Adaptive Volunteer Management
Social networking can be powerful tool for volunteer management.
Some very bright writers have produced great articles on how to use social networking to attract volunteers, donors, and support in general.
Once you have attracted the volunteer or donor, how do you use social networking to sustain and build the relationship? One of the keys to keeping volunteers and donors is to be constantly cultivating your relationship with them.
The more you cultivate the relationship, the more personal and the stronger the relationship becomes.
The relationship moves from being transactional to being a relationship built on friendship.
Through the social network, one has access to the other person's home page.
What information can you learn there that will help you build the relationship? Do they post comments about their children, grandchild, pets, or social concerns? What you learn from reading the home page is the same thing you would learn from having several lunches with the person if you had the time.
Through their volunteer commitment, you know what part of your mission resonates with them.
Use your creativity to put the two segments of their life together.
Communicate with them in such a way that they remember they are being attentive to their personal priorities while they are helping the mission.
This process will help increase their engagement.
They will have more time to spend volunteering because they will see the value of spending their time volunteering.
Several of our clients call each participant in an event (guest, volunteer, or donor) after the event.
The purpose of the call is to ensure everyone had a good time, find suggestions for improving the event, and thank them for participating.
The staff handles a select group of participants.
Volunteers contact the remaining participants (It could be hundreds of other participants.
).
The goal is to reach everyone within four weeks of the event.
It can involve a large number of volunteers.
Social networking has a role to play in the process.
By using social networking, it is possible to monitor the activity of individual volunteers, send words of encouragement, and provide helpful hints that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.
The direct and personal contact after an event sets our clients apart from many others in their communities.
It helps to cultivate a stronger relationship by expressing appreciation.
It sends a message to the person that the mission receives broad support.
The appreciation seems more sincere because a volunteer took the time to make the contact (I am doing this because I care about the mission and I appreciate your support of something that is important to me, rather than I am doing this because it is part of my job as a paid professional.
).
Next Step: Using a social networking tool, connect to as many of your volunteers and donors as possible Use what you can learn from their home pages to segment the volunteer or donor base Create targeted messages for each of the segments that connect their interests with the mission and current activities of the organization Use the networking tool to cultivate a friendship with each individual Friendships are very durable relationships.
When friends work together on something that is important to both of them (the mission, for instance) an even stronger bond develops.
Through a social contact, one seldom feels like they are being managed or monitored.
As a result, one can use the network to raise the effectiveness of the volunteers while building a stronger friendship.
The goal of technology is to make everyone's job and life easier.
Social networking is one more technology (tool) for increasing your productivity, strengthening the mission, and increasing organizational sustainability.
Some very bright writers have produced great articles on how to use social networking to attract volunteers, donors, and support in general.
Once you have attracted the volunteer or donor, how do you use social networking to sustain and build the relationship? One of the keys to keeping volunteers and donors is to be constantly cultivating your relationship with them.
The more you cultivate the relationship, the more personal and the stronger the relationship becomes.
The relationship moves from being transactional to being a relationship built on friendship.
Through the social network, one has access to the other person's home page.
What information can you learn there that will help you build the relationship? Do they post comments about their children, grandchild, pets, or social concerns? What you learn from reading the home page is the same thing you would learn from having several lunches with the person if you had the time.
Through their volunteer commitment, you know what part of your mission resonates with them.
Use your creativity to put the two segments of their life together.
Communicate with them in such a way that they remember they are being attentive to their personal priorities while they are helping the mission.
This process will help increase their engagement.
They will have more time to spend volunteering because they will see the value of spending their time volunteering.
Several of our clients call each participant in an event (guest, volunteer, or donor) after the event.
The purpose of the call is to ensure everyone had a good time, find suggestions for improving the event, and thank them for participating.
The staff handles a select group of participants.
Volunteers contact the remaining participants (It could be hundreds of other participants.
).
The goal is to reach everyone within four weeks of the event.
It can involve a large number of volunteers.
Social networking has a role to play in the process.
By using social networking, it is possible to monitor the activity of individual volunteers, send words of encouragement, and provide helpful hints that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.
The direct and personal contact after an event sets our clients apart from many others in their communities.
It helps to cultivate a stronger relationship by expressing appreciation.
It sends a message to the person that the mission receives broad support.
The appreciation seems more sincere because a volunteer took the time to make the contact (I am doing this because I care about the mission and I appreciate your support of something that is important to me, rather than I am doing this because it is part of my job as a paid professional.
).
Next Step: Using a social networking tool, connect to as many of your volunteers and donors as possible Use what you can learn from their home pages to segment the volunteer or donor base Create targeted messages for each of the segments that connect their interests with the mission and current activities of the organization Use the networking tool to cultivate a friendship with each individual Friendships are very durable relationships.
When friends work together on something that is important to both of them (the mission, for instance) an even stronger bond develops.
Through a social contact, one seldom feels like they are being managed or monitored.
As a result, one can use the network to raise the effectiveness of the volunteers while building a stronger friendship.
The goal of technology is to make everyone's job and life easier.
Social networking is one more technology (tool) for increasing your productivity, strengthening the mission, and increasing organizational sustainability.
