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Welcome!

Get to know each other before we start!– Name– Organization– Talk about your best volunteer experience– First concert

Micro-Volunteering: Pave the Way to Continued Involvement

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Micro-Volunteering: Pave the Way to Continued InvolvementAugust 5, 2013

3:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Hashtag:#ASAE13 LH67

Carolyn Hook, Director, Membership and Operations, New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants

Katie Paffhouse, CAE, Senior Manager - Divisions & Community, Institute of Food Technologists

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Today’s Questions• What were micro-volunteering’s original goals?

• How are associations managing micro-volunteering?

• What can you learn from the NJSCPA experience?

• How can your association improve its micro-volunteering efforts?

• What will you do upon your return to work?

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What were micro-volunteering’s original goals?

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The Source• ASAE’s, The Decision to Volunteer, Beth Gazley,

PhD and Monica Dignam– Published August 2008– 23 cosponsoring organizations– 26,305 of 185,975 volunteers responded

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Key Takeaways

The power of the direct ask

Involve younger generations – but

in a different experience

A meaningful experience keeps them coming back

Acknowledge and recognize the ‘ad

hoc’ volunteer

Org strategies can support or discourage

volunteering

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Key Questions• Do you know and keep track of the various ad hoc or informal services

they provide?

• Do you keep a history of volunteer involvement in your association so that you can detect a natural progression between formal, informal or other levels of activity?

• When your volunteers ‘graduate’ to higher levels of involvement, who moves forward and who drops out? Do you actively promote their involvement?

• Can you identify members who might be looking for increased responsibilities?

• (Just Added!) How much time/resources should you spend on this?

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Discuss• Anything else?

– What do you hope to gain from this session?

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How are associations managing micro-volunteering?

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Demographics

N=93

Membership Size

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Staffing• Majority have variety of staff involved with

volunteer efforts– Majority (67.44%) have several staff who work

with volunteers without centralized volunteer management

– Average 5 ½ FTE for volunteer recruitment, retention and activity development

– Average 29% of staff work with volunteers • smaller staff - 56%

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Approaches to Micro Volunteering

Occasional

Quick Tasks

Limited/Short term (task force, project team)

Annual/Ongoing

Governance (boards, standing committees, component leadership)

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00% 120.00%

48.39%

48.39%

90.32%

91.40%

100.00%

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Popularity of OpportunitiesSPEAKING/PRESENTING TO MEMBER

GROUPS (85.4%)

CONTENT DEVELOPER FOR CONFERENCE PUBLICATION,

ETC. (75.6%)

CONTENT PROVIDER (62.2%)

EVENT AD HOC VOLUNTEER

(57.3%)

WRITER (56.1%)

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Other ideas…. Review

• Awards• Legislative bills• Accreditation or certification applications• Software testing

Grow• Fundraise• Recruit members

Share• Moderated or facilitated a discussion group• Participated in a discussion group, expert panel or report• Festival host

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Micro-Volunteer Recruitment

Offer sign-up portal to be in a pool or on a list

Post openings in member community

Blast email to members

Volunteers recruit the short term volunteers

Staff recruit the short term volunteers

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

30.86%

33.33%

54.32%

64.20%

80.25%

Alert!DTV states the top

three ways members find out and agree to

volunteer opportunities are at:

1. Local Chapter Meeting

2. Meeting or conference

3. Asked by another volunteer

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Training

Live Webcast focused on association 101 information

Recorded Webcast focused on specific job tasks

Recorded Webcast focused on association 101 information

We don't officially train these leaders

Live Webcast focused on specific job tasks

One-on-one coaching

Step by step instructions via document

21.05%

26.32%

26.32%

26.32%

31.58%

36.84%

57.89%

Alert!Data from Follow-up

Survey with 19 respondents.

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Evaluation

For each activity only

For overall experience only

For each activity and overall experience

For select activities only

For select activities and overall experience

We don't ask them to evaluate their experience

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00%

6.10%

7.32%

7.32%

8.54%

17.07%

60.98%

Alert!DTV found meaningful

experiences keep volunteers coming back –how can you ensure you are meeting their

needs without evaluation?

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Evaluation Tool

None 26 total

Anecdotally13 total: 6 staff; 4 both;

3 volunteer

Surveys 8 total: all volunteers

or attendees

Overall goals met

4 – unspecified

Attendance

1

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Recognition

Certificate

Listing on website or in brochures

No official recognition

Written thank you note

Verbal recognition

Thank you email

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00%

15.79%

23.68%

23.68%

32.89%

52.63%

57.89%

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Recognition

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Other Recognition• Conference program book or award presentation

• We have a monthly award for volunteers

• Credit for continuing professional development (2)

• Tiered recognition gifts based on project length.

• If they develop a publication, their name is published in the document/book/white paper itself.

• Letter from president

• Volunteer Reception at Convention

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Pipeline

Bylaw

Mandated

Committees

Longer Term - Task Forces & Chapters

Micro Volunteering

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Approaches to Micro Volunteer Retention

Provide link for micro volunteers to subscribe to volunteer listings

Share recommendations for volunteers between internal departments

Personal outreach

Don't focus on retention, just happens

Ask at the end of project to renew

Members self-identify for new projects

None

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00%

4.50%

4.50%

4.50%

9.00%

11.40%

13.60%

50.00%

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Indicators for Advancement

They receive a high evaluation score (e.g., as a speaker)

They have good attendance at meetings or required activities

They are frequently engaged (e.g., posting a lot in the community)

They ask for opportunities

31.25%

68.75%

81.25%

87.50%

Alert!Data from Follow-up

Survey with 19 respondents.

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Pipeline Recruitment

4.40%6.70%

8.90%

13.30%

28.90%

37.80%

Connect with committee chairs based upon expertiseSet expectation for ad-vancementNo specific outreach; simply provide good experienceGeneral CommunicationsNoneSpecific Ask (oftentimes for top performers only)

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Who Appoints?

Alert!Data from Follow-up

Survey with 19 respondents.

Staff

Office of the President

Board of Directors

Separate task force/committee, such as Nominating Committee

100%

50%

75%

67%

22%

75%

50%

67%

AppointsRecommends

What can you learn from the NJSCPA experience

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Micro-volunteering 2.0

Click to add text

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Micro-volunteering 2.0

Click to add text

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Micro-volunteering 2.0

Interested

Involved

Invested

Intentional

Inductors

Initiators

Renewal Leadership

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Micro-volunteering 2.0“The fact is that volunteering is a decision – and is rarely spontaneous.

Volunteers may deliberate for considerable amounts of time about whether to volunteer, the extent of their involvement and the degree to which what they’ll be doing matches their needs.”

~ The Decision to Volunteer

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Intentional │Inductor │ Initiator │ Leadership

Members Don’t Know:

Why they should volunteer

How to volunteer

What opportunities are available

Anyone else who is involved

If their employers will support involvement

What type of activity is a good fit for their career stage

What type of activity matches their interests and skills

How to talk to people about their current involvement

Who to talk to about their involvement

What the protocol is for initiating a new activity

If they are “leadership material”

If they can talk to someone about their involvement path

What’s expected of them

What must we do to help?

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Case Study: NJSCPA2003 Key Concerns

2004 The Hidden Crisis

2005 Updated Strategic Plan

2006 Governance Task Force

2007 Long-Term Member Needs Assessment

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Case Study: NJSCPAKey Findings: Governance

Most Trustees are quite positive about the volunteer experience

Industry trends, member and staff feedback point to smaller, more experienced board

Volunteer identification and engagement are critical success factors for optimal governance

Increased continuity will lead to improved board performance

Fine tuning the board culture through effective communications and leadership

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Case Study: NJSCPAMember Study Areas for Concern

Modest desire for involvement• Only 17% of respondents are interested in becoming more involved• 81% cite “lack of time” as a barrier to involvement

Disconnect: expressed desire vs. behaviors• 44% of members want to get involved via chapters• 78% attend chapter CPE “occasionally” or “never”

Few younger members in leadership ranks• Only 23 volunteer respondents have under 10 years of professional

experience

Knowledge and consideration of volunteer opportunities• 40% “don’t know” if they want to become more involved

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Case Study: NJSCPAVolunteer Relations Department 

• Create a Volunteer Relations Operating Plan• Generate member excitement for volunteer opportunities• Centralize the opportunities and value of volunteer service• Identify prospective volunteers and match candidates with

appropriate positions• Nurture and extend relationships with key members • Secure commitments for volunteer service• Thank volunteers for their service• Provide for a leadership pipeline• Make an annual report to the NJSCPA Board of Trustees

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Case Study: NJSCPA

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Case Study: NJSCPAChallenges• Members selecting “too

many” choices on the Volunteer Interest Profile

• Volunteer opportunities are managed by multiple staff

• Too many volunteers, not enough opportunities

• Leaders don’t get it.• Social media

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Case Study: NJSCPASuccesses• Simplified and centralized process• Created videos to help with awareness issues• Developed clear descriptions of each opportunity so members know

what’s involved• Received 750 Volunteer Interest Profiles since 2009• Eliminated “hidden crisis.” Leadership pipeline for appointed

committees and Board of Trustees no longer a concern• Increased involvement in micro-volunteering by Young CPAs in newly

developed roles• Members contacting us to create communities• Established annual metrics for volunteer relations initiatives• Established baseline volunteer satisfaction for committee/community

participation

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Case Study: NJSCPA

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Case Study: NJSCPASuccesses• Increased awareness as engagement is being talked about

leadership and staff• Decreased length of time of Nominating Committee appointment

process • Recruited repeat facebook, twitter and private community posters

to do other things• Tracked micro-volunteer activities in database• Cross-promoted volunteer activities• Recruited recent former leaders to keep them engaged• Identified areas of improvements to online profile, database & staff

responsibilities• Increased employer support for engagement

How can your association improve its micro-volunteering efforts?

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Food for Thought1. Get all your volunteer managers onboard with the concept. Create

consistency and process efficiencies where possible to increase ROI.

2. Identify and implement quick wins – recorded trainings– template documents and evaluations– automatic thank you messages– Track superstars

3. Consider the larger picture:– What is the ROI in growing micro-volunteers?– How large of a volunteer pipeline do we need? – How fair and transparent does your long term volunteer identification process need

to be?– What does your relationship with your components need to be?

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Contact usCarolyn Hook

Director, Membership and Operations

New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants

chook@njscpa.ORG

973.226.4494 ext 221

@carolyn_hook

Katie Paffhouse, CAE

Senior Manager - Divisions & Community

Institute of Food Technologists

kpaffhouse@ift.org

312.604.0218

@kpaffhouse