Leveraging Community Resources to Engage More Volunteers

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Leveraging Community Resources to Engage More
Volunteers
Presented by Jennifer Gilligan Cole Cole
Community Concepts July 12, 2007
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• Welcome, Agenda Review

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Agenda

• Reflections Observations
• Thoughts on the new City Volunteering Report
• Ideas for Practical Action
• Question Answer
• Resources Next Steps

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Learning Objectives

• Briefly Review the research of the Cities 2007
  Report.
• Frame the findings and implications of the
  report.
• Learn to reach new volunteer populations through
  volunteer role design, recruitment and community
  partnerships.

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Observations Reflections
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Major Factors Affecting Volunteer Engagement

• Disconnection
• Disparity
• Density
• Dated Volunteer Management Practices

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• How Can We Really Engage New, Under-tapped
  Populations?

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Strategies that Work.

• Build flexible volunteer roles/work
• Deconstruct engagement barriers
• Recruit smarter, not more
• Focus on win/win partnerships
• Start with what you know

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Flexible Volunteer Roles

• Structure during off-peak times
• Design home-based experiences (take home
  projects, virtual connections)
• Think of corporate groups, families, friend-based
  teams instead of individuals
• Create a social aspect to the work

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Flexibility in Action

• National Mentoring Partnership
• www.mentoring.org/program_staff/ementoring/startin
  g_an_ementoring_program.php
• One Brick
• www.onebrick.org
• Global Action Network
• www.globalactionnetwork.org

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Deconstruct Engagement Barriers...

• Consider transportation access
• Bus routes, carpool, walkable/bikeable
• Remember family first
• Child care/adult care options
• Child friendly programs/projects
• Manage ADA and language accessibility
• reasonable accomodation
• Bilingual offerings bilingual volunteer leaders
• Condense training pre-service requirements
• Self Study/web training

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Barriers to Bridges.

• New York Caresvoluteering by by subway!
  www.nycares.org
• Hands On Miamiengages Spanish speaking and
  differently abled volunteers!www.handsonmiami.org
• AARPgetting the whole family involved!
  www.aarp.org
• American Red Cross Disaster Trainingbegin your
  training online! www.redcross.org

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Recruit Smart. . .

• Start in Neighborhoods
• Market through association partnerships
  (sororities, fraternities, civic groups,
  professional associations)
• Bring outreach to 3rd spaces
• Social Networking Sites
• Congregations

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Go Where People Are Neighborhoods

• Support Asset Building
• Find Existing Leaders
• Connection to Micro-Issues
• Communications Infrastructure
• Build Social Capital

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More People through Association

• Connects individuals with similar interests
• Understand their chosen charities
• Carve out joint recruitment goals
• Communications infrastructure

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Online Communities for Dummies

• Seek out online portals that link to real life
  opportunities
• www.coolpeoplecare.com
• www.meetup.com
• www.behandson.org
• Write some content
• Try a blog

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Coffee or Community? Using 3rd Spaces

• Read The Great Good Place or Bowling Alone
• Think places where people gather and stay (coffee
  shops, libraries, bars, knitting club)
• Take the volunteering to them (eg. Knitting and
  book clubs)
• Recruit regulars to help

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Smart Ideas in Action

• Chicago Public Libraries a great, good place!
• www.chipublib.org/003cpl/cmatters/borders.html
• National Association of Realtorshouses and
  community action!
• www.realtors.org
• Faith In Actionmultidenominational approach to
  caregiving!
• www.faithinaction.org

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Partnerships that Work.

• Congregations
• Companies
• Municipalities

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Congregations are Cool

• Study Existing Ministries
• Link service to faith and values
• Pilot with a population target (young adults,
  teens, seniors)
• Define the partership
• Check in and TALK frequently
• Examples Psalm 43

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Community is Good Business

• Study existing service/philanthropy
• Understand volunteerism effect on employee
  satisfaction, teambuilding and financial
  bottomline
• Think about at work opportunities
• Build relationships for the long hauldeeper,
  better vs. quantity
• Understand market fluctuations
• Focus on employee engagement

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Working with Gvmt

• Understand the Mayor, Council priorities
• Find a friend and frame the idea
• Measure the resultsor think results!
• Learn the term economies of scale
• Become friends with compliance
• Celebrate victories with media
• Frame impact and engagement around constituents
  (voters, business, other officials)

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Collaboration in Action

• Volunteer in Congregations
• www.faithinaction.org
• www.jewishservice.org
• Businesses that Matter
• www.bsr.org
• National Council on Workplace Volunteerims
• Local Chambers
• Cities in the Mix
• National league of cities www.nlc.org
• City of Mesa, AZ www.cityofmesa.org

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Map Your Resources
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Who Do You Know/Where Can You Start?
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Group Discussion and Debrief

• What did you learn?
• What next steps will you take?
• What questions do you have?

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Resources

• On Work Design
• www.energizeinc.com
• On Engagement Barriers
• Casey Foundation work with low income volunteers
• www.aecf.org
• U of Minnesota Center for Democracy Citizenship
• www.publicwork.org

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Resources, contd.

• On Recruitment
• Business for Social Responsibility with
  compancies www.bsr.org
• United Nations Volunteers online www.unv.org
• National Service Resource Center
• www.nationalserviceresources.org
• General
• www.serviceleader.org
• www.handsonnetwork.org
• www.pointsoflight.org
• www.evolunteerism.org

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Contact Information

• Jen Gilligan Cole
• Cole Community Concepts
• 533 Skyview Drive
• Nashville, TN 37206
• www.colecommunity.com
• colecommunity_at_comcast.net

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For More Information

• For more information about Hands On Network
• and/or its training opportunities, please contact
  
• training_at_HandsOnNetwork.org
• or visit us at
• www.HandsOnNetwork.org