Tag: volunteer engagement

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Engagement Marketing

What is Volunteer Engagement?

Ask most people to explain volunteer engagement and they’ll tell you they know it when they see it, yet find it difficult to articulate. They can describe it in general terms as a process that includes recruiting and matching volunteer interests with a nonprofit’s needs, then recognizing and respecting those volunteers.

Beyond the generalities, it’s easier for people to describe what volunteer engagement is not. For example, volunteer engagement means:

  • not taking advantage of volunteers’ time and talent.
  • not keeping volunteers out of the communication loop regarding what’s happening (e.g., major changes in operations or direction).
  • not ignoring volunteers’ input and ideas.
  • not creating extra work just to keep volunteers busy.
  • not giving lip-service to volunteer value.

One can turn these negative descriptors into positive ones to get closer to explaining volunteer engagement, but it’s not enough. Fortunately, there’s a more comprehensive definition.

Volunteer engagement is …

According to Jill Friedman Fixler of the JFFixler Group, volunteer engagement is “a strategy that builds organizational capacity through staff and volunteer collaboration and the development of high-impact, meaningful opportunities that create greater influence and outcome for the organization.”

What I like about Fixler’s definition is that it recognizes:

  • as a “strategy,” volunteer engagement is intentional
  • its purpose is to help advance a nonprofit’s mission by building “organizational capacity”
  • it is based on mutual endeavor via “staff and volunteer collaboration”
  • it benefits the nonprofit by creating “greater influence and outcome.”

A great way to articulate what volunteer engagement is and does.

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Engagement

Nonprofit Engagement Dilemma: A Caring, Yet Complacent Board

A  friend of mine works as a marketing director for a nonprofit with a stagnant board of directors. The by-laws stipulate board membership be drawn from the regional service-based organization that founded the nonprofit more than fifty years ago. As a result, the governance structure has evolved into an insular board with life-time terms. The good news is board members take pride in their involvement with the nonprofit based on its mission, and they have a strong passion for the founding organization. The board is also fortunate in that the nonprofit is well run by a dedicated professional staff.

The bad news is staff members have to work around a board that has become complacent. As long as the nonprofit is thriving, the board is comfortable with its oversight. Board leadership is not interested in how it can improve its governance and support. So the executive team leads the organization by focusing on the mission as it tolerates a board that has “a golden operation in their hands and do not understand what to do with it.”

As mentioned earlier, this nonprofit is doing well except for the executive team’s frustration. Passion for and commitment to the mission sustains these staff members … for now.

Effective board member engagement is more than just showing up at board meetings and talking up the nonprofit. It also involves a commitment to improving its governance and collaborative relationship with staff. As well run as my friend’s nonprofit is, it could be so much more with a fully engaged and mutually respectful staff-board partnership.

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Engagement Marketing

Why Nonprofits Need Engagement-Part 2

Upon learning about my new book, Share of Mind, Share of Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits, my friend was puzzled. “I don’t get it,” he said, “especially when nonprofits are so mission-driven. Aren’t the people who work there more engaged than those who work in the for-profit sector?”

My friend’s presumption about nonprofit engagement is a common one. Regardless of whether an organization is profit-driven or mission-driven, the quality of workplace engagement depends on the organizational culture and how its people are treated. Nonprofits can’t claim any advantage based on employees’ and volunteers’ passion for the mission.

As nonprofit employee and consultant Jinna Halperin wrote in Voices from the Field: Nonprofit Workplace Culture – Why it Matters so Much to Us:

“All nonprofits are dysfunctional in some way or another and figuring out where to hang your hat requires one to assess whether the level and type of dysfunction is personally tolerable …

“I am no longer driven only by the mission of the organization. Having so many issues about which I feel passionate and on which I have worked, I have come to believe that employment happiness at nonprofits is more about how one is treated and whether one’s contribution is respected …”

An inspiring mission may attract talent employees and volunteers to an organization, but it takes much more to get them to stay. People need to feel they matter as much as their work.

Note: To get a look inside my new book on nonprofit engagement, stay tuned for next week’s post.

 

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Engagement Marketing

Why Nonprofits Need Engagement-Part 1

My love of nonprofits started in my teens when I volunteered to work at a summer camp for intellectually disabled children. Since then, I’ve served a variety of nonprofit organizations in a range of roles that include frontline volunteer, committee member, advisory member, board member, board chair, and in a professional capacity as a marketing & organizational advisor.

Here’s what I’ve learned based on my personal and professional experience:

1. Mission matters – it provides organizational focus and intention. It also brings together the people who share a passion for the mission and want to do something about it.

2. The people behind the mission also matter – the employees and volunteers who carry out the mission through their dedication and commitment.

3. People’s passion for the mission should not be taken for granted – employees’ and volunteers’ passion for the mission does not guarantee their continued commitment to an organization.

These valuable insights are the basis for my new book that I’m excited to introduce here. I wrote Share of Mind, Share of Heart – Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits to help nonprofit leaders, executives and managers better engage the employees and volunteers who carry out their organization’s mission.

My book will be published shortly. In the meantime, I’ll share more about nonprofit engagement and my new book in the next two posts.

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Engagement

Volunteers Know What Matters

The recent PR firestorm involving two well-known women’s health organizations (I’m not going to rehash the situation here) reminded me of an experience I had in my early years of nonprofit consulting.

I was asked to facilitate a special meeting between two nonprofits involved in helping people with cancer – one was an established organization, the other was a relatively new start-up. The existing nonprofit felt threatened by the new group. In my meetings with senior staff from the existing nonprofit, some people admitted they wanted the new organization to just “go away” – they were concerned about competing for donor and volunteer support. Fortunately, they accepted the new group’s invitation to sit down together and explore how they could both serve the community.

Can’t we all just get along?

I remember my feelings of trepidation as I prepared for the joint meeting – I was a facilitator, not a peace-keeper! But my fears dissolved after I interviewed a number of volunteers from both organizations. Their message was clear and consistent: “We don’t care who we work for as volunteers, we just want to eradicate cancer! So find a way to work out your differences.“

That was the message I shared with the two organizations at the outset of their meeting-of-the-minds. Their volunteers provided the critical reminder that purpose supersedes politics.

Both organizations took the message to heart. I’m happy to report that meeting was held more than 20 years ago, and both organizations continue to co-exist and collaborate in their efforts to serve people with cancer.

Special Note: National Volunteer Week is coming up soon: April 15-21, 2012. Special thanks to all volunteers who help make a difference in our world!

 

 

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Engagement

What Can Nonprofit Leaders Do to Keep Volunteers and Employees Engaged?

I’ve heard from numerous nonprofit professionals and volunteers in response to my recent posts on “When Passion for the Mission Isn’t Enough.” The following comments are representative of the feedback I received. I wanted to share them with you to stimulate discussion and ideas on how to better engage employees and volunteers.

One volunteer shared her current take on volunteer disengagement:

 “Volunteers are readily distracted by the demands of paying jobs, which in this day and age are onerous and leave little time for charity. If they don’t feel appreciated, and feel like they have no power in the volunteer environment, they will bolt.”

Even nonprofits that foster an engaging workplace are concerned about operating in economic and political uncertainty. An executive director described her frustration:

“When I get together with other nonprofit executive directors, we all look at a dismal funding future, and wonder how long we can hang on. Personally, I will continue to work to do the most with what we have, as long as we are funded, but I do sense an exhaustion in my peers. While our board is wonderful about contacting legislators, I can’t help but think that they would be more engaged if we weren’t regularly threatened with a cut-off of funds.”

The challenge of striving to meet growing mission-related needs with scarce resources has long existed in the nonprofit sector. But employees, volunteers and board members have grown weary of being asked to “do more with less” and “work smarter, not harder.” Sadly, the risk of burnout is greater than ever.

How Are You Coping?

We can all dream of finding a magic lamp with a genie who can take care of funding and resource issues (if only!). Seriously though, how are your dealing with the situation?

I welcome your ideas on what works to keep your volunteers and employees engaged these days.

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Engagement

Volunteers: When Passion for the Mission Isn’t Enough

Like nonprofit employees, volunteers can also exit when they get frustrated and fed up. The reasons for disengagement are similar, and while it might seem easier for volunteers to leave a nonprofit since they’re not held to an employment contract, that doesn’t mean it’s any less painful when they’re passionate about the mission. As Sally Helgesen described, “Volunteers … work not for money but because they want to give back, make a difference, change the world. They work because they want to matter. Volunteers can, and will, quit the moment they feel undervalued.”

This would be a great place to work if it weren’t for the [expletive] volunteers!

Example #1. A nonprofit board member described frustration with an executive director’s lack of respect for volunteers. “It makes me feel that my personal contributions of time and talent are not valued, even though I am a top donor. The executive is stuck in a rut, verbally… [focusing] on perceived staff board shortfalls. Why have I stayed?… I am passionate about the organization’s mission and continue to hope that eventually… with the staff changeover, we’ll be able to use the enthusiasm and ideas [to make a difference] that the Board has proposed.”

Example #2. In response to increasing volunteer disengagement, a member-based organization set up a volunteer engagement task force comprised of volunteers and senior staff. Under the task force’s direction, a survey was conducted of current and past volunteer leaders to gain better understanding of volunteer perceptions and expectations. Resulting recommendations called for more intentional volunteer management and oversight. Staff responded by developing a volunteer philosophy and creating a volunteer leader advocacy position to implement a volunteer engagement and recognition plan – all done without volunteer input!

Volunteer Talent or Disposable Commodity?

The difference in how your volunteers are treated depends on the tone set by the person in charge. People have to matter as much as the mission.

“Eliciting superior performance from people requires making them feel as if they matter, as if they’re contributing, as if they’re making a difference. …Only an inspiring, trustworthy, respectful, and inclusive leader can attract and retain volunteers over the long run.” [Source: Sally Helgesen, “Why Mattering Matters,” Shine a Light, Leader to Leader Institute, 2005]

 

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Engagement

Nonprofit Employees: When Passion for the Mission isn’t Enough

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately, especially working on my book about nonprofit employee and volunteer engagement. Despite their well-intentioned commitment, sometimes staff members (and volunteers) get frustrated with a nonprofit organization and reach the point where passion for the mission and meaningful connection are no longer enough to convince them to stay. In other words, once engaged doesn’t mean always engaged.

Why People Become Disengaged

People don’t stay committed to an organization when they:

1. Feel overwhelmed with too many or conflicting management directives

2. Don’t understand what the organization is all about and what is expected of them

3. Are afraid that their work isn’t valued

4. Don’t see how the various parts of the organization connect in the “big picture”

5. Don’t share a sense of ownership in the organization, including being involved in solving problems and offering ideas. [Source: The Art of Engagement]

High turnover and low morale are signs of a disconnected, disengaged workplace run by complacent management or the clueless-in-charge. And the damage isn’t confined to the internal organization – customers, donors, volunteers and other external stakeholders are aware of, and possibly affected by, employees who disengage at work.

Can you hear me now?

A nonprofit professional and her colleagues were increasingly frustrated, discouraged, and disheartened about their work situation which they described as “toxic.” Managers issued frequent conflicting directives and set unrealistic expectations while providing little guidance and insufficient resources to enable staff members to achieve their goals. Management also paid scant attention to staff concerns until a consultant was hired to address the issue of high turnover. At the consultant’s recommendation, management set up a “suggestion box” system to solicit employee feedback and ideas. More than 135 suggestions were turned in the first week, and there were only 30 employees on staff!

If you’re thinking about a “quick fix,” think again

Disengagement and burnout don’t suddenly happen. Most people start off engaged and excited about their work; the erosion occurs gradually based on one or more of the reasons mentioned above. According to Dr. Judith M. Bardwick: “When people are perceived as a cost and not a resource, when they are treated as a liability and not an asset, when no one seems to know or care that they are there, they don’t work well, and they don’t stay.”

 

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Engagement

You Can’t Keep an Engaged Volunteer Down

Hurricane Irene’s recent landfall on the east coast and my current work in volunteer engagement reminded me of a dear friend and fellow volunteer’s extraordinary experience during Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

I was on the board of the American Marketing Association (AMA) as VP of Professional Chapters back then and had the privilege of serving with many dedicated volunteers on the Professional Chapters Council (PCC). An advisory group comprised of past chapter presidents, PCC members provided guidance and tools to help strengthen chapter leadership among AMA’s network of more than 90 chapters in the U.S. and Canada. We also visited chapters to recognize special achievements – presenting chapter excellence awards, anniversary gavels, and new chapter charters.

Who Said Getting There is Half the Fun?

Chris Bonney, a PCC member from Hampton Roads VA, was scheduled to meet with the Triad chapter in Winston-Salem NC on September 22, 1989. Here’s how he described that incredible trip. (Keep in mind, this was before the prevalence of blackberries and i-phones.)

“Neither rain nor wind nor dark of night could prevent me (although they all tried) from attending the 20th anniversary celebration of the Triad Chapter in Winston Salem. It started with my first plane being delayed nearly four hours because of complications related to an earlier accident at La Guardia airport. Accordingly, I missed the only two connections from Charlotte to Winston Salem – not to mention the baby who threw up on my lap as we circled over Charlotte …

“Having too much time and energy devoted to making this meeting, I rented a car in Charlotte and drove the 90 miles to get to the meeting, arriving an hour and a half late. I was determined not to be forever known as ‘that guy from the PCC who never showed up.’ When I arrived at the meeting room (after spending 15 minutes stuck in the elevator in the hotel’s parking garage), I found the chapter president doing the old shadow-pictures-on-the-wall hoping he could hold the group’s interest until I arrived.”

And for the return trip …

That’s what it took for this intrepid volunteer to reach his destination. Chris’s getting home was no easier as Hurricane Hugo was making its destructive way up the eastern seaboard.

“Having been assured by some [expletive] at the airport that the plane would be flying in the morning, I was crazy enough to drive through the hurricane back to Charlotte to catch my plane home. (By this time Hugo was reclassified as a tropical storm but still packing winds of 60-90 mph.) What a joke! Although Charlotte experienced nothing like the tragedy of Charleston, it was still pretty trashed – thousands of tree uprooted and broken in the highways, flooding, power lines down, billboards and signs asunder …

“With no power anywhere, the city was – according to the car radio message from the two radio stations working on emergency generators – virtually closed for business. I drove the car right up on the curb by the front door of the airport to escape the winds. By 8:30 that morning, there had been so much damage to the airport that they hadn’t even been out on the field to check the planes and runways.”

With all flights cancelled, Chris drove home. It took him more than six hours, and he eventually made it home safely. Despite all the delays in traveling, Chris reported that the chapter visit was well worth it. Trophy

I found this description of his harrowing travel experience in a special presentation I made several weeks later to recognize Chris for his dedication, determination, courage and commitment to the chapter, PCC, and the AMA.

Thanks, Chris, for what you did back then … and for the memory of it now.

 

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Engagement Marketing

What I Did on My Summer (Blog) Vacation

Thank you for your patience during my blog break. What did I accomplish this summer?

Most of my time was spent researching and writing several chapters for my new book on how nonprofits can use internal marketing to engage employees and volunteers. I interviewed colleagues and experts in the field and will connect with more of them this fall.

As part of my research, I read the following books (and I highly recommend them):

In addition to keeping up with my client work, I managed to get in a few days of vacation and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.

Hope you had a great summer!