Recruiting The Right Kind of People

Recruitment Overview Purpose For Growth A Plan: SWOT Analysis Be SMART About It Who To Recruit & How Retention & Engagement Additional Resources

Purpose For Growth Sustainability Members are the lifeline of your club. In order to survive and thrive, there should be a growth plan comprised of recruitment and retention strategies to keep up with your club’s attrition rate (there are some examples to help your club plan for the future). Avoid Burn Out When you have the same members producing the same work, eventually they will feel burnt out. Having more members will give you the opportunity to delegate tasks to help lighten up with the work load.

Purpose For Growth Competitive Edge The more members in your club, the more resources your club will have to help stay competitive. Opposed to two members on your marketing team, you have 5 to help promote your event. Example: it was easy to raise a few bucks at your community’s Great Strides Walk. Nowadays, every charity has their annual walk, thus shrinking the amount of funds we raise.

A Plan: SWOT SWOT is an analysis tool to help your club identify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Once you identify what or who they are, you can put a plan into action! Internal: strengths & weaknesses within the club External: opportunities and threats in your community Strengths: We have identified the need for growth and created some projects to attract young professionals Weakness: We have identified our meetings are very structured and will revise to provide greater flexibility Opportunity: The colleges in our town have a strong volunteer program. Annual enrollment of >250 students Threats: We have identified another service club in our town competing for the same resources

Be SMART About It SMART is a tool to help the club set a goal. Specific Measureable Attainable Relevant Time bound

Be SMART About It Be SPECIFIC Define who you want in your club: youths, young professionals, young family, executives or boomers Specify a number or percentage of growth within your club Specify a number or percentage of projects or fundraisers you want to achieve

Be SMART About It Achieving your recruitment goal Be MEASURABLE Achieving your recruitment goal Adding two additional event over the summer months Increasing funds at our annual fundraiser Achieving member’s overall satisfaction Increasing community profile by building a new partnership with the local newspaper We want to increase our online profile by 50% or achieve 1,000 impressions by first quarter

Be SMART About It Be ATTAINABLE We want to recruit one new member by the first quarter and five new members by the end of the Kin year We want to create two community events by the summer; we will encourage 2 new and 1season members co-chair this project We want the entire club to be included in our annual fundraiser, this will help encourage empowerment, leadership; foster member satisfaction; retaining our members

Be SMART About It Be RELEVANT The community changes, what worked in the 1920s will no longer be relevant in 2012 Conduct a community assessment to help identify the needs of your community Provide accessibility: update your website with current contents about your club, club activities – service projects, fundraisers and how prospects can help Survey your members to identify if your events are relevant, fun or meet the needs o f your community

Be SMART About It Be TIME BOUND Attaching a time line to each task will help you and your club stay on track We want to recruit 5 members by mid year We want to raise $5,000 at this year’s Great Strides Walk We want to increase our donation by 50% towards HREF We want to increase our community profile by developing one signature event in 2 years

Who To Recruit & How? Identity who you want in your club – be specific with your target market Understand their characteristics – help fulfil their needs and bridge the volunteer gap Positioning your club to attract like minded people

Who To Recruit & How? Youths Characteristics: career focused, flexible, open to new ideas, energetic, enthusiastic, technology savvy, enjoy team camaraderie & required mandatory volunteer hours Provide clear job description – this will help fulfill the ‘tell me what I need to do” Position your current younger members to be the fore front of your club as youths attract other youths Provide transactional volunteer opportunities (one day events) Build a strong positive community awareness – the more positive word of mouth within your community, the easier it is to recruit (for all ages) Promote your events, fundraisers and recruitment opportunities through sporting arenas, community centres, libraries, local hang-out, theatres, malls, website & social media

Young Professionals or Executives Who To Recruit & How? Young Professionals or Executives Characteristics: result driven, seek leadership development, require structured meetings, measure progress & see volunteerism as a hobby Provide opportunities to learn new skills or re-enforce skills they already have – i.e. speaking in public with confidence Provide opportunities to build leadership throughout Kin Provide volunteer opportunities to sit on various committees Provide meaningful engagement with other companies & networks to help expand their professional means Promote your events, fundraisers and recruitment opportunities through local business bureaus, business associations, social network, LinkedIn, business lunch & learn, trade shows, golf course & sporting events

Who To Recruit & How? Families Characteristics: juggle multiple schedules, teaching values, family cohesion, multi-tasker, result driven & resourceful Provide flexibility to help alleviate their challenging schedule Encourage service projects that are vested for the future – i.e. children playground, sponsor free swim at local public pool, donate funds to school bursary/scholarships Promote children or family friendly events or socials Provide transactional volunteer opportunities for the Kin kids to fulfil their service hours Build a strong positive partnership with the schools in the community Promote your events, fundraisers and recruitment opportunities through sporting arenas, community centres, libraries, parent associations, parent publications, community family events, day care centres, indoor play gyms & website

Who To Recruit & How? Boomers Characteristics: leaders, looking for meaningful engagements, making a difference/impact, loyal, independent & confident Position your club to making a difference in your community – i.e. raising money to restore the public picnic area at the local zoo where family can visit, sit and enjoy family day Provide opportunities or projects where they can work independently to foster strong sense of ownership Provide opportunities to mentor new members Promote your events, fundraisers and recruitment opportunities through golf courses, fitness centres, travel agencies, heath care offices, alumni associations, sporting arenas, leisure trade shows, website, direct mail & personal invitations

Retention & Engagement Recruitment and retention go hand in hand. For the most part, the retention phase is a 3 year journey – perhaps the longest phase during the growth of your club. Now, the questions are “what do we do with the new recruits?” and “how do we keep them engaged?”. Here are some strategies to keep your members happy, healthy & engaged! RESPECT! Whether it’s family, work or Kin, always be respectful. Keep the eyes on the prise! Stay driven by the club’s goals. Focus on the projects and activities that have a direct impact to your community.

Retention & Engagement Empowerment! Allow the opportunity for new members to share & implement new ideas towards projects, activities, socials etc. Mentor New Leaders! When devising a committee for projects, assign new members with seasoned members. This will help new members to learn, grow and gain confidence. Also gives an added advantage for the seasoned member to gain mentorship skills. Have Fun! Incorporate ice breakers, games, quizzes or team building activates at the beginning of the meeting. The day before your big signature event, include a team huddle and phrase all your club members for their hard work and dedication. Remember, there’s always room for fun in all aspects of Kin.

Retention & Engagement Recognition & Awards! There are opportunities for new members to grow, learn and apply their knowledge towards personal or professional endeavours. All it takes is some guidance and mentorship to help get them there. Refer to the Kin Canada website for a listing of awards & recognition programs the new members are eligible for. Lock Up The Unwanted Behaviour! Discourage cliques, bullying and negative attitude walking into your club. Be mindful that personality clashes are inevitable and there are resolutions, tools and people to help mediate any issues. Contact your DMD, DG and HQ for assistance.

Additional Resources Club Membership Director Zone Membership Director Here is a list of people who are here to assist you with your recruitment and retention plan, strategy, tips and advises to help you and your club become successful, thriving and healthy! Club Membership Director Zone Membership Director District Membership Director Deputy Governors The National Membership Committee National Headquarters & Member Relations Coordinator

Additional Resources Healthy Club Tool Kit (the Kit) Here is a list of tools that are useful and may help with your recruitment and retention plan, strategy & tips to help you and your club stay active, healthy and happy! Healthy Club Tool Kit (the Kit) National Award & Recognition Program National Service Resource for new service, events & fundraising ideas Kin Canada Website District Website Various leadership training seminars