If there’s one thing I like, it’s talking to people… in person.
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Living in this fast-paced technology-dependent society makes communication with people very easy and very fast, whether through text messaging or email. In fact, I receive more emails in a day than phone calls I receive in a week which might be nice if the emails weren’t for solving problems that I don’t have or other similar junk mail topics. The nice thing about junk mail though is that with one click I can delete it, just as if someone were to receive an email message asking them to volunteer on a project, they could quickly respond no, or not respond at all, and not give it a second thought. However, if I call a person to ask about volunteering, a person is much less likely to say no or not answer me at all and then immediately hang up the phone.
Although we live in this computer age, many people still prefer to speak with a “real person.” I myself am stuck between using email and the phone for communicating with others and although I do check my email constantly during the day, I am always prepared and happy to receive or make a phone call. Many of the volunteers I work with however are not as connected to computers. Many of my volunteers are summer people who have come up to Maine to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with their family, not spend hours on the computer, anxiously awaiting an email asking them to volunteer. In fact, some volunteers don’t even have computers nor email addresses! ~gasp!~ Just kidding.
But seriously, if there is one thing that I have learned thus far through my experience as a volunteer coordinator, it is that you need to find out from your volunteers the way they prefer to be contacted. After all, if someone is willing to donate their time to you, you should be willing to donate your time, just as equally, to them. So in conclusion, stop reading this and pick up the phone and call someone, who knows, you might find a new volunteer!
Alice Phillips is an AmeriCorps member serving with the Maine Conservation Corps at the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association in Jefferson.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Good point, Alice. I think that this post highlights one of the most crucial best practices in volunteer management. Some WILL prefer to be contacted by email. Some, as you said, don’t even own a computer and are suspicious of those of us who spend the day in front of one. So, ask your volunteers about their preferences. Take time to get to know them– it will pay you back a hundred times over!
And the same thing can be said for recognizing volunteers. If you understand a volunteer’s motivation for getting involved, you will understand the most appropriate way to give that volunteer well-deserved recognition.