Creating Great Volunteer Communications
12
How not to treat your volunteers like second-class citizens Bottom Line Ideas Kevin Baughen Founder, Bottom Line Ideas #charitycomms © Bottom Line Ideas 2009
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Volunteers are often treated like second-class citizens by charities but without them, we would never deliver anything!These slides share some key principles to help create the right kind of communications to ensure charity volunteers become truly engaged with the cause.
Transcript of Creating Great Volunteer Communications
How not to treat your volunteers
like second-class citizens
Bottom Line Ideas
Kevin BaughenFounder, Bottom Line Ideas
#charitycomms
© Bottom Line Ideas 2009
Why this is important
“The great people in the voluntary sector cannot be cloned and the unreliable ones can be a ones can be a proper nuisance”
Philip Collins, leader writer
on The Times
Money
Service Delivery
Why we need volunteers
Service Delivery
Advocacy
How do we create and
deliver great volunteer
communications?communications?
Based on more listening, less
‘talking’
Know what you want to achieve
Know what existing and Know what existing and future volunteers want and need
Ask them directly
Know your audience – target your
channels
Someone must own volunteer
communications
• As the ‘face’ of the charity to volunteers
• To chair volunteer forums
• Accountable for research and learning• Accountable for research and learning
• Drive the comms agenda WITH volunteers
• As a recognisable point of contact
• Able to bring together different departments
and agendas for the greater good
Clarity of objectives
Emotional contact
• Ask them what’s right for them!
• Have volunteers drive the communications
agenda
Appropriate frequency and content
• Have volunteer contributors
• Be brave!
– Empower volunteer groups to distribute their own
communications
– Use volunteer stories to ‘myth-bust’
All together now...
• Organised (taken seriously)
• Crystal clear
• Targeted
• Inclusive & 2-way
• Respectful
• Thankful
• Supportive• Driven by volunteer
needs
• Driven by volunteers
• Supportive
• Frequent
• Relevant
It’s nearly 2010 – be braver!
