Volunteers are the absolute lifeblood of a grassroots….doc

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers Recruiting and Managing Volunteers Volunteers are the absolute lifeblood of a grassroots progressive campaign. There are several main reasons for this: You can’t possibly get everything done yourself You won’t have enough money to hire people to do everything that needs to gets done Volunteering gives people who believe in the values and mission of the campaign an opportunity to get involved It is that last reason that is perhaps the most important reason to keep focused on when recruiting, empowering and managing your volunteers. Clearly understanding the values and interests of your volunteers, and making a link between those values and the work you need people to do on the campaign, will result in much more motivated and effective volunteers than if you just focus on the manpower needed to get the task done. It is also critical to think about how the values and interests of your volunteers match up to the values and interests of the people you are targeting. Make sure you have the most effective messenger to deliver the message to your target audience. What makes a strong volunteer? Volunteers need to be clear on the campaign message and how it relates to their own values Every time a new volunteer comes on board, someone on the campaign (the field director or a volunteer coordinator) should take the time to sit down with that person and discuss the goals and values of the campaign and learn about the goals and values that are driving that person to volunteer. Taking the time to do this may seem like a luxury you can’t afford time to take, but it will pay off in the end by having a volunteer who has internalized the message of the campaign and is motivated to deliver it in a compelling fashion. Asked to do a task that they enjoy (or at least tolerate) doing Make sure you find out what types of tasks people who are volunteering are interested in doing. In the planning stages of the campaign, come up with a broad set of tasks th