Showing #VolunteerLove, Driving Member Engagement

Showing #VolunteerLove is a winning strategy for driving member engagement. Why? Because volunteering is the stickiest type of member engagement. We need to get beyond rewards and recognition to show #VolunteerLove. That was the message of the ASAE Membership Section Council webinar, Driving Member Engagement by Showing #VolunteerLove. I joined two other association superstars, Jennifer Rowell, NC Association of CPAs, and Jamie Gray, Project Management Institute, to explore how associations are and can show this love.

View the webinar Driving Member Engagement by Showing #VolunteerLove. Download the handouts.

To truly show volunteer love, we need embrace a full HR approach. That is to say, have a comprehensive volunteer management system. Three places to start your thinking are through the ASAE Foundation Mutually Beneficial Volunteering report [free to ASAE Members], A Checklist for an Energetic Volunteer Workforce and Exec Connect Discussion Starter on Volunteer Management [ASAE membership required].

Three elements highlighted in the webinar are perfect starting point.

  • Creating engaging opportunities – this means embracing the full definition of the word volunteer. Offer a mix of opportunities from ad-hoc and micro to traditional. Add in virtual volunteering. Support with technology and readily available resources. Embrace technology to optimize the volunteer sign-up.
  • Optimize communications – from how you position and message volunteering to how you communicate with volunteers to how you enable volunteers to create their own community. Check out the slide deck for more examples.
  • Broadly Recognize – don’t focus on the visible volunteers only but all volunteers. Digital badges and badge ribbons. Letters of thanks and certificates. The aha here is to broaden your approach to recognizing all who contribute. It’ll come back to you. PMI sent out 9000 certificates and pictures of which began popping up on social media including a post on LinkedIn that netted 152 likes and 17 shares. Sending the message!

How can you show #VolunteerLove? Reminder National Volunteer Week is April 23-29, 2017.