Volunteers

Montana Food Bank Network

kaylee@volunteerlocal.com

Order up!

mfnb.org

The Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN) is the only statewide food bank in the country, covering more than 10,000 highway miles per month and serving food to hundreds of thousands of people every year. In 2012, the organization distributed 7.4 million pounds of emergency food to nearly 200 agencies!

Although the MFBN hosts many events year-round, the organization’s crown jewel crowd-pleasure is the Big Sky BBQ, a community cook-out held in conjunction with a local brewery. The Big Sky BBQ has become one of the organization’s largest (and tastiest) fundraisers. “Thousands of people attend every year,” says Katie Lane, Volunteer Coordinator for the Montana Food Bank Network. “It’s a fun mix of delicious BBQ, local beers and live music.”

“With VolunteerLocal, it was easy to set up my event, job descriptions and shifts.  The volunteers were able to sign up at their convenience and all of the information was gathered for me.  VolunteerLocal allowed me to use my time to work on event preparations rather than inputting data into a spreadsheet.  I will absolutely use VolunteerLocal for our future events.”

-Katie Lane, Volunteer Coordinator for the Montana Food Bank Network

mfbn.org

As you might imagine, it takes many volunteers to make this great event happen each summer. This year, the MFBN got a taste of another kind of craft product – a midwest-based volunteer management software. “VolunteerLocal really streamlined the process,” says Lane. “Before [using VolunteerLocal], I had to individually contact hundreds of prospective volunteers and keep a running spreadsheet of their names, shifts, contact info and shirt sizes for each of our major events. It was really cumbersome and time consuming.”

Now, the Montana Food Bank Network can ditch the spreadsheets and sharpie markers, instead focusing on what it does best: eradicating hunger. “We have been feeding hungry Montanans since 1983.” That’s 30 years and counting, MFBN – thanks for bringing VolunteerLocal along for the ride!

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Summertime Volunteers

kaylee@volunteerlocal.com
www.vimeo.com

Summertime – a season of lounge chairs, beaches, cool mojitos and those smokin’ aviator sunglasses you’ve kept locked away all winter. It’s the season to let your hair down, throw a barbeque in the back and pump the volume on your favorite Fresh Prince jam:

School is out and it’s a sort of a buzz,
A back then I didn’t really know what it was,
But now I see what have of this-
The way that people respond to summer madness.

(That’s right, you hardcore Will Smith fans. Those are the lyrics from one of Will’s greatest rap hits, Summertime – circa 1992.)

For some, however, this is hardly the season to relax. Event planners, festival coordinators and State Fair committees alike are in full-swing planning mode for this summer’s line-up of weddings, parades and shows. We’re betting you’ll need some volunteers to get it all done, so we’ve put together some pointers on how to find, connect with and then recruit those summertime volunteers to your cause.

www.youtube.com

 

Hit the road, Jack. Summertime is ripe with vacationing families, traveling church groups and youth organizations. Oftentimes, these roadsters will seek a volunteer opportunity in a new city or town that they’re visiting. You can connect with these volunteers by posting flyers or brochures at hotels, convenience stores and visitor’s centers. Be sure to indicate that the positions are family-friendly and group-approved, and provide contact information (telephone is best) for those who want to get involved. You can even try reaching out to some of these traveling groups beforehand to set-up an opportunity specifically available to them when they arrive.

www.fullerton.edu

Get him to the Greek! Sororities and fraternities oftentimes need to complete a certain number of service hours in an academic year (or during the summer) as per Greek Community Involvement protocol. If you allow group volunteering, consider tapping these organizations to see if they’re seeking opportunities in the upcoming months – students are a great fit for summer positions.

www.rocklinvet.com

 

Offer incentives. For music festivals, art festivals, State Fairs and the like, offer your volunteers a sweet deal. Maybe it’s a free ticket, free parking or even a backstage pass. These are the kind of events that attract people regardless, so give your volunteers a reason to arrive as a volunteer rather than a regular patron. (Pssst! Did you know VolunteerLocal exports your volunteers into a spreadsheet so you’ll have a complete list of all recipients for those neat perks?)

Finally (and most importantly), have fun. Show those volunteers some love when they arrive – free t-shirts, cool stickers and maybe a drink or food ticket to use when they’ve finished their shift. A great event depends on those great volunteers, so make sure they know how much they’re appreciated. Happy volunteering!

 

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The Heart of Suwanee

kaylee@volunteerlocal.com
Photo cred: gwinnettparklife.com

Cue the confetti, the rumble of drums and the clear, high trumpets from down the street. You know the scene: lawn chairs line the curb as children chatter excitedly, empty grocery bags in hand. The music gets louder as the parade slowly approaches: ornately decorated floats, dancers and Model T’s, the marching band and impending Snickers grenades. That’s right–it’s Suwanee Day. Each year, this parade kicks off what is truly a unique and inspiring town festival.

Photo cred: gwinnettparklife.com

“Suwanee Day is a celebration of community,” says Pascha Dudley, Volunteer Coordinator for the annual event. “We celebrate our likenesses, differences, and enjoy coming together to show just how great it is to be in Suwanee, Georgia.” From bounce houses to story tellers, flash mobs to local musicians–we have to agree: it does sound pretty great to be in Suwanee, Georgia! We’re not alone: this year’s celebration attracted nearly 58,000 attendees.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, planning for the Suwanee Day festival begins one year in advance, and the actual day of the event calls for over 260 volunteers. “When I joined the board, we had a volunteer database on our website,” says Pascha. “I’m not a techie, but I’m savvy. I said, ‘No. There is a better way to do this.’” The Suwanee team signed up for VolunteerLocal in early May, and began promoting open volunteer positions in September. “It was great. I could just click buttons to organize all my volunteers, whereas before I had to organize it all on excel. It saved me days of work,” she says. “Days!”

This year’s celebration ended with a bang–a chorus of fireworks ushered the festivities from the town center back to the drawing board for next year’s planning committee. “We’ve already met to discuss the turnout and what we’d like to change for next year,” says Pascha. “We’re absolutely going to use VolunteerLocal again.” Online volunteer management: just one more tradition for a festival that began before even the first stop light was installed in Suwanee, Georgia.

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Hitting the Mark: Target Promotion

kaylee@volunteerlocal.com 2 Comments
Photo cred: http://coronadousd.net/

Don’t promote more–promote smart. By now, you should have a good handle on what your organization uniquely provides and the type of volunteers you need. Your next step is to connect with those individuals. It might seem like a great idea to paint the town with Volunteers Needed! posters for your summer carnival or concession stand–but it’s a waste of paper if they’re not reaching your ideal volunteers (or anyone who might be willing to volunteer, for that matter). Use the information available to you–namely, steps 1 and 2–to find and retain the right volunteers for your event or organization.

Step 3: Target Promotion

Photo cred: www.forbes.com

It’s time to get a little creative. If you’re looking for young volunteers to work as peer-mentors for children, try attending a University sponsored Volunteer Fair near you. If you’re looking for “soup kitchen” volunteers who can donate up to twenty hours a week, consider reaching out to the retired community through newsletters like “Retirement Weekly” or state government-sponsored programs like the Division of Retirement in Florida (they send out a monthly newsletter to active members of the FRS Pension Plan).

If you know your organization would attract the outdoorsy-type, post flyers at the Community Recreation Center, city park gazebo, or a local campground. Use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn–Pinterest, Yelp or ShareWhere (“you volunteer”). Start recruiting on VolunteerMatch, or otherwise promoting your event locally on the radio to spur a word-of-mouth campaign. Some organizations have even created jobs for this very task: social media wizards who help to ensure the efficacy of your marketing campaign. Keep in mind, however, that the better you understand your ideal volunteer, the less promotional work you have to do. Casting your net narrowly will save you time, money and resources.

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