It's not an idea, but it sure is a great line
This from Matt DeMarco from the American Farm Bureau Federation at his session on engaging volunteers:
When someone asks you to volunteer, "what's the politically correct way to say 'no'?"
Pause.
"I don't have time."
Love that line, by far my favorite of the conference.
And there was an idea attached to it—a really good one. You're getting the politically correct version of "no" because the ask isn't right. You need to engage the prospective volunteer in conversation, ascertain if they are most likely to volunteer because they want:
-to make a difference
-personal or professional development
-social opportunities
From there, tailor the ask to the desire.
See the handouts from the presentation for the next month.
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Comments
And to build on the idea of conversation, any good salesperson learns a lot about the "prospect" before even beginning to make an offer.
We've done this backwards for so long: "Here's the list of committees. Check which one interests you." But that's still the standby approach for far too many organizations.
The more we know and connect with members on the individual level, the more they reveal to us their interests, skills, and motivations ... they very info that will help us present them with the most attractive opportunity to contribute to the cause.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | February 26, 2009 3:40 PM
That is a GREAT observation, something I need to borrow from when presenting research results. The same politically correct "I don't have time" is also the most commonly cited reason in surveys why members don't attend, attend more often, read more, etc. What the respondent is really saying is that the apparent value of the experience isn't worth making the time to attend, read, volunteer, etc. And yet Boards and staff will interpret this finding hopefully in an odd way--"Well, if they don't have time we can't do anything about that..." or my favorite, "It's physics, we can't create more time on our members' schedule..." Instead this response could be seen as code for "make this more valuable and relevant, and I'll find the time."
Posted by: Kevin Whorton | March 2, 2009 7:20 AM