Energize Book Blog

Are you looking for ways to re-energize your recruitment and retention efforts? Our online journal, e-Volunteerism, has recently published two really interesting articles on the possibilities that social networking holds for volunteer engagement.

The first article is “Using Social Media in Your Volunteer Engagement Strategy” by Joshua Fixler. This Training Design article will help you and your nonprofit or government organization identify opportunities for using social media in your volunteer engagement strategy. Use it as the basis for in-house training (it even includes a ready-to-use Microsoft PowerPoint presentation!) or just read it yourself to jump-start your thinking. (This article presupposes a bit of familiarity with social media tools on your part. Need some basics? Read this free article from JFFixler and Associates (and be sure to check out the resources and definitions at the end!). Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Some Tips on Using Social Media (The Five Bs)

• Be Yourself
  Do not just go to social media to sell something. Share your interests, passions and skills, just as you would in an in-person relationship. People do not come to these spaces to be pitched to, but they are always happy to hear about exciting opportunities from people they trust.
• Be Prepared (to give up some control)
  You will have less control of your message, but your message will be more powerful. Think of the difference between the impact of a handwritten appeal versus a form letter. When asked, your circle of influence will be happy to speak on your behalf…

(You’ll need to read the full article to get the other three Bs!)
Full Text (for e-Volunteerism subscribers)
Purchase article (for non-subscribers)

The second article is “Social Media and the Gift Economy: Volunteerism in the Vanguard” by Patrick Daniels in the UK.  Here’s an excerpt:

Increased Visibility for Volunteering

Engagement with social media can increase the visibility of volunteers’ experiences and improve volunteer managers’ understanding of the volunteering they offer. When a volunteer is providing service online, perhaps as a discussion board moderator or an online peer mentor, a big chunk of their engagement is clearly in the form of comments, posts, edits or messages. A consequence of this is that much of what the volunteer does is probably recorded, searchable and, to an extent, measurable.

Social media also offers the volunteer manager more opportunity to be open and transparent with volunteers about the particular needs of the project and its service users. Blogging or sending out regular e-mail updates about the project keeps volunteers more informed about the broader context and empowers them to get more involved should they want to. This can also give volunteers a perspective on the wider work of the organisation should their involvement be narrow, such as volunteering for a short shift outside office hours or remotely away from the main office.

Full Text (for e-Volunteerism subscribers)
Purchase article (for non-subscribers)