Cultivating an active and loyal volunteer base is a critical component of building your donor base and organizational capacity for programs and fundraising. Explore strategies for engaging and mobilizing volunteers using the social web. We’ll cover examples and best practices for recruiting, retaining and recognizing volunteers using free and accessible web tools.

1. Web & Social
Media Strategies
for Volunteer
Engagement
With Karen Bantuveris

2. How this webinar works
• A link to the slides and a recording will be sent after
the webinar
• If you’d like to ask a question during the webinar,
you can type it in the box on the right side of your
screen
• Use the hashtag #fgwebinar to tweet about this
webinar

3. About the presenters
Karen Bantuveris Lee Johnson
Founder and CEO FirstGiving
Nonprofit Sales Consultant
Lee@firstgiving.com
@VolunteerSpot

4. Who is FirstGiving

5. Fundraising solutions
Peer-to-Peer Donor
Fundraising Pages Analytics and
Online Donations and Event Market
Registrations Research
Personal Support for your nonprofit, donors, and
fundraisers
Easy, tested, and secure transaction processes for the
donor

6. This webinar is for you if you…
• support an organization as a formal or informal
volunteer leader.
• find yourself coordinating volunteers even
though that’s not part of your job description.
• would like to have more volunteers and more
volunteer leaders supporting your
cause/organization.
• would like to lower ‘flake rates’ or boost
volunteer retention rates.

7. Q: Why Volunteers?

8. Q: Why Volunteers?
A: To get important work done!

9. Q: Why Volunteers?
A: To get important work done!
A: To cultivate committed champions to our
cause/organization who are long-term
advocates, donors and leaders….
And in doing so….
get important work done!

10. Volunteer Avoidance Cycle
60% of nonprofits
cite lack of funds as
Wish U primary obstacle to
providing volunteer
Had Help management
~ Reimagining Service
2010
Do it
No Time
Yourself

11. Volunteer Avoidance Cycle
Wish U
Had Help
Do it
No Time
Yourself

12. Journey of a Volunteer
Thanks to Chris Jarvis, @RealizedWorth
for sharing this model

13. Journey of a Volunteer
Social Media:
Easy Access, Rapid &
Meaningful Promotion
Thanks to Chris Jarvis, @RealizedWorth
for sharing this model

14. Common Social Media Tools
Social Media: Any online technology or practice that
lets us share (content, opinions, insights, experiences,
media) and have a conversation about the ideas we
care about. Socialbrite http://socialbrite.org/glossary

15. Free Web Tools for
Coordinating Volunteers
Specific Donations of
Group Public or Ongoing
Website size Private
jobs & food &
needs
Extras
shifts supplies
No limit Both, add Difficult No No Collect fees, mobile
links to check-in
Facebook/
Twitter 20+ custom
registration fields
Global event
No limit Public, add No No No mapping,
links to community
Facebook conversations
/Twitter
API available
Recruit both
No limit Public, skilled and No Yes Micro-volunteer
Registration unskilled from your mobile
required volunteers device
10-400 Schedule multiple
signed up Both, add Easy Yes Yes days/months
per links to
sub-team or Facebook/ Hours tracking , 5
activity Twitter custom registration
fields (Premium)

16. Volunteer Engagement Best Practices
1. Find ‘em! (cultivate community)
2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific
3. Setup to Succeed
4. Measure & Share
5. Recognize Volunteers

17. 1. Find ‘em! (Cultivate Community)
• Where are they already hanging out? Build your
Community!
• Facebook Fan page, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, Blog,
Email list (see recorded FirstGiving webinars for best practices)
• Engage others to involve their friends & network
• personal appeal
• social media appeal
• Consider service groups
• workplace service, service learning, Scout Troops, faith
groups, community groups (Jr. League, Rotary, etc.)

18. 1. Find ‘em! (Cultivate Community)
MeetUp Community Examples

19. 1. Find ‘em! (Cultivate Community)
Workplace Service - Keller Williams
International Example

20. 2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific (examples)
Second Harvest Japan
+ Clear & specific – gets amplified!
31 RTs in 1 day to > 47K people
Δ Add location hashtag (e.g. #Tohoku) to find
geographically possible volunteers (RTs in Chicago
likely not very productive)
‒ Event is 3 days out and link lands on a map
Risk: Folks forget OR too many people show up
then think Second Harvest has enough supporters
and doesn’t need them next time.
Δ Add an online signup sheet link or ‘volunteer
interest’ Google Doc to the landing page
• capture volunteer contact for future needs
• signing up for a specific spot firms up
commitments
• volunteers can amplify to their communities
• auto-reminders boost turnout rates

21. 2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific (examples)
Girls on The Run DC and Bay Area
+ Reach out on multiple
channels
+ Includes actionable signup
link
Δ Twitter: Add location and
theme hashtag (e.g. #SFO,
#Running, #GirlPower) to find
location and interest-aligned
volunteers
Δ Add event details (date, and
# needed to tweets &
facebook)
Newsletter Blast

22. 2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific (examples)
Girls on The Run Race Setup and Race Day

23. 2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific (examples)
Olive Tree, NOLA
+ Immediate needs & local tagging ! Not likely to recruit immediate additional
+ Check-in as brand-building volunteers – but possible – especially if need
is well-articulated and time-bound. “E.g.
+ Once they check in – you can text ‘em later Need help filling sandbags NOW! 20 needed
until 6pm.”

24. 3. Setup to Succeed: Before
 Thank ‘em!
 Background on your organization
 Map and directions to the service location
 Where to park and which entrance to use
 Who will greet them
 What to wear/bring (water, snack, work gloves, etc.)
 Safety concerns and physical requirements
 Confidentially requirements and sensitivity issues
 Background checks?
 SOCIAL MEDIA PACKAGE!

25. 3. Setup to Succeed
Sample Social Media Strategy
Create a hashtag
Twitter
•Neighborhood groups
Tweet location each day
•Child-serving orgs
•Local government
TwitPics of completed work
Create a Citywide
Hopscotch Game!
Create a photo pool
Flickr
•People involved in project Tagging system
•Flickr group leaders
Submit photos to relevant Flickr
groups
Include continually updated map
Blog
•Local mom/dad bloggers Share notable stories
•Play bloggers
•Newspaper blogs
Guest blog
25

26. 3. Setup to Succeed: Day-of
 Introduce yourself and wear a name tag.
 Thank ‘em for coming & make it FUN!
 Big Picture Review – summarize why it matters that they are serving today
in one or two sentences.
 Make it Personal – ASK: Why are you serving? It’s THEIR story!
 Is a site tour appropriate?
 Nametags available (pre-printed if possible)
 Review safety procedures, comfort stations (food, restrooms, etc.), and key
work processes
 Photos/video permissible? << Encourage it, take ‘em, provide a Flip for
those with out video smartphones

27. 4. Measure & Share
• Results Measures: e.g. # families fed, # books
distributed, # trees planted, # patients treated
• Process Measures: e.g. # volunteer hours,
#administrator hours, # race stations staffed
• Community Measures:
• Facebook mentions/likes/comments
• Flicker and YouTube posts
• Twitter followers, RTs and MTs
• email list, etc.

28. 4. Measure & Share
Amplify Volunteer Stories & Invite User Contributions
• Via Social Media:
Blog Articles
Facebook Shouts
Twitter Kudos
Flicker
YouTube
• Via Email
Stories, stats and links
• On Site
Photos, progress
‘thermometers’

29. 4. Measure & Share

30. 5. Recognize Volunteers
• Track hours and results and publicly recognize
blog, facebook, YouTube, etc.
• Invite progression in Volunteer Journey with more
responsibility, options and decisions.
• Ask for feedback & act on it!
• Send a Thank You Note!
Simple, specific, sincere!
http://www.VolunteerSpot.com/ebooks

31. 5. Recognize Volunteers
Volunteer
Service Badge

32. Volunteer Engagement Best Practices
1. Find ‘em! (cultivate community)
2. Onboard Quickly & Be Specific
3. Setup to Succeed
4. Measure & Share
5. Recognize Volunteers

33. In Closing
• Choose your social media and web tools and use
them consistently to speed a volunteer’s journey with
your organization.
• Remember: Why Volunteers?
To cultivate committed champions to our
cause/organization who are long-term advocates,
donors and leaders….
And in doing so….
get important work done!

34. Special Offer
from
VolunteerSpot’s easy to use FREE online sign up sheets and
volunteer scheduler is all most groups need to coordinate volunteers.
Premium service is perfect for organizations wanting extra features
like hours tracking and custom registration fields (think t-shirt size,
group affiliation, emergency contact, etc.)
Use promo code FGVS100 to get six months Premium Service of
VolunteerSpot for the price of one. Offer Expires 8/1/11.
http://www.VolunteerSpot.com

35. Upcoming webinars
July 14
Back to Basics: Harnessing the Power of
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
All webinars are 1pm EST/ 10am PST

36. Connect with us in our social spaces
Facebook: facebook.com/firstgiving
Twitter: twitter.com/firstgiving
FirstGiving Insights blog:
http://insights.firstgiving.com
Online Fundraising blog:
http://blog.firstgiving.com
FirstGiving for Runners blog:
http://runners.firstgiving.com

37. Thank you!
Interested in learning more about FirstGiving?
Lee Johnson
Email: Lee@firstgiving.com
Telephone: (415) 243-0757