Volunteer leadership is an essential aspect of any association that wants be successful. And for associations who want to continue to adapt, bringing in new volunteers is key. They bring new voices, ideas, and backgrounds to associations that allow them to carry out tasks and execute their long-term mission. As such, one focus of membership organizations needs to be on encouraging new people to join the table in leadership roles.
Volunteers are involved in many aspects of association management. They plan out and execute events, take charge on membership-related activity, give staff and board ideas on how to increase member engagement and improve association programs and education, and much more. New volunteers will keep your association on the innovative edge of its industry and help advance their fellow members in new ways.
Learn more about volunteer recruitment in RGI’s free eBook, The 5 Reasons You’re Not Getting New Volunteers (And What Your Association Can Do About It).
Once your association brings in new people in volunteer leadership roles, it becomes important to motivate them and keep them engaged. Be sure not to disregard your volunteers, but instead continue to give them reasons to stay involved with your organization and reward them for their hard work. For more help with this, take some time to view our free webinar on recruiting and motivating volunteers.
Finally, as National Volunteer Month comes to an end, be sure to thank your volunteers for all they do. Thanking your volunteers, whether publicly or privately, encourages them to be involved even more and also pushes new members to step up into volunteer leadership roles as they learn more about possible roles and opportunities.
