THE NMFA WORD SPREAD NMFA NMFA NMFA As a Volunteer for NMFA, you have agreed to share our information with military families! A question we get often, is how do I share info? And the answer is pretty easily!

NMFA Volunteers Connect – Who should know about NMFA? Educate – Share our resources with them! Collect Information – Know their concerns, successes and challenges! Report – Tell us what you are hearing! These are the four things we need from every Volunteer. You are the Subject Matter Expert for NMFA in your community. We need you to know who to visit, know what to share with them, what questions to ask and what to report to us.

Connect – With Who? Your Natural Network Family Centers Family Programs Staff Installation Leadership Red Cross USO Family Readiness Groups Spouses Clubs Yellow Ribbon Events Social Media Contacts Email Contacts So here’s a list of some good places to reach out. Family Centers, Family Readiness Groups, Key Spouses and Ombudsmen, the USO and Red Cross are always looking for more information for their families. Drop by their offices, or schedule an appointment to share our resources. If there is a spouse club in your area you can connect with them. Most clubs have websites where you can find a calendar of their events and leadership contact information. Look for Yellow Ribbon events for National Guard and Reserve Families and find the contact information for the Family Programs staff. Don’t forget your social media and email contacts! You can simply share the information about our programs and resources! Think about who would benefit from knowing about us and connect with them.

Educate – What resources can I share? Brochures Emails Website Social Media Presentations and Events http://www.militaryfamily.org/get-involved/volunteer-only/ Brochures are a great - family programs staff love them. Email or forward our information to your network. Tell people about our website and social media outreach. Or gather a group of spouses and tell them about who we are and what we do. We can provide you with a short power point presentation or talking points. And don’t forget our Messaging! You can find NMFA messaging guidelines under resources on our Volunteers Only page. And you can access the Volunteers Only Page on our Volunteer Facebook page located at the top of the feed. Or hopefully you saved the link to your favorites. If you didn’t, let your Manager know and we can email you the link. And there it is at the bottom.

? GOOGLE IT PTA FRG Collect Information Natural Network Meetings Social Media Sites Installation Websites Association Presentations or Visits GOOGLE IT PTA ? FRG Often our Volunteers find out what is happening locally by being an active member of their military community. Many Volunteers attend PTA meetings, Family Readiness meetings, and spouse club meetings. Sometimes Volunteers find information from FB pages and websites associated with their installation. If you are giving an NMFA presentation or visiting a family program staff member, this is another great way to learn local information you can report to us.

Report – Tell us what you are hearing! Positive happenings Community support Improvements on the installation State support Events in your area celebrating military families Issues and concerns from your community Health Care Transitions Schools Child Care Housing The information you share about the experiences of military families in your communities is the basis for our Advocacy efforts. You are the voice for military families in your community! Be sure to look for positive happenings, and concerns and report this information to us. As you become more connected, you will start getting information from military families. So share that information in your monthly report! AND we also have a Reporting webinar for further details and tips!

Host An Information Table – Why? Bring NMFA resources to your community Raise awareness about advocacy efforts Recruit new Association Volunteers Meet new people Attend fun and interesting events Hosting an information table is a great way to multitask! You can connect, educate others, collect local information for your report all at once! AND…. We have a webinar on hosting an information table with helpful hints and details. So make sure you check it out.

REPORT CONNECT EDUCATE Collect Info We look forward to hearing your success stories about sharing NMFA in your community! Collect Info