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Chamber Tips to Welcome New Volunteers While Appreciating the Old

New volunteers and old? Makes us think of the Girl Scout song:

Make new friends but keep the old.

One is silver and the other gold.

Value your chamber's loyal volunteers and welcome the new

It’s a good reminder because often we neglect people in our lives that have been with us for a while, the loyal ones, who dedicate themselves to helping, and they do it without desire for acknowledgement. But it’s for those very reasons that they need to be acknowledged.

But how do you actively recruit, show appreciation to new volunteers, and make the ones who have been with you feel as special as they did when they were brand new? That’s a lot to put on a volunteer coordinator but it has to be done.

 

Ways to Show Old and New Volunteers Appreciation

Place Old in Charge of New

Part of showing appreciation for some people is noting their seniority. You can task your tried and true volunteers with showing the new ones the ropes and answering any questions the new group may have. Instead of this being a boss employee situation, encourage your faithful to approach it from a mentor/protege standpoint.

Check In with Your Stalwarts

Before assigning tasks for new volunteers, make sure your loyal ones are doing what they want to be doing. There’s nothing worse than bringing in a new group, assigning them something to do, and then finding out that your stalwarts would’ve loved to have been asked to do that activity.

Respect and work with existing friendships within your old or new volunteers.

Respect Friendships

If any of these newbies are friends with your existing volunteers, schedule them together. It will be more enjoyable and they’re more likely to keep returning.

Be Specific

Old or new, everyone loves to be thanked. While every chamber is thankful for its volunteers, the more specific you can be when bestowing your appreciation on them, the more meaningful it will feel.

Finally, a great way to get everyone together is through food. If you’re able to swing it in your budget, have a welcome/appreciation breakfast or lunch. Food goes a long way to putting smiles on faces and showing chamber volunteers appreciation.

Need more volunteers? Here is a huge list of ideas for finding and recruiting them.

By Christina R. Green

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Frank Kenny is a successful entrepreneur, chamber member, chamber board member, chamber board of directors chair, and chamber President/CEO. He now coaches chamber professionals, consults with chambers, trains staff and members, and speaks professionally. He helps Chambers and Chamber Professionals reach their goals. See full bio.

Christina R. Green teaches chambers, associations and small businesses how to connect through content. Her articles have appeared in the Midwest Society of Association Executives’ Magazine, NTEN.org, AssociationTech, and Socialfish. She is a regular guest blogger on this site and Event Managers Blog. Christina is just your average bookish writer on a quest to bring great storytelling to organizations everywhere.Visit her site or connect with her on Twitter @christinagsmith.
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