Great Ideas on Volunteer Management, Volunteer Recruitment, Retention and Volunteer Recognition!
Ultimate Ideas Newsletter
How to lead, recruit and retain more volunteers and members!
Issue 20
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Welcome to all our members and especially our newest members in Africa.
Live your life so that your children can tell their children that you not only stood for something wonderful - you acted on it.
Dan Zadra
It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.
Tom Brokaw
From our latest E-book Beyond Just Words! 502 Inspirational Quotes for Those Who Serve |
Stop The Press!
Come 'Behind The Scenes' With Me!
I've spent the last 12 years looking 'behind the scenes' of hundreds of different organizations and I'm going to tell you something you might not know. Don't be fooled by size and glossy advertising - 'behind the scenes' some of our largest organizations are struggling for volunteers. But those that are having great success are often willing to share their knowledge but no-one bothers to ask. Yes, this does take time. Yet the payoff is HUGE! It can save you time, energy, resources and lots of money.
There's no secret to the winning formula
So how do you come up with a winning formula? It's really very simple. You find the strategies and ideas that are really working and successful in other organizations and groups and you adapt them and 'tweak' them to work in your own organization. You also find out what isn't working for other organizations and you avoid these pitfalls at all costs.
So that's exactly what I'm going to do for those joining me at the unique workshop series - THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE UGLY! in July and you can read all the details below.
YES! There are still limited places available as I've been able to re-arrange and move to a much larger room at most venues.
Let's look at a few 'quick read' ideas and very practical strategies in this newsletter that might make you think differently.
Attracting and recruiting volunteers are not the same
Most people think that 'attracting' and 'recruiting' volunteers are the same thing. They're not! You first have to attract a person's attention before you can recruit them to become a volunteer for you. I won't go into the whole 'attraction cycle' as I'll cover this in greater depth at the workshop and this is a 'quick read'. But when people say to me "we can't recruit volunteers anymore", my first question is to ask them "how do you attract people's attention?"
We are constantly bombarded with messages
Many people just can't understand why their past 'attraction' techniques are no longer working. Well, it's not because less people are volunteering - worldwide these numbers have remained fairly steady over many years. It's because we're now part of the 'information age' and are constantly being bombarded with information.
Every year there are approximately 300,000 new books published worldwide, and there are now over 400,000 scholarly journals available. Let's not even think about the number of magazines, catalogs, direct mail pieces and then there's the internet. No wonder it's a challenge to attract people's attention!
Most organizations produce dull, boring material
So how do you break through the 'information overload'? There are numerous ways to attract people's attention and I've certainly discussed the power of 'word of mouth' marketing in a previous newsletter. But let's have a quick look again at your written advertising - brochures, flyers, etc. If you're going to produce it, you might as well aim at attracting people's attention and getting them to read it, right? But I'm sorry to say, that most organizations and groups produce written material that is dull, boring and consequently never read. So let me tell you a couple of the worst strategies.
If your headline doesn't catch my attention, then don't bother with the brochure
I have talked about the most important part of your written publicity - that's the HEADLINE - in previous newsletters, and this has not changed. If your headline doesn't catch people's attention to read on you might as well not bother with the rest of the brochure or flyer.
Instead of saying "that's a great headline let's use it" - FEAR sets in
If you want a great headline, start with everyone brainstorming ideas. Have fun with it and get them all down. I've done this at so many workshops and it never fails - certain headlines immediately resonate with the group and others just don't. You'll find that there are always one or two headlines that really get people's attention. Now here's what happens next. Instead of just saying "that's a great headline let's use it" - FEAR sets in. So the words are then changed, altered and watered down until the headline has very little impact.
Which headlines attract your attention?
Now look at the three headlines below. These were quickly brainstormed by a group of people from the same organization at a workshop. Two of the headlines really resonated with people and attracted their attention. Which two do you think they were? One headline was 'watered down' from the original and was eventually used in a flyer. Which headline do you think this was?
"I can offer you more than just money"
"I've got the time for you, if you've got the time for me"
"Look good, feel great, help out at ..."
There's absolutely nothing unique about your organization
After the headline, there are many other aspects to consider when writing your advertising content. But in some way your content has to explain what's unique, what's special about your organization or group, in order to maintain interest. Here's the test! If you replace your organization's name with that of another organization doing similar work and there's no difference in the impact - then really there's absolutely nothing unique about your organization in your advertising. There's nothing that makes the reader go "wow, I want to know more about this place ".
People always buy on emotion, so sell it
If you want your written material to be unique then do what only the really smart organizations do - write from the heart and not the head. People always buy on emotion, so sell it. The decision to volunteer is most often an emotional decision - to help people, animals, the environment, etc. Stop writing emotionless jargon and talk to people's emotions. Tell a story of what your volunteers have done to change people's lives, save the planet, etc. so that the reader goes "wow, I want to be part of that".
As always, these ideas and strategies are to get you thinking. So next time when designing that advertising material see how these strategies could work for you!
Enjoy!
Judy
Dr Judy Esmond is the leading expert on how to gain, sustain and retain volunteers and members. Join up and receive FREE membership to her 'Ultimate Ideas' Mastermind Group and get the FREE E-Book and newsletter filled with 100s of ideas on volunteer management, volunteer recruitment, retention and volunteer recognition at www.morevolunteers.com
P.S. Just one more written strategy for you! Hands up who has a newsletter? What do you think is the most successful strategy to get more people to look at your newsletter? Go on have a guess!
Well I'll tell you - it's not the message or article from the Director - The 'Big Boss' (sorry if this deflates a few egos)! The one item when included that is the most read in any newsletter is a...GOOD, CLEAN JOKE or even better a GOOD, CLEAN CARTOON.
In the spirit of fun - I will leave you to explain this to the 'BIG BOSS' as to why their message will be replaced with a JOKE in your next newsletter!!
Save some time, energy and money! Are you looking for ideas for your own newsletters or other material? Take advantage of our FREE service. You may reprint part or all of this or other newsletters for non-commercial use only. This is upon the understanding that you include a link back and the following information: Dr Judy Esmond is a leading expert on how to gain, sustain and retain volunteers. You can get her FREE E-BOOK and newsletter at www.morevolunteers.com
We welcome links to this issue of the newsletter http://www.morevolunteers.com/newsletter20.htm and are happy for you to forward the newsletter to others who volunteer and/or are involved in volunteer management, volunteer recruitment, retention and volunteer recognition.
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