Do you feel like you’re on an island by yourself when it comes to organizing your fundraising event? Everyone around you has ideas, recommendations, suggestions and things to do. Yet, when it comes to help, support or taking on tasks your requests go unanswered. It can be frustrating and overwhelming when you try to take on everything yourself. STOP! You can’t do it yourself. So how do you recruit, or encourage, others to pitch in? Here’s some ideas, but I’m asking others to submit ideas that worked for them so you are not left to organizing the event by yourself.IDEA ONE: Outline the “tasks” that need to be addressed. Keep the descriptions brief and the tasks reasonable in the time it takes to complete (For example: Call 5 people to volunteer at the event). Share the list with your staff, board or volunteers asking for help to take on one “task.”
IDEA TWO: Now this takes place after your event, but can be a great start to the following year. Send out a survey to all participants to get their opinion about your event. This doesn’t recruit volunteers but makes participants engaged with the management of your event. The last question of your survey should be, “would you like to volunteer for next year’s event?” With the energy you created with the success of your event, watch the number of people that offer to help in the future.
IDEA THREE: Email your participants. Not the week of the event and not the week after the event. Part of your off-season communication plan should include a call-to-action request for volunteers. You can qualify them later, but during the winter months when people haven’t planned their summers, now is the time to get on their calendar to support your cause.
