5 Steps to Turn Volunteers into Fundraisers

Article by Amy Eisenstein, Tri Point Fundraising

Do you want to raise more money? Of course you do! A great strategy to do just that involves using volunteers for fundraising. But before we discuss how to use volunteers to fundraise, it’s important to understand why we use them. Why We Use Volunteers for Fundraising 1. Volunteers bring sincerity and passion. Volunteers already love you and your organization. It’s one thing to ask for money when you’re a staff member, but volunteers come at fundraising from an entirely different place. They are not being paid; rather they are there because they genuinely want to be. There is no better advocate for your cause than a dedicated volunteer. 2. Volunteers bring networks and relationships. Of course, you’ve heard the concept, “six degrees of separation.” Adding volunteers to your fundraising toolkit only broadens your network and your reach. If you’ve been fundraising for more than a week, you know fundraising is about building relationships. Potential donors are much more likely to trust and support their friends (your volunteers) than they are to trust you. Friends give to friends. 3. Volunteers have time and skills. Short on time and resources? Volunteers could be the answer, provided they are well trained and supported. Volunteers may also bring skills to the table that you, as a staff member, don’t have. Business, sales, and marketing skills are all extremely valuable and transferable to fundraising. How to Use Volunteers as Fundraisers 1. Identify important skills and characteristics. What skills and characteristics do you want in a volunteer fundraiser? Willingness to ask. Good listener. Passionate about the cause and your organization. Familiarity with your organization. 2. Solicit current volunteers (board and non-board members). Using the list of criteria above, identify current and potential volunteers. Include board members as well as non-board volunteers. Are there volunteers who work in the office, directly with the clients, or in other parts of your organization who might be willing to help with fundraising? 3. Create a list of ways to help. Provide a list of current fundraising opportunities—large and small. Your volunteers may not be aware of many of the opportunities to get involved, especially if they are not board members, or working near the administrative offices. Communicate with all volunteers, but specifically target those you have identified as willing to help in this area. Examples of ways volunteers can help with fundraising include: Bringing friends on tours of your organization. Selling tickets and sponsorships. Signing appeal letters to their network of friends and family. Making thank you calls to donors. Promoting your organization through social media sites. 4. Train your volunteers. If you expect volunteers to do things in certain ways and be successful, they must be trained. Period. 5. Provide specific instructions and doable tasks. Don’t assume your volunteers know what to do. Fundraising isn’t “natural” to most people. The more specific you can be, the more successful they will be. And remember, volunteers are busy people too. If you ask them to make three calls this month (as opposed to thirty or three hundred), they are likely to be successful and come back for more.

What Do Your Volunteers Want?

Article by Joanne Fritz, About.com Guide

Is now the golden age of volunteerism? More people than ever want to give back to their communities, and volunteer work is encouraged, from the halls of congress to the words and images in the media. Now could be the very best time to take a look at your volunteer program and spiff it up so that your volunteers will want to come and stay.

But volunteerism has changed and volunteer expectations have evolved. Here are a few things today's volunteer has a right to expect from you - master these and you will have happy volunteers.

1. They want you to be prepared for them.

Many of us at some point have worked in the temp world. A common experience is to be sent to an office to work only to find that the office is unprepared. So you sit around trying to look busy when really you are twiddling your thumbs. Don't let this happen to your volunteers. The temp worker, after all, needs the money and will likely put up with this, but your volunteers will see you as disorganized and inconsiderate. Don't bring a volunteer in until you have everything worked out, from the job description to a place to work with proper equipment, to something to do immediately.

2. They want to feel welcomed.

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Act as though your volunteer is a guest in your home. Show her around. Introduce him to your staff and other volunteers, have your executive director drop by and say hello and thanks. Don't let your volunteer feel uncomfortable for a minute. Show that your organization is warm, friendly, helpful, and happy to see your volunteer.

3. They want good training.

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Even if the task assigned is a simple one, take the time to explain it, demonstrate it, and mentor the volunteer through the first few hours. Provide a buddy, another volunteer who is experienced, to help the new one.

When training a group of volunteers, be sure to use adult learning techniques such as group involvement. Volunteers don't want to be lectured to. They want to participate in the training. Include in your training clear expectations for your volunteers. Let them know what the job entails and the quality measures that you will use to evaluate their work.

4. They want to do interesting work.

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Most volunteers are willing to roll their sleeves up and do physical labor as long as it is meaningful. But grunt work is out. Do not use volunteers to do the tasks your staff doesn't want to do. Envelope licking, wheelchair pushing, and mindless filing do not appeal to modern volunteers. Think of your volunteers as extra staff who are capable of performing complex tasks that take advantage of their experience and skills. Provide leadership opportunities to those volunteers who are willing and have the time to shoulder more responsibility.

5. They want to know up front how much time the job will take.

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Everyone is busier than ever, and many volunteers may only have time for short term assignments. Project-oriented, rather than ongoing, assignments seem to work particularly well. Decide how much time your job will need and include that when you publicize your volunteer position. Will it take 6 hours a week that can be done over three days? Does it need to be done on a weekend? Do you need your volunteer for the summer, for a season? Does the volunteer need to be available from 2 to 4 p.m. during the week?

Provide lots of options so that you can appeal to a busy soccer mom as well as the retiree who has more time. Think about offering "alternative" opportunities, such as project-based family volunteeringand even microvolunteering or virtual opportunities.

6. They want to be appreciated.

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Tell your volunteers frequently that they are doing a good job. Although you will want to come up with some creative ways of formally saying thanks, don't overlook the power of a simple gesture such as taking them to lunch, providing a small gift, or sending a thank you card to their home.

7. They want you to communicate with them well and often.

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Regular communication is motivating for volunteers, while the lack of it is one of the chief reasons volunteers become dissatisfied. Volunteers like to have a particular person who looks after them. If your organization does not have a volunteer coordinator, be sure to assign someone to be the point person for your volunteers.

Be ready to listen to volunteers and respond to concerns immediately. Telephone them, have meetings, invite them to stop by your office, send info via social media, or email them regular updates or a volunteer newsletter.

8. They want to know that they are helping to make the world a better place.

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Let your volunteers know how they are making a difference. Share success stories about your clients and programs. Bring them up-to-date on progress toward your organization's goals. Let them see your work in action through tours, presentations on the issues by your experts, and by inviting them to provide suggestions about how your work can be done even better.

9. They want to be socially connected.

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Volunteering is a great way for many people to socialize, so provide the opportunity to do so. Become a matchmaker for friend making. If you think a couple of volunteers would get along famously, provide that opportunity by assigning them to do a particular job together. Provide some time for coffee or lunch. Invite them to your events and follow up to encourage them to attend or even provide help in getting there. Invite a volunteer to become an informal social director who might provide outside opportunities for volunteers to get together.

10. They want to learn something new.

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Anyone who is willing to volunteer for an organization is likely to have a healthy curiosity and willingness to try new things. Indeed, many volunteers get involved with causes so just so they can learn new skills or about interesting topics and issues. Provide that opportunity. Turning your volunteer job into a mini-educational experience will be highly valued by potential volunteers and will likely result in some great referrals as your volunteers tell others about what a great experience they are having.

The Rise of the Slacktivist

If too small, see the original here.

Do Your Volunteers Fundraise?

Stop the bus! Your volunteers don’t fundraise?

For those of you who know me, you understand that my passion is volunteerism. In brief: I’m in love with those who work selflessly. This group of people is tricky to navigate for some organizations and non-profits. Some common thoughts and questions that often come up when thinking about your passionate volunteers are:

Can we really ask them to do that (insert undesired job)? I tapped Mary for three things last month, is it too much to ask her for this? What else can I give this volunteer? I can’t ask my volunteers to fundraise, can I?

The question I’d like to answer for you today is the last one. 

Yes! You can (and you should) ask your volunteers to fundraise. Don’t you want your most passionate people pounding the pavement for you? Don’t you want the people who live and breathe your mission delivering it to new people everywhere they go? Your answer to these questions should be “yes.” Your best volunteers are your best fundraisers and your best spokespeople. They give back to you and your organization because they are passionate about your cause. They stick around because you have created an environment in which they want to be involved.

You, the volunteer coordinator or the volunteer manager, are an integral part of your volunteer’s presence. They come back to volunteer for you; they perform the best to satisfy you; and they will now fundraise because you told them they can. You believe in them.

Start by simply asking them to fundraise; teach them; arm them with tools and help them set a goal. Here are some things to consider:

• If you are fundraising for a specific event, understand that volunteers tend to start fundraising closer to the event than participants who have a mandatory goal. Segment your communications so you are speaking to your volunteers about fundraising later than you would to your participants. 

• If you have enough people to create two groups of volunteers, start a friendly competition with a prize (maybe a night out donated by your local pizza parlor). Remind the volunteers of each team’s status at different checkpoints. Encourage mini-competitions amongst your volunteers — it’s healthy fun and creates a friendly, goal-oriented environment.

• Be sure to help your volunteers with goal setting. They like to work toward numbers and milestones. For example, suggest that they each raise $200, the amount it costs to feed a family of four for a month. Or recommend a goal for the whole team, say, $20,000 to support a year’s worth of a researcher’s lab expenses to find a cure. Volunteers like knowing these hard facts and bottom line numbers; it gives meaning to their efforts by offering tangible outcomes, especially since they have behind-the-scenes access to your event and organization and are cost-conscious as a result. A reminder that if you use a goal like this, make it clear to volunteers that the money raised is, in fact, going to your organization, and not directly to the event site, etc. 

• Have a current, active fundraiser help you encourage volunteers to raise funds. Hearing directly from a dedicated fundraiser helps a volunteer understand the importance of the task while easing any possible reservations, creating that “ah ha” moment — “if they can do it, so can I.” 

Finally, remember that your volunteers work and perform with the hopes of pleasing you.  It’s true. Send them a personal email or text message once they’ve started fundraising to encourage them. We all know you are thinking about them, so don’t forget to send something to them. They will realize that they aren’t just another face to you; they are an important piece of your mission’s puzzle. 

Katie Sisum has spent the last 12 years in the volunteer world as either an organizer or volunteer, including two years of service with AmeriCorps. As Volunteer Programs Manager for Event 360, she helps create significant experiences for over 7,000 volunteers and crewmembers each year. A new member of Corporate Volunteerism Council Twin Cities, Katie lives in Minneapolis with her four-footed dog friend, is a glass blower and owns a stained glass studio in the city.

Social Contagion

Four ways to inject social contagion into your outreach in 2012

A recent review of more than 20 academic papers on social contagion, published in the book Consumer Insights: Findings From Behavioral Research, shows that consumers are heavily influenced not only by word of mouth - which we all know by now—but also by merely observing the behaviors of others, even if no communication takes place.

In your outreach in 2012, make sure that you keep this in mind.  Here are some ideas on how to apply these findings:
1. Include social sharing links in all of your outreach to encourage word of mouth
2. Include a quote from a donor about why they support you on your home page
3. Have beneficiaries write your acknowledgements to encourage work of mouth
4. Have donors or volunteers write your next appeal, with details on why they support you

Remember, you are rarely as effective a messenger as your supporters are.

Post by: Katya Andresen, Network for Good