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Attracting and Keeping Volunteers in Your Organization
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BUSINESS OF DIETETICS
Attracting and Keeping Volunteers in Your Organization
V
olunteerism is about as American as apple pie and ice cream. As long as our nation has existed, our citizens have been more than willing to contribute to the good of the order by volunteering their time and expertise. This article explores ways to attract and keep volunteers—particularly as this applies to district or state associations or dietetic practice or member interest groups. These concepts are basic principles, however, and are applicable to volunteerism whether in your community or for your professional group. In the area of associations, professionals are joining like never before. In fact, the Smith Institute’s Generations and the Future of Association Participation reports that the number of association members in the United States is expected to rise from 51 million in 2005 to about 55 million in 2015, with the percentage of all workers belonging to associations expected to climb from 28.3% to 28.9% in the same interval (1). However, just like any other area of today’s economy, competition for new and current members is fierce; associations must compete with all the other areas of a member’s life. As a result, organizations can’t play by yesterday’s rules when attracting, developing, and keeping its volunteers. ATTRACTING VOLUNTEERS “Volunteers are members whose interest in the organization expands beyond paying dues,” says Mary P. Fuhrman, MS, RD, LD, FADA, CNSD, a nutrition support specialist in St Louis, MO, director-at-large for ADA’s Board of Directors, and member of several ADA dietetic practice groups and committees. Attracting This article was written by Jim McCaffree, a freelance writer in Los Angeles, CA. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2007.10.021
those volunteers is crucial to preventing burnout among current volunteers and keeping the organization fresh. However, when asked to volunteer, many members say they don’t have the time. Cynthia D’Amour, MBA, president of the management consulting firm People Power Unlimited, LLC, in Ann Arbor, MI, says, “I think that leaders have to be willing to say that if people don’t have time, it’s because we didn’t make them the right offer or create the right experience for them. They have to take ownership of it, because people will show up if it’s worth their time.” So how can organizations make it worth their time? “Make it easy, make it easy, make it easy,” says Bud Crouch, of Tecker Consultants, LLC, in Yardley, PA. “Nonprofits need to change the way they offer work,” he says. “They need to make it fun, they need to be flexible, and they need to make more use of ad hoc committees.” Mark Levin, author of The Gift of Leadership and president of the consulting firm BAI Leadership, agrees, adding that organizations need to provide training to ensure the volunteer is successful in the job. Otherwise, they will never volunteer again (2). The biggest mistake many organizations make when looking for volunteers is that they don’t ask the right questions the right way. “Many people like to be asked to help or participate,” Fuhrman says. “A call for volunteers may not get them to self-volunteer.” It’s important to ask the potential volunteer the right way, in a one-on-one setting. “If you focus on using the person’s talent rather than their time, there’s a better chance you’ll get them to participate,” Levin says. It’s also important to have something meaningful for a volunteer to do when they want to volunteer, Fuhrman says. “People lose enthusiasm or find another organization to volunteer for if they have to wait too long to become involved.”
© 2007 by the American Dietetic Association
KEEPING VOLUNTEERS Build a Leadership Foundation Helping your members develop their leadership skills is crucial to keeping volunteers. Leadership skills are something members can take back to their employers, which can earn them a higher income and promotions, and in turn promote their profession. And just because someone is technically good at their job it doesn’t mean they’re a leader in their field, says Levin. “They may not have good management, negotiating, or facilitation skills, and they can get those through involvement in their local organizations, if the organizations are willing to give them that kind of training and exposure.” Doing so not only provides members with a benefit they can take back to their jobs, it also builds a leadership foundation that will support the organization in the future. D’Amour says that leaders need to empower the volunteers to “do the fun stuff.” However, she says that many leaders say it’s easier to do something themselves than to teach someone else, an attitude that she says is the “nail in the coffin of the group.” When the time comes for new leadership to take over, “we can’t take people who have never been allowed to participate and put them in a leadership role,” says D’Amour. Matching the Right Job with the Right Volunteer Recruiting the right person for the right job is important to ensure a positive experience for volunteers and keep them involved. Fuhrman says there are three basic types of volunteers, based on their level of involvement: 1. dues-paying members who never want to be called for anything; 2. members who want finite projects that do not require a lot of time or a continual obligation; and
Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
2045
BUSINESS OF DIETETICS 3. those who won’t leave until the lights are turned off. The task, she says, is to fit the volunteer into the appropriate category for volunteer assignments. “Organizations need to strategize how to use volunteers and where the finite project volunteers fit and where and how to mentor and progress the ‘here until the lights go out volunteers’ throughout the organization with even a progression to other parts of the organization.” Levin echoes this comment. He says that if a volunteer can’t commit to a particular job, then they’re not right for the job. Recognition It is only human to want to be thanked or publicly recognized for a job well done, and volunteers are no different. “The key to keeping volunteers in professional organizations is recognition for their contribution,” says Fuhrman. The Florida Dietetic Association has added recognition to their strategic plan, says Molly Gladding, RD, LD, past president of the Florida Dietetic Association and member of the Public Health/Community Nutrition dietetic practice group. “It is in our strategic plan to add a minimum of one member recognition each year and three leadership recognitions in the next 5 years.” Some of the ways the Florida Dietetic Association recognizes their members are: at the opening night of their annual meeting, they ask several groups to stand, such as 50-year members, students, or meeting volunteers; present awards and recognition at the member reception; during the year, the affiliate newsletter on their Web site recognized member and district accomplishments, as does the monthly President’s Update. Gladding reports that these initiatives have received extremely favorable feedback from the affiliate’s volunteers. D’Amour offers another piece of advice: “It’s okay to have fun. Some groups are so serious, they take the joy out of being involved and serving as a leader.” GENERATION GAP: TRUTH OR MYTH? Many people assume that “Generation X” doesn’t volunteer in the num-
2046
December 2007 Volume 107 Number 12
bers Baby Boomers did. According to the Smith Institute’s Generations, that assumption is inaccurate. That report cites a 2004 poll taken by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University of about 600 American adults on civic participation and membership in many types of voluntary organizations, including professional/trade associations. According to that poll, the percentage of Baby Boomers belonging to trade and professional associations was 32%. The percentage of Gen Xers polled who belong to trade and professional organizations was 33% (1). Instead, they found that involvement in trade and professional organizations is more closely tied to age than generation (1). Levin agrees, “It’s more a factor of [younger people] not having their careers at a point where they can afford that kind of time.” But, he says, “when they’ve advanced in their careers, they have every intention of being involved in their profession.” “The reason why younger leaders aren’t necessarily stepping up,” says D’Amour, “is because a lot of times, those in power don’t want them there. They bring new ideas to the table and that’s scary for a lot of groups.” She says that it’s not as much a generational issue as it is one of welcoming new voices to the table. In fact, she says, when younger members ask, for example, why they should sit through boring committee meetings or do meaningless work, older members begin to ask the same questions. Instead of categorizing volunteers by generation or age, D’Amour prefers the categories “Traditional Volunteers” and “Today’s Volunteers.” Today’s Volunteers are not necessarily Gen Xers but anyone who “wants to have a meaningful job and wants to be participatory, to be strategic.” In many groups there is a challenge between Traditional Volunteers and Today’s Volunteers. Having to explain the benefits of volunteering to Today’s Volunteers is insulting to some Traditional Volunteers. In addition, Traditional Volunteers are used to a command/control leadership paradigm that Today’s Volunteers, especially those in Generation X, chafe under. “Gen Xers are raised to be participatory and strategic.”
REASONS PEOPLE VOLUNTEER Knowing why people volunteer can help your organization better attract, serve, and keep its volunteers. Volunteering for the Greater Good Many of us have causes near and dear to our hearts and donate our expertise to help move them forward. Our only motivation for volunteering is to make things better. The organizations that tend to these issues are most often nonprofit groups with fairly limited financial and human resources. Volunteering to Meet Personal Goals Volunteer opportunities can also help satisfy personal ambitions, such as meeting people with shared interests or learning and honing certain types of skills. Volunteering for Business Development There’s a networking adage: “It’s not who you know, but who knows you.” Strategically speaking, volunteering can be an excellent business development and marketing practice. Many great jobs and valuable connections have come by way of volunteering (3). The Florida Dietetic Association, too, is concerned with recruiting and retaining younger volunteers and they added it to their strategic plan, says Gladding. “One of our plan goals is to ‘Cultivate Future Leadership,’” she says. “Our experience has been if we can identify committed volunteers and leaders at the district level, we can get them involved at the state level. Therefore, we are committed to helping the districts grow volunteers and leaders.” In recent years, Gladding says, they have reached out to students and new members by adding a student liaison position to their Administrative Council; the Chair of Student Issues puts together a student committee to help with student communications and involvement; and students who are awarded an annual meeting stipend volunteer at the meeting for 8 hours. “If we can get them to the annual meeting, the hook is pretty strong.”
BUSINESS OF DIETETICS
Technology a Major Trend in Volunteering One frequent complaint volunteers have about their organization’s meetings is that they take up a lot of time. As people are ever more stretched for time, they may not be able to attend every meeting. However, they still want to have some input about the decisions the group makes. Increasingly, organizations are turning to technology to accommodate and communicate with its time-pressed volunteers. “You’re seeing a lot more conference call and even online meetings,” Levin says. “People will commit to a 2-hour conference call meeting before they’ll drive across the state for a committee meeting.” D’Amour sees the use of the Internet as a way of getting the routine business out of the way quickly. “At a lot of meetings, everybody goes around the room and reports on what they have done.” With the Internet and e-mail, she says, organizations can do that in advance and use that time instead to discuss, debate, and strategize for the future. The downside? “I think you do lose some of the sense of ownership of the decision by the group if they’re not physically together at some point,” Levin says. “No online service, or chat room, or computer video system can truly replace the basic need people have for human contact” (2). Don’t Forget the Past It is important not to overlook older volunteers. Three years ago, Gladding says, the Florida Dietetic Association sent letters to all past presidents thanking them for their past service and informed them of a then-new policy of compensating all past presidents with complementary registration to their annual meeting for life. “They were so appreciative,” says Gladding. “Many past presidents we hadn’t seen in years started coming back to the annual meeting and several of them are now recycling as committee chairs and
committee members and are bringing new volunteers with them.” She says they “still want to work, are fabulous mentors, and are very appreciative of a simple thank you.” Fuhrman agrees: “Don’t drop good volunteers after they have reached a pinnacle,” she says. “That expertise of your organization is invaluable.” AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION (ADA) ON THE CUSP Levin says that the ADA is on the cusp of changing the image of the profession. “The three issues that most Americans are concerned about, disregarding security issues, are health care in general, childhood obesity specifically, and education. ADA does all three of those things, and they do it at the highest of levels.” He adds that ADA has the chance to raise the level of pride and security their members have in the dietetics profession. “Providing the opportunity to be a leader in the organization can help them develop the skills to go out and make that happen in their communities and in the institutions they work in, be more valued employees, and be more valuable to the health care system,” an opportunity Levin says ADA’s Leadership Institute has been doing the past 4 years. The task ADA and its affiliates have, according to Levin, is being patient with younger dietetics practitioners and keeping them interested in the organization until the time comes when they can commit the kind of time needed from them. Fuhrman offers one last point: Whether an organization needs to attract new members or retain current ones, it is important to remember that all members and volunteers want to give back to the organization and profession. Each volunteer, regardless of the degree of their involvement, is precious to an organization.
ADA members can indicate an interest in volunteering through the online business center at www. eatright.org. Just log in to the member-only site and click on “Edit Profile” under “My ADA” in the left-hand menu. Once inside the online business center, click on the green “Volunteer/Leadership” button. You can then select ADA organizational units for which you are interested in volunteering.
References 1. Brooks A. Generations and the Future of Association Participation. Chicago, IL: Smith Bucklin Corporation; 2006:3, 8. 2. Levin M. The Gift of Leadership: How to Relight the Volunteer Spirit in the 21st Century. 7th ed. Columbia, MD: B.A.I., Inc; 2002:26, 158. 3. Moores S. When good intentions are bad for business: How to volunteer your services (and not be taken advantage of). ADA Times. July/ August 2007:8.
December 2007 ● Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
2047
BUSINESS OF DIETETICS
Attracting and Keeping Volunteers in Your Organization
V
olunteerism is about as American as apple pie and ice cream. As long as our nation has existed, our citizens have been more than willing to contribute to the good of the order by volunteering their time and expertise. This article explores ways to attract and keep volunteers—particularly as this applies to district or state associations or dietetic practice or member interest groups. These concepts are basic principles, however, and are applicable to volunteerism whether in your community or for your professional group. In the area of associations, professionals are joining like never before. In fact, the Smith Institute’s Generations and the Future of Association Participation reports that the number of association members in the United States is expected to rise from 51 million in 2005 to about 55 million in 2015, with the percentage of all workers belonging to associations expected to climb from 28.3% to 28.9% in the same interval (1). However, just like any other area of today’s economy, competition for new and current members is fierce; associations must compete with all the other areas of a member’s life. As a result, organizations can’t play by yesterday’s rules when attracting, developing, and keeping its volunteers. ATTRACTING VOLUNTEERS “Volunteers are members whose interest in the organization expands beyond paying dues,” says Mary P. Fuhrman, MS, RD, LD, FADA, CNSD, a nutrition support specialist in St Louis, MO, director-at-large for ADA’s Board of Directors, and member of several ADA dietetic practice groups and committees. Attracting This article was written by Jim McCaffree, a freelance writer in Los Angeles, CA. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2007.10.021
those volunteers is crucial to preventing burnout among current volunteers and keeping the organization fresh. However, when asked to volunteer, many members say they don’t have the time. Cynthia D’Amour, MBA, president of the management consulting firm People Power Unlimited, LLC, in Ann Arbor, MI, says, “I think that leaders have to be willing to say that if people don’t have time, it’s because we didn’t make them the right offer or create the right experience for them. They have to take ownership of it, because people will show up if it’s worth their time.” So how can organizations make it worth their time? “Make it easy, make it easy, make it easy,” says Bud Crouch, of Tecker Consultants, LLC, in Yardley, PA. “Nonprofits need to change the way they offer work,” he says. “They need to make it fun, they need to be flexible, and they need to make more use of ad hoc committees.” Mark Levin, author of The Gift of Leadership and president of the consulting firm BAI Leadership, agrees, adding that organizations need to provide training to ensure the volunteer is successful in the job. Otherwise, they will never volunteer again (2). The biggest mistake many organizations make when looking for volunteers is that they don’t ask the right questions the right way. “Many people like to be asked to help or participate,” Fuhrman says. “A call for volunteers may not get them to self-volunteer.” It’s important to ask the potential volunteer the right way, in a one-on-one setting. “If you focus on using the person’s talent rather than their time, there’s a better chance you’ll get them to participate,” Levin says. It’s also important to have something meaningful for a volunteer to do when they want to volunteer, Fuhrman says. “People lose enthusiasm or find another organization to volunteer for if they have to wait too long to become involved.”
© 2007 by the American Dietetic Association
KEEPING VOLUNTEERS Build a Leadership Foundation Helping your members develop their leadership skills is crucial to keeping volunteers. Leadership skills are something members can take back to their employers, which can earn them a higher income and promotions, and in turn promote their profession. And just because someone is technically good at their job it doesn’t mean they’re a leader in their field, says Levin. “They may not have good management, negotiating, or facilitation skills, and they can get those through involvement in their local organizations, if the organizations are willing to give them that kind of training and exposure.” Doing so not only provides members with a benefit they can take back to their jobs, it also builds a leadership foundation that will support the organization in the future. D’Amour says that leaders need to empower the volunteers to “do the fun stuff.” However, she says that many leaders say it’s easier to do something themselves than to teach someone else, an attitude that she says is the “nail in the coffin of the group.” When the time comes for new leadership to take over, “we can’t take people who have never been allowed to participate and put them in a leadership role,” says D’Amour. Matching the Right Job with the Right Volunteer Recruiting the right person for the right job is important to ensure a positive experience for volunteers and keep them involved. Fuhrman says there are three basic types of volunteers, based on their level of involvement: 1. dues-paying members who never want to be called for anything; 2. members who want finite projects that do not require a lot of time or a continual obligation; and
Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
2045
BUSINESS OF DIETETICS 3. those who won’t leave until the lights are turned off. The task, she says, is to fit the volunteer into the appropriate category for volunteer assignments. “Organizations need to strategize how to use volunteers and where the finite project volunteers fit and where and how to mentor and progress the ‘here until the lights go out volunteers’ throughout the organization with even a progression to other parts of the organization.” Levin echoes this comment. He says that if a volunteer can’t commit to a particular job, then they’re not right for the job. Recognition It is only human to want to be thanked or publicly recognized for a job well done, and volunteers are no different. “The key to keeping volunteers in professional organizations is recognition for their contribution,” says Fuhrman. The Florida Dietetic Association has added recognition to their strategic plan, says Molly Gladding, RD, LD, past president of the Florida Dietetic Association and member of the Public Health/Community Nutrition dietetic practice group. “It is in our strategic plan to add a minimum of one member recognition each year and three leadership recognitions in the next 5 years.” Some of the ways the Florida Dietetic Association recognizes their members are: at the opening night of their annual meeting, they ask several groups to stand, such as 50-year members, students, or meeting volunteers; present awards and recognition at the member reception; during the year, the affiliate newsletter on their Web site recognized member and district accomplishments, as does the monthly President’s Update. Gladding reports that these initiatives have received extremely favorable feedback from the affiliate’s volunteers. D’Amour offers another piece of advice: “It’s okay to have fun. Some groups are so serious, they take the joy out of being involved and serving as a leader.” GENERATION GAP: TRUTH OR MYTH? Many people assume that “Generation X” doesn’t volunteer in the num-
2046
December 2007 Volume 107 Number 12
bers Baby Boomers did. According to the Smith Institute’s Generations, that assumption is inaccurate. That report cites a 2004 poll taken by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University of about 600 American adults on civic participation and membership in many types of voluntary organizations, including professional/trade associations. According to that poll, the percentage of Baby Boomers belonging to trade and professional associations was 32%. The percentage of Gen Xers polled who belong to trade and professional organizations was 33% (1). Instead, they found that involvement in trade and professional organizations is more closely tied to age than generation (1). Levin agrees, “It’s more a factor of [younger people] not having their careers at a point where they can afford that kind of time.” But, he says, “when they’ve advanced in their careers, they have every intention of being involved in their profession.” “The reason why younger leaders aren’t necessarily stepping up,” says D’Amour, “is because a lot of times, those in power don’t want them there. They bring new ideas to the table and that’s scary for a lot of groups.” She says that it’s not as much a generational issue as it is one of welcoming new voices to the table. In fact, she says, when younger members ask, for example, why they should sit through boring committee meetings or do meaningless work, older members begin to ask the same questions. Instead of categorizing volunteers by generation or age, D’Amour prefers the categories “Traditional Volunteers” and “Today’s Volunteers.” Today’s Volunteers are not necessarily Gen Xers but anyone who “wants to have a meaningful job and wants to be participatory, to be strategic.” In many groups there is a challenge between Traditional Volunteers and Today’s Volunteers. Having to explain the benefits of volunteering to Today’s Volunteers is insulting to some Traditional Volunteers. In addition, Traditional Volunteers are used to a command/control leadership paradigm that Today’s Volunteers, especially those in Generation X, chafe under. “Gen Xers are raised to be participatory and strategic.”
REASONS PEOPLE VOLUNTEER Knowing why people volunteer can help your organization better attract, serve, and keep its volunteers. Volunteering for the Greater Good Many of us have causes near and dear to our hearts and donate our expertise to help move them forward. Our only motivation for volunteering is to make things better. The organizations that tend to these issues are most often nonprofit groups with fairly limited financial and human resources. Volunteering to Meet Personal Goals Volunteer opportunities can also help satisfy personal ambitions, such as meeting people with shared interests or learning and honing certain types of skills. Volunteering for Business Development There’s a networking adage: “It’s not who you know, but who knows you.” Strategically speaking, volunteering can be an excellent business development and marketing practice. Many great jobs and valuable connections have come by way of volunteering (3). The Florida Dietetic Association, too, is concerned with recruiting and retaining younger volunteers and they added it to their strategic plan, says Gladding. “One of our plan goals is to ‘Cultivate Future Leadership,’” she says. “Our experience has been if we can identify committed volunteers and leaders at the district level, we can get them involved at the state level. Therefore, we are committed to helping the districts grow volunteers and leaders.” In recent years, Gladding says, they have reached out to students and new members by adding a student liaison position to their Administrative Council; the Chair of Student Issues puts together a student committee to help with student communications and involvement; and students who are awarded an annual meeting stipend volunteer at the meeting for 8 hours. “If we can get them to the annual meeting, the hook is pretty strong.”
BUSINESS OF DIETETICS
Technology a Major Trend in Volunteering One frequent complaint volunteers have about their organization’s meetings is that they take up a lot of time. As people are ever more stretched for time, they may not be able to attend every meeting. However, they still want to have some input about the decisions the group makes. Increasingly, organizations are turning to technology to accommodate and communicate with its time-pressed volunteers. “You’re seeing a lot more conference call and even online meetings,” Levin says. “People will commit to a 2-hour conference call meeting before they’ll drive across the state for a committee meeting.” D’Amour sees the use of the Internet as a way of getting the routine business out of the way quickly. “At a lot of meetings, everybody goes around the room and reports on what they have done.” With the Internet and e-mail, she says, organizations can do that in advance and use that time instead to discuss, debate, and strategize for the future. The downside? “I think you do lose some of the sense of ownership of the decision by the group if they’re not physically together at some point,” Levin says. “No online service, or chat room, or computer video system can truly replace the basic need people have for human contact” (2). Don’t Forget the Past It is important not to overlook older volunteers. Three years ago, Gladding says, the Florida Dietetic Association sent letters to all past presidents thanking them for their past service and informed them of a then-new policy of compensating all past presidents with complementary registration to their annual meeting for life. “They were so appreciative,” says Gladding. “Many past presidents we hadn’t seen in years started coming back to the annual meeting and several of them are now recycling as committee chairs and
committee members and are bringing new volunteers with them.” She says they “still want to work, are fabulous mentors, and are very appreciative of a simple thank you.” Fuhrman agrees: “Don’t drop good volunteers after they have reached a pinnacle,” she says. “That expertise of your organization is invaluable.” AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION (ADA) ON THE CUSP Levin says that the ADA is on the cusp of changing the image of the profession. “The three issues that most Americans are concerned about, disregarding security issues, are health care in general, childhood obesity specifically, and education. ADA does all three of those things, and they do it at the highest of levels.” He adds that ADA has the chance to raise the level of pride and security their members have in the dietetics profession. “Providing the opportunity to be a leader in the organization can help them develop the skills to go out and make that happen in their communities and in the institutions they work in, be more valued employees, and be more valuable to the health care system,” an opportunity Levin says ADA’s Leadership Institute has been doing the past 4 years. The task ADA and its affiliates have, according to Levin, is being patient with younger dietetics practitioners and keeping them interested in the organization until the time comes when they can commit the kind of time needed from them. Fuhrman offers one last point: Whether an organization needs to attract new members or retain current ones, it is important to remember that all members and volunteers want to give back to the organization and profession. Each volunteer, regardless of the degree of their involvement, is precious to an organization.
ADA members can indicate an interest in volunteering through the online business center at www. eatright.org. Just log in to the member-only site and click on “Edit Profile” under “My ADA” in the left-hand menu. Once inside the online business center, click on the green “Volunteer/Leadership” button. You can then select ADA organizational units for which you are interested in volunteering.
References 1. Brooks A. Generations and the Future of Association Participation. Chicago, IL: Smith Bucklin Corporation; 2006:3, 8. 2. Levin M. The Gift of Leadership: How to Relight the Volunteer Spirit in the 21st Century. 7th ed. Columbia, MD: B.A.I., Inc; 2002:26, 158. 3. Moores S. When good intentions are bad for business: How to volunteer your services (and not be taken advantage of). ADA Times. July/ August 2007:8.
December 2007 ● Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
2047