Welcome back to Priceless Advice with leaders of volunteers! I am very happy to have Jessica Pang-Parks MES, CVA, - aka JPP - back on the show.
Learn with JPP about her ethics focus for volunteer engagement, and we also diver deeper into her recent #TuesdayTips topic of managing event volunteers and production. Jessica's work is rooted in anti-racism, inclusion, social justice, and curiosity to always be learning from each other - values I absolutely share and support.
She also offers her experience and advice at the intersection of volunteer and donor engagement and fundraising. Stay tuned for 2 more #TuesdayTips from Jessica coming soon!
Some conversation highlights include:
- Intention vs impact; people don’t remember the org intentions for their volunteering experience, they recall how they felt and any connections or meaningful moments they had with others during their work.
- Recruiting for events; corporate partners, volunteer centers, court-ordered and teen "voluntolds" getting high school credits are all good opportunities for deeper engagement than a one-time or drop-in activity.
- Event production is a year round job, so volunteer/donor engagement for events also has to be year round. Check out JPP's 10 things template for event volunteer recruitment: https://www.learnwithjpp.com
- Managing media and messaging training for all hands (yes, especially volunteers) at events.
- Be mindful of too much focus on recruitment/retention churn or turnover; that practice is reactive instead of proactive for consistent community engagement.
- Another pitfall of big events is asking org employees to "volunteer" their time - in most places, that's a violation of labor laws, and it's always unethical.
Drop a comment if you've had any of these issues with fundraising events and episodic volunteer engagement!
For direct coaching, consulting, or to share your own ideas for #TuesdayTips topics or #PricelessAdvice guests, contact Dana: www.danalitwinconsulting.com