IDEAS TO HELP ACQUIRE, MOTIVATE AND ENTHUSE DONORS, COMMITTEES AND VOLUNTEERS

IDEAS TO HELP ACQUIRE, MOTIVATE AND ENTHUSE DONORS, COMMITTEES AND VOLUNTEERS

If you are the person whose role is to acquire the volunteers, it helps if you are:
	* Enthusiastic and positive about your organisation and what it does.
	* Are accessible to volunteers and make them feel important (which they are!)

Make sure volunteers are given the same 'status' as other workers; are included in organisation get-togethers; and accorded the respect of co-workers.

Volunteers have needs, many of them social, and sometimes emotional. Make sure you have time to listen.

Before you approach anyone to volunteers for a job or committee make sure that you know exactly what it is that you wish them to do.

Once you have approached a potential volunteer, find out from them:
	If there is anything in particular that they do not like, or do not feel confident doing. Some people don't like making phone calls, etc.
	Areas in which they feel confident.
	Areas in which they have had previous experience.
	Areas that they might like to learn about.

Note: Some people get involved in volunteer work as a stepping stone to paid employment.

Make sure that volunteers know:
	How much time their task will take.
	How often they will be required (once per week, month, six months).
	With whom they will be working.
	Where they will be working.
	To whom they will be responsible.
	How the task they are doing fits into the organisation, and the importance of that task in relation to the organisation, and/or its particular fund-raising program.

Volunteers have different levels of ability, and different levels of discretionary time to give. Recognise these individual differences, and make sure the task is matched to these levels.

Other areas that will motivate donors and enthuse volunteers and committee members are:
	Being involved in an organisation that is perceived to them as being prestigious.
	The opportunity to mix with a wider range of people, perhaps many of them influential in the wider world.
	The opportunity to have a feeling of empowerment, and power, to make decisions, and make things happen.
	The opportunity to feel they are 'doing something worthwhile' to improve the human condition and to be perceived by others as a committed and involved person.
	To feel part of a group, and to identify with that group, and have the group identify with them.

Involvement with an organisation as a volunteer or committee member helps many people expand their network, which can be very useful in their paid working life.

SUMMARY: To help motivate and enthuse donors, volunteers and committees, orchestrate opportunities for them to feel prestigious, empowered, meet people, network, be thanked publicly, and feel good in front of their peers and within themselves and to feel that they are a well respected member of your group.

Volunteers donating time and services to non-profit organisations are the life blood of these organisations. Make sure that their involvement is a positive and enriching experience.