Episode 4: Engaging New Volunteers

Examples of Negative Experience of New Volunteers

• Bad emails

• No communication

• Not asking why they joined and what motivates them

• Not inviting them to join with volunteer opportunities

• Not defining volunteer role

• No connections to other volunteers

Tips to Remember:

This Maya Angelou quote is good to remember: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Relationships are being built face-to-face and online.

Examples of Positive Experiences of New Volunteers

• Host a League 101 training

• Explain volunteer roles clearly

• Provide meaty and challenging roles (resume building)

• Feel the activity is worth while

• Refresher training / regional training / train the trainer workshops

• Good Communications - if they don’t know an opportunity exists, then it doesn’t exist. It has to be polished and clear

Tips to Remember:

• Email Tips: Subject Lines important

• Signupgenius.com and SignUp.com - for volunteer notifications

• MealTrain.com - To organize meals

• LinkedIn.com

• Need to figure out what your community is on each social media platforms

• Graphics - if you need help with graphics, check out canva.com

• Don’t be afraid to send emails and reminders. Have the news be ongoing and how how active your League is.

• Recognize volunteer contributions. A great example is from Oregon Bus Project, the “t-shirt that cannot be bought.”

• Use Annual Meeting as a way to highlight the great work on your league - Tell the story of the volunteers

Hands-On Tips

• Use the phone to both call and text.

• Cluster Mentorship - Have a group mentor setup with one seasoned members with a group of 3 or 4 new volunteers.

• Have a rally on an issue - have a speaker and snacks

• Host a Sips and Civility

• Extraordinary Article and Film Discussion Club to reach people outside of the League

• Civics Game Night

• Twitter Takeover

Activist Alert

• Protect Our Care

• Sign up for League of Women Voters Action Alerts

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Music by OhmLab.

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