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Communication to Volunteers

  • May 30, 2018 11:04 AM
    Message # 6273478
    Deleted user

    Hello everyone!  I'm trying to expand our volunteer program and I will have many questions to ask.  First I will ask, do any of you have a volunteer newsletter you send out?  I'd like to start one, but they already receive our monthly newsletter that the general public gets.  I'm concerned I won't have enough information to fill it.  Do you find that your volunteers like having their own newsletter?  

    Do any of you have a closed Facebook group for your volunteers?  I would love for them to be more connected but I'm concerned with them posting inappropriate things.  It might be too much for me to monitor on a daily basis.

    Do any of you have a suggestion box for volunteers to leave comments?  If so, do you feel that it's beneficial to making changes?

    Thanks!

  • May 31, 2018 10:37 AM
    Reply # 6276616 on 6273478

    Hello!

    We don't do a regularly-scheduled newsletter, but we do send a email update about once a month with upcoming opportunities and important news. We try to limit communications to when it is really needed so people are more likely to read them. Padded newsletters can be easy to ignore. We post more general updates on our volunteer website, so people can check it out if they feel like it, but it isn't sent to their inbox.

    We don't have a closed Facebook group at my current organization, but we had one at my previous organization. It was a great way to build community, and we could also use it to send out recruitments, reminders, updates, and fun stuff. The amount of time it takes to moderate depends on the number of volunteers who actively use it. Maybe you could consider a volunteer moderator?

    We have a suggestion box, and we also send out periodic evaluations so volunteers can provide feedback. I've found that people rarely use the suggestion box, but the evaluations can be very helpful.

    :)

    Last modified: May 31, 2018 10:39 AM | Anonymous member
  • June 05, 2018 4:19 PM
    Reply # 6287472 on 6273478

    Hi, Ashley! If you haven't already surveyed your volunteers about their communications preferences, I'd recommend starting there. A little over a year ago I sent a survey to 600+ volunteers of Multnomah County Library and had 232 responses. From that, I learned what content volunteers wanted and how often they wanted it which resulted in creating a monthly email newsletter. I've sent a monthly newsletter for over a year now and, using MailChimp, I can see how many people open the newsletter and what links they click. All of which helps me create relevant newsletter content. 

    If you have questions about any of this, feel free to reach out: lizaj@multcolib.org

  • June 06, 2018 7:40 AM
    Reply # 6289681 on 6273478
    Deleted user

    We have a volunteer Facebook group which is great for building community and sending out opportunities.  I haven't had much success getting volunteers or even staff to use it.  The way it is set up staff would have to use their personal Facebook accounts and they do not want to do that.   

    Having content to post is an issue for me. 

    I currently do not have a newsletter, I like the response about surveying the volunteers. 

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