AR Handbook – 19 15. Let each committee, together with the Executive Committee, evaluate the year’s activities and make recommendations for the coming year. Ideas for finding volunteers ... and getting to work Most associations have a difficult time finding enough people to work on association committees and projects. Here are a few ideas that can help: 1. Personalize. When you need workers, ask for them personally. Few people volunteer their services. This doesn’t mean they don’t want to help. People simply like to be asked. 2. Rely on friendship. Have someone they know and trust do the asking. People respond more positively to someone they know. Isn’t it harder to say “no” to a friend than a stranger? 3. Welcome new workers. If a person agrees to help, welcome the new volunteer. Establish the feeling of belonging and being needed early. New volunteers lose their enthusiasm if they feel neglected or taken for granted. 4. Reduce risks. Make the jobs new volunteers are asked to do as nonthreatening as possible. People don’t like to take risks. Prime considerations to make when assigning tasks include: a. How much time will it take each day or week; and how long will the project or committee last? People won’t sign on for life, so don’t over-whelm them. b. How “public” will the job be? Personal risks increase with the amount of exposure individuals receive. New volunteers often won’t agree to get involved in koffee klatches or other “public” tasks, but will do jobs where they are not visible to the community, administration, or school board. c. How difficult is the work? New volunteers can often be induced to take on more jobs if they first have a few successes to look back on. Start new workers with relatively easy tasks and build on such success. Don’t ask the new volunteer to take on difficult or complicated jobs too soon. 5. Stress importance. Make each volunteer feel important. If members believe you’re “just looking for people” they’ll feel easily replaceable and less responsible for doing the job. 6. Set time limits. Make sure each job or committee has a definite beginning and an end. Let your members know when they’ll be able to get “out from under.” 7. Start slowly. Ask new volunteers to do things they can already do and which they already like to do. Remember, reducing risks for new volunteers is important. 8. Relate face-to-face. There is no substitute for face-to-face communication. Do all these things in person; don’t rely on fliers, letters, or phone calls to do your recruiting job. 9. Be enthusiastic. Stress the importance of the work. People will respond according to your mood and presentation. Don’t apologize for or belittle the work. If it wasn’t necessary, you wouldn’t ask. 10. Set high standards. The members will take their cue from you, and no one gets more than they ask for. 11. Lead with assertiveness. Deal quickly and directly with those who don’t meet your expectations. Be encouraging and offer help, but be prepared to reassign the person if necessary. If failure is tolerated or ignored, others will either follow or drop out with a “what’s the use” attitude. 12. Reward good work. Recognize and reward good work – publicly. What you can do will depend on the local situation; but remember, everyone likes a pat on the back. The members receive little “personal” reward from most jobs and a simple “thank you” from the association can go a long way.
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