Recruitment and Engagement #IowaLeague17 Volunteers: Recruitment and Engagement Meredith Borchardt, Field Coordinator, Trees Forever Michelle Raymer, Program Officer, Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service Handouts and presentations are available through the event app and at www.iowaleague.org.

Learning Objectives Recognize the importance of sound volunteer management practices Identify roles for volunteers in your city Gain tools and skills for effectively engaging volunteers of all ages Michelle: welcome, learning objectives, and introduction

Trees Forever Mission To plant and care for trees and the environment by empowering people, building community, and promoting stewardship. Meredith: How many in the room have heard of Trees Forever? Anyone worked with a Trees Forever project?

25 Plus Years of Award-Winning Programs Founded in 1989 by volunteers as 501(c)3 Staff of 22 working in Iowa and Illinois with headquarters in Marion, Iowa Supported by members! Meredith:

Since 1989, Trees Forever has… Planted over 3.4 million trees Engages an average of 7,000 volunteers and landowners annually, and 200 communities Provide an average of $600,000 annually in grants Meredith:

Volunteer Iowa Mission: To improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through Service and Volunteering. Michelle: About Volunteer Iowa

Benefits of volunteers Work gets done Civic Pride Additional Services Offered Build community and relationships among residents Gain positive impression & support from residents for the city Michelle: Discuss Benefits of Volunteers Discuss UPS survey about primary reason people stop volunteering is poor management Discuss Reimagining Service Data that only 11% of nonprofits operate as a “service enterprise”

Urban Forestry is a great opportunity to involve volunteers Iowa communities have on average at least one tree per resident, many of these are public trees which would include trees along streets, parks, entryways, municipal buildings, etc. The spread of EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) is a great opportunity to increase your city’s capacity to plant, manage and monitor urban trees. Meredith: Why urban forestry is a great way to involve volunteers

Staff Concerns Difficult to recruit Supervising resources If you want it done right… Volunteers are not reliable Motivation/disciplinary concerns Michelle: Discussion- What concerns do you have, or do you think other city staff would have, about engaging volunteers? Discuss concerns, as well as solutions, and how effective volunteer management can mitigate those risks.

The Big 6 of Volunteer Management Position development and design Recruitment Screening Placing and supervising Recognition Evaluation Michelle: Briefly review components of volunteer management, reinforce, that each topic could be a presentation on itself, and many resources available for each.

Professional services volunteers can provide: Position Development and Design Technology Accounting Marketing Outreach Legal Program Development Training Strategic Planning Data Entry Interpretation Photography Front Desk Assistance Grant Writing Maintenance Special Events And More! Professional services volunteers can provide: Michelle: Discussion: What are appropriate roles for volunteers? Discuss potential roles

Trees Forever volunteers are involved with these services: Planting and care of trees (watering, pruning, mulching, etc.) Organizing and leading projects Working with youth on projects Grant writing and reporting – stretch your city’s dollars Monitoring tree health and disease – more eyes and ears in the field Meredith: Examples of services Trees Forever volunteers provide

Activity: What can volunteers do for your city? Position Development and Design Activity: What can volunteers do for your city? If given unlimited resources, what would you hire people to do for the city? What has been on your to-do list for over a month? What is one of your tasks that is not your strength (that a volunteer could do better)? What is a new project or program you’d like to start but don’t have time to develop? Michelle: Activity- work individually, share at table, share with group Discuss importance of position descriptions with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and skills needed as risk mitigation Discuss importance of variety of roles to attract today’s volunteers- skills based, one day, project based

Recruitment Deb Tootle, Dept. of Sociology, ISU, Sigma study People want to get involved, and they want to be asked Personal Ask Targeted Ask Be specific and accurate Meredith: People want to get involved in their communities – explain successful ways to get them involved

Recruitment Social media can be a powerful way to involve volunteers Meredith: social media can be a powerful way to involve volunteers

Youth Volunteer Recruitment Two year youth engagement program in 2010-11 Focus was on getting Gen Y volunteers involved with community projects (born in 1980’s, 90’s, 12-25 years old) Focus groups, research, online surveys Meredith: specific ideas related to youth recruitment

Youth Volunteer Recruitment Key findings: 75 % of 12-25 year olds surveyed were interested or very interested in getting involved with environmental planting and care projects. Why? The positive outcome of the project was the biggest motivator for youth to get involved- students want to be involved in good projects that make a difference in the community. What keeps Gen Y from getting involved? -Time- I’m too busy (55%) and Don’t know about projects (29%) Meredith:

Youth Volunteer Involvement Develop partnerships with local schools to involve youth in service projects- silver cord, spring service day, out of classroom learning Develop partnerships with local scout groups, 4H, churches Meredith

Screening Application References Interview Background Check Michelle Review key pieces of screening Discuss level needed varies by opportunity This Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Placement and Supervising Based on skills and interests Orientation Training Staff Training Mutual Performance Reviews Problem Volunteers Michelle Importance of making a good match, understanding volunteer motivation Difference between orientation and training What training do staff need? Using performance reviews to build leadership of ongoing volunteers and get feedback Good volunteer management can mitigate bad fits, but you can fire a volunteer

Things that older generations can do to make participating in a volunteer project a positive  experience for youth “Engage in conversation, enjoy what they're doing, appreciate the interest of the younger generation.” “Thoroughly EXPLAIN the project and its goals, treat younger generations with as much respect as their own.” “Be excited to work with younger people and treat them nice instead of just as the ‘work horses’ for the project.” “Let some of the younger people help with running the project and listen to their ideas.” Meredith Related to supervising youth volunteers, these are some direct quotes from youth about what older generations can do to make that volunteer experience positive

Things that older generations can do to make participating in a volunteer project a negative  experience for youth “Adults can be bossy sometimes....even if they only think they know what they are doing but they aren't sure”. “Just tell young people what to do instead of asking our opinions or explaining things to us.” “Explain things to me like I'm five years old.” “Also be critical of our ideas/lifestyles/dress/decisions.” Meredith And these are some quotes about negative experiences

Training and group dynamics Practice good meeting facilitation: Start and end on time/ be respectful of people’s time. Ensure all voices are heard/consider different learning styles. Track action items (person responsible for a task and deadline for that task). Evaluate meeting at the end. Meredith When you are meeting with volunteers, perhaps in a commission meeting, be sure to practice good meeting facilitation, including…

Training and group dynamics For new groups or standing groups such as tree committees: Rotate leadership Include a combination of city staff/elected officials and volunteers Consider age and gender balance, new people to the community and long-time residents Assign roles Meredith If you are organizing a new group, perhaps for an upcoming community anniversary celebration or need to develop a new park, or working with a standing group such as a tree committee, here are some organizational tips…. This handout is available

Recognition Why recognize volunteers How to recognize volunteers Ideas for volunteer recognition Michelle Discussion: Why do we need to recognize volunteers? Importance of recognizing a volunteer the way they like to be recognized Discussion: What are examples of ways you can recognize a volunteer?

Recognition Appropriately thanking volunteers can be done in a variety of ways: Annual meeting and volunteer awards Local community awards event Follow up communication post-planting event Good publicity in local newspaper Social media Meredith

Evaluation Why evaluate your program Methods for evaluation Take time at the end of meetings and events to evaluate Give opportunity to respond to survey monkey evaluation post-event Use information you collect to improve your program Michelle: Discussion: Why should you evaluate your volunteer engagement? Michelle give examples: Formal, informal, One on one discussions, surveys, focus groups, retention rates Meredith add examples that Trees Forever uses Importance of using data collected for continuous improvement

Next steps What is one action you want to take? When will you do it? Schedule on calendar Share with a neighbor Michelle Activity: What is one action you want to take as a result of todays presentation (develop X volunteer position, send thank you cards to volunteers, send survey to volunteers) When will you do it- schedule on calendar Share your idea and plan with someone at your table

Resources www.mavanetwork.org Volunteeriowa.org Volunteer opportunity database Volunteer Management Training Series Iowa Nonprofit Summit Governor’s Volunteer Awards AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA Service Enterprise Initiative Volunteer Centers of Iowa Safer Practices Guide for Background Checks Research and resources www.mavanetwork.org City Volunteer Engagement Sample Materials Michelle: Review additional resources available

Thank you! Contact Us: Meredith Borchardt, Program Manager and Field Coordinator Trees Forever 641.430.3854 mborchardt@treesforever.org Michelle Raymer, Program Officer Volunteer Iowa 515.348.6235 Michelle.Raymer@iowaeda.com Meredith: thank everyone for coming, let them know we’ll both be available afterwards to talk, and (if time allows) can open it up for a few questions