RETAIN/RECRIT MEMBERS
prospective members through your department’s doors.
•Nontraditional recruitment sources. Such groups include homemakers, students, senior citizens, and other community populations that traditionally have been overlooked or excluded from the recruitment process.
MAKING THE PROGRAMS WORK
A department’s entire membership must participate in volunteer retention and recruitment activities if they are to be successful. A memo from the officer in charge, unfortunately, cannot make the programs work. Adopting some of the above ideas may cause some disagreement within the department, but it can be overcome through the concerted efforts of all department members.
The following preliminary steps have helped other departments and can help yours institute policies that will retain and attract volunteers:
- Determine whether your organization will commit to the changes needed so that the retention and recruitment issues can be resolved.
- Establish a retention-and-recruitment task force to help define the issues.
- Prioritize the organizational issues and compare them with the above listed approaches.
- Assign subcommittees or individuals to oversee the implementation of new plans. Be sure to match individual credentials to the skills needed for the project.
- Develop a system for measuring success and monitoring progress. Make participants aware that they are accountable for their assigned areas and ensure them that support and assistance are available from department leaders.
By following through on the volunteer recruitment and retention goals your department adopts, your community can be assured that it will continue to be served by competent personnel.
