From:	Ann Hammond/Petula Storey
Sent:	Wednesday, July 25, 2007 2:02 PM
To:	Kim Hubbard
Subject:	Philadelphia Points of Light Conference

Here are some salient points re volunteer management learned in Philadelphia.

1.  Volunteer recruitment and retention are difficult for everyone.  California -- and LA -- have some of the lowest volunteer rates in the nation.  And, nationwide, there is about 1/3 turnover each year.

2.  Design interesting jobs. Expand the types of roles offered.  Baby boomers especially are looking for substantive impact, challenge, an educational component, an opportunity to be self-directed, and probably no set schedule.

3.  Episodic volunteering is popular.  It is important to offer opportunities with varying time commitments and maximum flexibility.  Think of "on-call," substituting, job sharing, taking turns, and telecommuting.

4.  Manage and recognize volunteers, and provide a range of incentives (e.g. gift cards, small monthly stipends, educational credits, reduced drug costs, learning new things, making new friends, putting career skills to use, expense reimbursement, token gifts, major gifts, cash).

5.  Use the internet -- and use words that potential volunteers are likely to use (which may be different from the words normally used).  Google and Yahoo both have the capacity to tell how many times someone asks for "volunteer."

6.  Faith-based organizations are a very important potential source of volunteers, as are individuals with disabilities.

7.  In terms of marketing, the message must be powerful to break through the clutter.  Define impact.  Offer opportunity (i.e. what's in it for the volunteer).  Focus on the message the market will hear, not just the mission, and that means knowing the target market.

8.  Places to go to recruit volunteers include recreational venues (Ys, gyms, sports clubs, athletic leagues), health-related venues (hospitals, Medicare workshops, health fairs, support groups), civic/fraternal organizations (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, business associations, fraternities, sororities), aging-related venues (AARP events, senior clubs, bereavement groups), neighborhood/community groups (civic associations, libraries, politician's offices, schools, country clubs), housing venues (NORCs, retirement communities), work-related places (corporate retirement groups, Welfare to Work programs, doctors' offices), educational/religious venues, and other places (grocery store bulletin boards, all-you-can-eat restaurants, etc.)

9.  Promising practices include peer-to-peer recruitment, incentives for new members, a paid role for a volunteer recruiter, and a Speaker's Bureau.