It looks so awesome to recruit people who are brave enough to risk their great lives to protect their cities and communities. However, when it comes to a volunteered job, there could be various difficulties persuading them to join this position. Then, how can you make it? How people who recruit volunteers to join a local emergency department. There can be lots of skills and tips if you are working with many volunteer teams.
1, Tell Everything about Volunteering
If you want to make somebody join the department, you have to tell the truth and everything. One thing to be ensured is that the person going to be recruited knows all duties and responsibilities of being a public server. There is no need to hire an idler who is merely capable of picking up good-calls.
It is shown by the truth that agency talking about both good and bad retains the most recruited ones. Serving in one community one of the greatest feelings for people. It is, however, also imperative for people to understand there are more things other than hero stories.
2, Keep Training
No matter where you are, you can easily find an old hand who usually has gray hair, with an unclean helmet and rough voice, if you enter a fire department. An old firefighter like this is usually whom everyone in the department respects. Nevertheless, what you have to pay attention to is that even the old-timer still keeps training. Training should never be stopped, which is the truth even to volunteers. There will be new methods to put out fire every day.
3, Keep Recruiting All the Time
There might be various departments telling the fact that it is hard for them to recruit anyone. The most imperative aspect is what they have done for recruiting. Did they abandon stereotypes that their fathers were doing to recruit volunteer decades ago? Departments have to evolve if they want to recruit more volunteers in this age. Some tips will probably help departments with recruitment.
Open Day Events of Fire Department
Social Media Activities and Campaigns
Lectures and Speeches about Public Safety at School and in Society.
The tips above are just some suggestions and inspiration for recruitment by applying new methods in this age. Departments need to be creative if they want to attract more volunteered members.
4, Cater to Youngsters
Some would say that the younger generation is an unorthodox group. However, not all of them are like that. Individuals are reaching out and trying to connect with others. There are so many times when veterans need back-ups. One of the best choices is to choose from a youngster.
Departments are suggested to start constructing a community where the younger generation can interact and communicate with the fire department. If you have no ideas about how to start, you can cooperate with local schools and find scout troops. It is not so difficult to trigger the interests of children and teenagers in the fire department.
5, Know How to Raise Funds
No matter how you think about fundraising, it is closely related to volunteered firefighters. All departments will start to break up without funds.
You just need to realize that fundraising is more important than you might think and that there are more opportunities to raise funds nowadays. Volunteer departments need a group of people who are skilled in fundraising activities and cooperation.
If you still have no ideas, go find the local mom’s group. Probably you will never meet a PTO mom in your life, but they are good at fundraising. You can communicate with them and tell them your goal and the importance of the fund to be raised, they can give you a hand.
However, do not stop when you get help from PTO moms. Being socially active is one important task to do. Do not forget to utilize social media as your battlefield to raise funds. You can just post all of your activities, information, and how you have spent the raised money on Facebook. The most important thing is that such action can also attract more recruits.
6, Become A Leader Who Others Tend to Follow.
You should never be a leader whom people follow unhappily. There is a must for you to become a real leader respected by your followers if you want more recruits to join you. Being a leader never means that you have to act like a chief commander in your department, but means that you have to make sure everyone in your department is on their best behavior. Never give any person, especially critics, any opportunities and reasons to humiliate your department. Provided that something bad does happen, do not hide it and be honest with everyone. Everybody is imperfect, but it is your fault if you attempt to conceal something bad.
7, Seta Unique Position for the Management of Your Social Accounts
Did you recruit any young member of your department who likes blogging? If you haven’t recruited one, you can still ask one of your recruits to handle all the accounts on your social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so forth. A Facebook group and a business page will help you to gain more attention in your community.
To avoid any misusing, it is suggested to have two or more persons to manage your accounts, even one of the two is just for the back-up. Once you start a social media account, you have to be consistent in terms of posting news about your department. Your department will soon be so popular in the community. Then, it will be much easier for you to recruit new volunteers.
8, Keep Mandatory Training
It described training in section 2. However, you should remember that one season why a volunteer department fails is the absence of mandatory training since training is important in keeping your team prepared for any emergency. Volunteers have their full-time job to take care of and family to raise, which is why it could hard to gather everyone at the same time for training. You have to make sure recruits want to be involved.
Making the pieces of training mandatory is a great choice. You should ask your recruits to join at least two out of three pieces of training. Members who just show up when there are media do not deserve the same respect as ones who show up in training every time.
9, Be Wise in Fund Investing
Upon recruiting, the volunteer recruits hope to pay for some of their equipment. No matter they need new boots or have to pay for a new dash light, the volunteers understand that expenditure is from the pocket. One imperative thing to make sure is that you need to show the raised fund is wisely spent, which helps people to appreciate your effort and helps you to earn their trust.
10 Never Be Discouraged
Last but not least, probably you cannot recruit enough volunteers at the very beginning, but you can never let it make you upset or disappointed. Since no one likes to follow a “Negative Nancy”.
So, when you feel like you are about to fail, have a try on other strategies such as asking for others’ help. You merely have to be optimistic because there is always a turnaround. After all, what you are doing is a great thing for your community. The more people who help or join the volunteer department, the safer your community will be.