the event.
  • Strategizing how to make your organization run more efficiently and achieve the goals you have set.
  • People now expect to be able to register for events online and if you don’t offer this you stand to miss out on registrations and therefore revenue.
  • Online registration costs are minimal when compared with those you’ll be saving by no longer doing it manually. It will also pay for itself by ensuring happier, more efficient and productive employees and volunteers.
  • In this way it can be thought of as an investment, rather than an expense.

Dec 1st, 2010

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