[bksvol-discuss] Re: that email got a sighted friend of mine to join bookshare.
- From: "Nan Hawthorne" <hathorn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:17:04 -0700
That's great, Jim! So far three of my friends I sent it to have bitten.
The secret of recruiting volunteers is manifold, but one message is to say
exactly what is valuable about the work they will do. A great recruitment
message includes a short but accurate description of the tasks, the value
the finished task has for those it benefits, and a clear idea of how much
and when you want them to work. If you can touch on the benefit to them,
both altruistic and personal, you cinch the "ask".
The one thing all volunteers want is to be successful. The items in my
email work because they show the clear path and the goal.
These days it is more important than ever to tell what the volunteer can get
out of volunteering himself or herself.. like when I wrote that they would
get to read a lot of books, something they like to do anyway. Today there
are lots of activities that someone can get involved in, responsibilities at
work and home, distractions that don't ask for anything back like watching
movies, and for that matter tens of thousands of chances to volunteer.
It is more important than ever to market, yes market, a volunteer project
just as you would any "product". This may sound cynical to you, but it is
just an awareness of how people raised on TV and tv commercials have been
trained to respond. I like to use the example of a restaurant. If you
advertise what _you_ want as the restaurant owner, like volunteer programs
mostly do, your ad would read "Eat at Joe's, we have this food we have to
sell." But that's not what restaurants do. They address what the customer
wants.. good food, good service, good prices, good atmosphere, or some other
benefit. Volunteer ads don't work well because they don't see what the
organization needs as of benefit to the potential volunteer.
Nan
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Jim
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 7:46 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] that email got a sighted friend of mine to join
bookshare.
I thought the list should know. I forwarded the email about joining
bookshare to a number of sighted friends of mine, and one is going to join.
Great stuff.
Jim Rawls
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