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PAGE 39 The Nonprot Social Media Decision Guide October 2011
read, comment on or ask questions about. Social medivenues are
also a good space for potential volunteers tvoice their concerns
about volunteering, in a way thatthe community can respond. Past
volunteers and staffcan discuss these concerns in an open
environment, tohelp mitigate any fears or address any problems
thatmay come up.
recognize uent olunteesSocial media is also an excellent
platform for thank-
ing your current volunteers. Simple tweets and statusupdates
right after or during a big volunteer event canprovide immediate
recognition. Photos and videosof your volunteers in action can help
show new sup-porters what to expect, which can mitigate some ofthe
concerns they might have about volunteering. By
ECUITING AND ENGAGING VOLUNTEES
As free platforms for networking with new and
existingsupporters, social media channels can supplement
yourexisting recruitment and engagement strategies, but itsnot
always as easy as saying hey, we need volunteers.While directly
asking for volunteers can get responsesfrom repeat volunteers and
die-hard supporters, it may
not be enough to attract new volunteers. Convertingnew
supporters into volunteers through social mediacan take time, and
constant direct appeals may scarethem away. Instead, social media
is a good way to bringnew supporters into your community.
onvesation and ommunitySocial media provides new supporters and
potentialvolunteers a space to learn about your organization,as
well as a safe space for your current volunteers and
other supporters to connect with each other and theorganization.
For example, current and past volunteerscould post comments or
stories about volunteering toyour Facebook wall or blog, which new
supporters can
We like to promote
people when they do
things on their own, likevolunteer fundraisers
who host events, which
then encourages other
people to do the same
types of things, or gives
ideas to other people.
New ok ity nti-iolence poject
TheNewYorkCityAnti-ViolenceProjectwas
oundedin1980asareactiontoneighborhood
incidentsoanti-LGBTviolence.All-volunteer
rununtil1984,theorganizationstillrelieson
volunteersoranumberotasksasmanyas125dierentvolunteerseachyear,halothemnew.
Andwhileitemploysseveralmethodstoattract
andretainvolunteers,itsoundFacebooktobea
goodwaytohelpmeetitsvolunteerneeds.
AVPusesthreedistincttypesovolunteer-recruit-
mentposts.Somearebuiltaroundeventsthat
needmoretraditional,grassrootsmobilization
eorts,whicharetheeasiestortheirorganizers
towrite.Thesecallsareotenaseasytosayas
Comestandwiththeseolks.Othersocuson
moresociallyorientedevents.Theseeventsare
messagedas,Heresthisunthingtosupport
AVP,comesupportusandhelpotherssupport
us,basicallyacodephraseor,Werehavingan
eventandweneedlogisticalhelp.Thethirdkind
isprogram-oriented,andocusesonspecifcasks,
likeorAVPsspeakersbureauprogram.Thistype
orecruitmentpostrequiresextrastepstospeak
moreabouttheprogram,buttheaskissecondary
totheoverallmessagethatpeoplewanttobea
partotheeventbecauseitsimportant.
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recognizing your volunteers efforts, you let themknow how much
you appreciate them, which in turn,motivates them to continue
volunteering with yourorganization. Repeat volunteers can be some
of yourbiggest advocates, and can motivate new people
tovolunteer.
reaching ut to New volunteesRecruiting volunteers through social
media is notalways easy. There is a substantial jump in commit-ment
between liking an organization and givingyour time to help it.
Networks like Facebook orTwitter are best thought of as
stepping-stones toyour organization, an introductory part of your
largerrecruitment strategy.
Your Facebook page or Twitter feed doesnt existin a vacuum. Be
sure to integrate your social mediachannels with your website and
processes. When
promoting a big volunteer event or fundraising drive,it makes
sense to direct supporters to your websitesign-up page or volunteer
portal, orto a page or blogpost explaining the event. Remember that
if youresending potential volunteers to a website, that siteneeds
to be engaging and helpful.
The expectation when
folks show up, as well
as the frequency of
communication leadingup to when they do
show up to volunteer, is
the same regardless of
your method. Facebook
just allows you to reach
a higher number of
people, or different
populations.
WHAT DID THE ESEACH
SAY?Inour2011Facebooksurvey,weaskedrespondentsbothiftheyhadseensuccessmovingpeopletoaction,as
wellasifthosecallstoactionwereimportanttotheirmission.Whenaskedwhetherornottheysawsuccess
movingtheirsupporterstoactionthroughFacebook,approximately66percentofrespondentsreported
moderatetosubstantialsuccess.Thishighsuccessratemaybeindicativeoftheeaseandprevalenceof
onlineadvocacyactions,likepetitionsandpledges.Theseactionsarealsoeasilyspreadfriend-to-friendina
socialmediasetting,whichcanleadtogreaterreachthantraditionalpetitioningmethods.
