Ep 101: How to Get Volunteers on Board from the Onset with Karen Knight
03/14/23 • 45 min
Volunteers are the fuel that keeps nonprofit organizations humming.
Not discounting volunteers' hard work to serve nonprofits’ missions, volunteers and how they talk about their experiences working with their favorite organizations provide the thrust that brings an abundance of donations, interest, and other volunteers into the system.
In short, when you treat your volunteers well and create an experience that a) positions them as the heroes in your mission story and b) treats their time as an invaluable resource not to be wasted, you’ll be on the path to real success.
See, many nonprofits position the organization as the hero of their story. In this narrative, the organization is cast as the creator of the majority of the thrust leading the charge to fulfill its mission.
Turning that framework on its head to position the volunteer as the hero is a fantastic way to encourage better engagement and attract more volunteers to your organization. It’s a subtle shift that can be challenging, but magic happens when you get it right. This shift in messaging helps bring volunteers into the system as they see themselves cast that the hero. Who wouldn’t want to work with an organization that views its volunteer force through that lens?
Once you have enticed your volunteers to take action to engage with your organization is the next area in which planning and process development works wonders.
Crafting an onboarding process and following that process each and every time a volunteer offers to engage with your organization is paramount. Have a plan, make the volunteers feel welcome and valuable, and ensure they don’t feel that their time was wasted.
When you nail these two elements of your organization, you will see an uptick in your repeat volunteerism, your helpers will start recruiting for you, and you will see referral-based donations start rolling in.
That’s a long introduction to this week’s guest on Relish THIS, Karen Knight. Karen has worked in the nonprofit space since first volunteering at age 11 and has been helping nonprofits improve their volunteer engagement ever since. Her consulting business helps nonprofit organizations knock their volunteer engagement out of the park by developing proven, repeatable processes and a better understanding of effective volunteer engagement and management.
If you leverage the talent and hard work of volunteers, this episode is tailor-made for you.
Dig in to see a different approach to volunteerism.
Links:
Ask:
Show your appreciation
Thank your volunteers on every shift
Volunteers are the fuel that keeps nonprofit organizations humming.
Not discounting volunteers' hard work to serve nonprofits’ missions, volunteers and how they talk about their experiences working with their favorite organizations provide the thrust that brings an abundance of donations, interest, and other volunteers into the system.
In short, when you treat your volunteers well and create an experience that a) positions them as the heroes in your mission story and b) treats their time as an invaluable resource not to be wasted, you’ll be on the path to real success.
See, many nonprofits position the organization as the hero of their story. In this narrative, the organization is cast as the creator of the majority of the thrust leading the charge to fulfill its mission.
Turning that framework on its head to position the volunteer as the hero is a fantastic way to encourage better engagement and attract more volunteers to your organization. It’s a subtle shift that can be challenging, but magic happens when you get it right. This shift in messaging helps bring volunteers into the system as they see themselves cast that the hero. Who wouldn’t want to work with an organization that views its volunteer force through that lens?
Once you have enticed your volunteers to take action to engage with your organization is the next area in which planning and process development works wonders.
Crafting an onboarding process and following that process each and every time a volunteer offers to engage with your organization is paramount. Have a plan, make the volunteers feel welcome and valuable, and ensure they don’t feel that their time was wasted.
When you nail these two elements of your organization, you will see an uptick in your repeat volunteerism, your helpers will start recruiting for you, and you will see referral-based donations start rolling in.
That’s a long introduction to this week’s guest on Relish THIS, Karen Knight. Karen has worked in the nonprofit space since first volunteering at age 11 and has been helping nonprofits improve their volunteer engagement ever since. Her consulting business helps nonprofit organizations knock their volunteer engagement out of the park by developing proven, repeatable processes and a better understanding of effective volunteer engagement and management.
If you leverage the talent and hard work of volunteers, this episode is tailor-made for you.
Dig in to see a different approach to volunteerism.
Links:
Ask:
Show your appreciation
Thank your volunteers on every shift
Previous Episode
EP 100: Improve Your Effectiveness with Data with Matt Ranta of Nimble Gravity
The idea of testing can stir up anxiety for many people.
But what if testing was a fun, fruitful venture for your organization?
In fact, to get the most out of your marketing, you need to be testing, measuring, making adjustments, and repeating this cycle infinitum to ensure you aren’t missing opportunities and are taking your message and its presentation as far as possible.
What’s great is that it’s easier than ever to test elements of your marketing.
And that’s just one of the things today’s guest on Relish THIS does for his clients.
Matt Ranta, the Partner and Head of Practice at Nimble Gravity, is steeped in analytics and testing. He approaches every interaction from the framework of curiosity. This curiosity transforms the idea of testing from one of anxiety to an activity that becomes exciting and fun. As he is able to recognize gains for his clients, their reach and ability to do good in the world improves.
From vanity metrics to how to leverage data analytics to improve your performance to specific tools available for you to use to A/B test your messaging, this episode has it all!
Links:
Ask:
Go run a test or an experiment. Try an A/B test on your marketing or run a test on your website.
Next Episode
Ep102: Effective Storytelling to Inspire Investment with David Cohen from Techstars
Whether you are a startup looking for investment, or a nonprofit seeking to build momentum by attracting a larger donor, getting your story dialed in is clutch.
On this week’s Relish THIS, David Cohen from Techstars joined me to discuss his experience with investing and what purpose-focused businesses can do to ensure that they are able to attract the capital they need to take their organizations to the next level.
David sees three items as paramount to attracting and securing investment:
- A good team with a proven track record
- Traction: some momentum toward your goals
- Genuine enthusiasm for your mission
These three, core elements are the ingredients for an amazing story. And stories are what help people get excited about your programs.
David has a long history of investing in early-stage companies in both the for- and nonprofit spaces. He’s been around the block so to speak when it comes to understanding how these three, core elements combine to produce success.
If you are looking to up your game by attracting investors or are looking for tips to improve your ability to bring on larger donors to fuel your organization’s success, this is a great episode.
I hope you enjoy it.
Links:
Book - Do More Faster
Ask:
Help an entrepreneur succeed. You have special knowledge so help someone learn that so we can make the world a better place.
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