Technology - from internal tools to websites to social media - presents opportunities for all areas of nonprofit organization to be more efficient and more effective in day to day work and engaging supporters. Whether you are a small organization or large, have a handful of volunteers or thousands, digital and social tools can help you recruit volunteers, manage volunteers, and engage them with the organization and with each other. Great, social, relevant engagement can make the volunteering experience more positive and directly support retention. In this session at the 2015 VolunteerMatch Summit, we discussed successful strategies and techniques for recruitment, management, and engagement, shared stories from other nonprofits, and highlight potential tools you may want to try in your organization.

1. VOLUNTEERING IN A DIGITAL WORLD
Social Media for Volunteer
Recruitment, Management, & Retention

2. Introductions
Amy Sample Ward
@amyrsward
Megan Keane
@penguinasana
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3. Introductions & Priorities
Who are you?
Does your org use social media?
What big question do you have today?
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4. Community:
Do you know who your community is?
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5. KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
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6. COMMUNITY
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7. NETWORK
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8. CROWD
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9. KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
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10. Community:
Mapping Groups and Goals
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11. Questions to ask:
Do different programs or departments connect with different
constituent groups?
Do services or products target different people?
How would you describe your community to someone
unfamiliar with your work, and identify if it is relevant to
them?
COMMUNITY MAPPING
STEP 1: GROUPS
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12. Questions to ask:
Why does the community continue needing your services,
programs, or work?
What is the value in others participating?
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What do you need help with or involvement from the
community to achieve?
How can your work improve with engagement?
COMMUNITY MAPPING
STEP 2: GOALS
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13. Questions to ask:
Where does this group already talk or engage with each
other and with you?
Which channels/platforms are most appropriate to the kind
of content they need?
What kind of engagement is required to match the goals?
COMMUNITY MAPPING
STEP 3: CHANNELS
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14. Get this template! http://bit.ly/DIYcommunity
COMMUNITY MAPPING
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15. Questions to ask:
Do you know how to connect with your community?
Which channels/platforms are most appropriate to the kind
of engagement they need?
Do you ask volunteers which tools they use or how they
want to connect with you?
COMMUNITY MAPPING
DISCUSSION
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16. Social Media for:
Volunteer Recruitment
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17. • Show (don’t tell) engaging, personal, and
immediate value of volunteering
• Make the pathway from supporter to
volunteer clear and diverse
• Celebrate impact together online
RECRUITMENT
Social Media & Volunteer Recruitment
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18. • What does signing up as a volunteer look
like in your organization – how can you
share the story of that process?
• Can current volunteers easily post content
from their experiences?
RECRUITMENT
Discussion
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19. Social Media for:
Volunteer Management
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20. • Use the tools volunteers are comfortable
with for regular communication
• Create opportunities for volunteer peer
connections online
• Position volunteers with micro-asks of
content personalization and sharing
MANAGEMENT
Social Media for Volunteer Management
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21. • How do you communicate with active
volunteers – is it successful? Sustainable?
• How do volunteers talk to each other –
before, during, after – and do you know
about it?
• How can volunteers take action even
when you don’t have a “volunteer opp”?
MANAGEMENT
Discussion
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22. Social Media for:
Volunteer Retention
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23. • Make onboarding fun (and packed with all
the info they need)
• Create volunteer opportunity to mentor
new volunteers
• Support a shared directory of resources
volunteers can edit and update
RETENTION
Social Media for Volunteer Retention
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24. • How many people are connected to a new
volunteer through onboarding?
• What do your long-time volunteers or
really excited volunteers want to do
outside of “volunteering”?
• How can volunteers help themselves/each
other?
RETENTION
Discussion
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25. Social Media for:
Engaging Your Volunteers
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26. • Consider the multichannel path and place
content or ads accordingly
• Don’t be afraid of adopting a new tool – if
your community wants to
• Create social media/community guidelines
for staff, board, volunteers, and others
BEST PRACTICES
Social Media Volunteer Engagement
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27. • Do you have a social media or community
policy in place now? How do volunteers
know about it?
• Do you use Google AdWords or other ad
tools to promote volunteer opportunities?
BEST PRACTICES
Discussion
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28. Questions:
@amyrsward amy@nten.org
@penguinasana megan@nten.org
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