Volunteers in Your Affiliate
NAMI Illinois wishes to thank
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Michael O. Jones, Assistant Professor
of Psychology at the College of the Ozarks
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NAMI DuPage
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NAMI Greater Chicago
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for sharing their information on
volunteers. Click on the following links to view information and
forms which you can modify and use in your affiliate.
Promoting Volunteerism in Your
Affiliate
Prepared by Michael O. Jones, Assistant
Professor of Psychology at the College of the Ozarks
"Everybody can be great...because everybody can
serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to
serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated
by love."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Overview
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Competition for volunteers
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Managing a scarce resource
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A satisfied volunteer is the best recruiter
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Most volunteers are satisfied
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Finding what attracts volunteers and keeps them
involved
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Incentives for Volunteering
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the importance of achievement
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Recognition and feedback
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Personal growth
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Giving something back to society
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Bringing about social change
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Family ties
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Friendship, support, bonding and a feeling of
belonging
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Reasons Why People Volunteer
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Altruism
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Belief in the cause
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To be with other people
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Professional contact and networking
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To learn a new skill or new knowledge
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To work through personal problems
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To increase self-esteem
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Self-actualization and achievement
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Safety needs
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Why People Don't Volunteer
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Disorganized management can waste the volunteer's time
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Lack of board support
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Indifferent staff attitudes
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Limited training and orientation
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Lack of contact and support
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The wrong assignment
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Statistical Reasons for Not
Volunteering
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Health reasons - 5%
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Time is too valuable; already done enough - 13%
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Unable to honor commitment - 15%
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Too busy - 57%
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No one asked them - 58%
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Promoting Volunteerism
Objectives
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Inspire people to realize how much their volunteering
makes a difference and they gain from it too
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Communicate successes that other volunteers have
achieved
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Build a sense of community that includes other ethnic
and economic groups
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Encourage and offer effective activities for the
volunteers in areas that address serious problems
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Twelve Basic Needs of a
Volunteer
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Provide specific manageable task with a beginning and
an end
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Provide a task that matches the volunteers' interests
and reasons for volunteering
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Provide a good reason for doing the task
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Provide written instructions
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Provide a reasonable deadline for completing the task
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Provide freedom to complete the task when and where it
is most convenient for the volunteer
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Provide everything necessary to complete the task
without interruption
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Provide adequate training
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Provide a safe, comfortable, and friendly working
environment
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Provide a follow-up to see that the task is completed
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Provide opportunity to provide feedback when the task
is finished
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Show appreciation, recognition, and rewards that match
the person's reason for volunteering
Desired Results of Efforts
to Promote Volunteerism
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Visibility
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Recognition
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Understanding
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Support
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Promotion Objectives
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To inform
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To stimulate or maintain interest
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To educate
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To encourage action
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Approaches of Promotion
"The medium is the message." Marshall
McLuhan
Choosing the Approach
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The purpose of your promotion activity
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The specific message to be communicated
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The intended audience
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The resources available
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The cost effectiveness of the approach
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The type of message
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The type of impact desired
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The time required
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The degree of professional expertise needed and its
availability
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Direct Promotion
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Organizational Literature
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Personal Presentations
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Special Events
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Displays and Exhibits
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Promotional materials
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Does the Organization . . .
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Have a clearly defined purpose
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Have existing job descriptions for all volunteers
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Have a well-defined and clearly communicated volunteer
management plan
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Have recruitment practices
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Have appropriate training and orientation programs
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Does the Organization . . .
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Respect and praise for its volunteers' abilities and
time commitment
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Complete volunteer performance reviews
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Plan for volunteer recognition to demonstrate their
appreciation
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Have a process for reviewing and responding to ideas,
suggestions, and comments
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Maintain records of volunteer time
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Obtain and Use
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NAMI Affiliate Toolkit
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Conclusion
Well-run organizations and volunteer programs recruit
automatically. Build a better organization and volunteers will beat
a path to your door.
Ideal recruitment lies in only attracting as many of the
right volunteers as you need. Too few is easier to deal with than
too many.
Well-defined jobs are the basis of all recruitment
attempts.
Those volunteers who respond affirmatively to jobs that
are ill-defined are the kind of volunteers you probably shouldn't have
working for you anyway.
Good recruitment can attract people, but only good
volunteer management keeps them.
Prepared by Michael O. Jones, Assistant
Professor of Psychology at the College of the Ozarks
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Illinois'
Voice on Mental Illness - NAMI Illinois