Great points, Lauren. I'd also like to perhaps throw in there the consideration that in some cases, such as at events, it might work well if you see it not merely as promoting the organization, but as an opportunity to directly promote bicycling in some way. Provide practical information about using a bike, come up with ideas to make it fun and interesting - a learning experience then and there. This might inspire you and those who come by your booth more than if you just have photos and pamphlets about your group, even if you do great work at your shop or elsewhere. Inspiration and emotions are vital to the health of any organization, particularly with volunteers. Consider where the event is and who is attending and how they'll be getting there. If a lot of people will be coming with bikes, bring tools and stuff to repair bikes, but if that's going to be minimal (as it has been unfortunately for many many events we've attended), don't get stuck in a rut (like we have) focusing on bike maintenance. Show people good locks and lights, provide bike maps and cycling safety guides, maintenance pamphlets, stuff like that. You can maybe even sell stuff (like books, locks, lights, t-shirts, etc.) at certain events if appropriate.
In other words, doing bike maintenance at events can seem baroque and unapproachable and dirty (not many people come to events expecting to get greasy), but engaging with people with other bike issues and questions can be more appealing.
On a similar line, though, doing bike valet at some events can be good outreach and fundraising, as others have discussed in the past.
Also, I've taken a look finally at the VéloCity website and it looks like you guys are better established than we are (we actually just opened our first set location a few weeks ago), you have a lot of great things going on. I did notice you have weekday hours in the early to late afternoon, in our case it would be harder to find volunteers at this time.
I must admit that I am partly thinking out loud because we are short on volunteers, too!
-Paul
The Bicycle Tree shop: (714) 760-4681 811 N. Main St. Santa Ana, CA 92701 http://www.thebicycletree.org info@thebicycletree.org
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:22:34 -0800 From: lauren.warbeck@gmail.com To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Volunteer Recruitment
I would add to/echo/sparkle fingies Paul's fantastic list that advertising a volunteer program that includes training is a great tool. Like: volunteer at our shop and we'll teach you how to fix bikes for free or give you perks or both. Volunteer night, free admission to workshops, deal on used parts etc. A volunteer recruitment strategy that includes a transparent commitment to making thier time at the shop meaningful for them has worked well for me to foster a sense of commitment and belonging. Work trade or earn a bike, while not volunteerism in the purest sense, gets shit done and gives folks motivation. I like bicas' work trade deal.
Wrangle them vollies! Lauren On 2014-02-11 12:46 PM, "Paul Nagel" paul@thebicycletree.org wrote:
Some thoughts relating to volunteers and promotion in general (can't say we do all of these effectively):
Usually no single thing will do the trick, you just need to sort of saturate your area.
Attract people with more fun things like bike rides, art shows, movies, etc. - once they know where you are and have met you, they are more likely to get hooked in.
Set up booths at events
Volunteers tend to be attracted by a variety of things, but one big one is the social aspect. Make time for "volunteer night" or something similar - there is continuity between volunteers and beneficiaries of our organization, it's not just "us helping them"
Work with other organizations in the area. That way you get cross-promotion and cross-pollination of volunteers, and can share in the work of different tasks. Approach them and offer to lead something that maybe they've been wanting to do or is up their alley.
Try to connect with news reporters in your area. Although I've found news reports can seem surprisingly ineffectual, they do help with that saturation effect, where people can say "oh yeah, I've heard of them".
Make it known in a variety of ways that you are looking for volunteers and how they can help. Being more organized on your side helps volunteers find tasks that fit them.
We have a meetup page and zero of our volunteers have come from there, perhaps your experience will be different. For a while about a quarter of people coming to our workshops came via the meetup page but now its less. That's partly because the page has been neglected, however.
We're doing facebook, meetup, instagram, twitter, and flyering, in addition to our website and e-newsletter. It's all a bit much. I would recommend making sure you're doing each one well, consistently, and effectively, rather than doing more different things than you can handle.
Use a volunteer information form like the one attached to find out the availability, skills, and interests of the people coming in.
Volunteers are hugely valuable and worth major investment of time to get more. If you use a third of your time devoted to the project specifically to attract two more volunteers who each put in the same amount of work you do, you have increased your total productivity by 166% over if you had just stuck to doing things yourself.
Please note that I'm actually pretty bad at promoting stuff, mainly due to not prioritizing it adequately.
-Paul Nagel The Bicycle Tree shop: (714) 760-4681
811 N. Main St. Santa Ana, CA 92701 http://www.thebicycletree.org info@thebicycletree.org
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 21:11:59 -0500 From: bayley.vanderpoel@velocitycoop.org To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
Subject: [TheThinkTank] Volunteer Recruitment
Hello, Bayley here from VeloCity Bicycle Coop in Alexandria, Va. I'm looking for advice recruiting new volunteers. Any general ideas to increase exposure of our bicycle coop is appreciated.
Has anyone else used meetup.com to recruit volunteers? I started a group and it seems to be helping. Bayley
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