Volunteer Recruitment 101: A Framework for Organizers

April 25, 2019

This episode is a beginner-friendly primer on volunteer recruitment and capacity building. Ben opens with the case for asking for help: it invites community into the work, and receiving an ask is a compliment, not a burden. He argues no task is off-limits to volunteers — they're just unpaid people — and that time spent training pays for itself many times over.

From there, he covers how to build a volunteer "universe" using three concentric circles: people who know and support you, people who don't know you but support the cause, and total strangers (reached via in-person volunteer recruitment, or IPVR). For IPVR, he introduces the PAST framework — Proximity, Accessibility, Size, Target — for choosing the right place and moment to recruit.

Ben also breaks down why "maybe" usually means no, and how to troubleshoot the three reasons behind it: nervousness, disorganization ("hot mess"), or genuine scheduling conflicts. He explains the 5-50-500 pyramid model for volunteer leadership tiers and how each tier can recruit the next. He closes with the importance of tracking recruitment data — confirm calls, show-up rates, and patterns across volunteers — to know where to coach and support your team.

Key takeaways: ask for what you need, treat "maybe" as a signal to dig deeper, find meaningful roles for people, build genuine relationships, and track your data.

SHOW NOTES 

This is a solo episode where I share some frameworks and ways of thinking about volunteer recruitment that will help you in your recruitment efforts to increase your capacity through building a team. These frameworks can be applied to various different organizing efforts though they are rooted in my experience on political issue based campaigns.

Key terms, notes, links, and downloadable PDFs below.

Data & Trackers (Spreadsheets/software) – Be sure to check out the action tracker excel sheet I’ve included for you below as a starting point to track your actions. The template I’ve provided below has three identical tabs so you can track different regions but you can use it however you like. I typically will build out a dashboard that all tabs feed into so that you can see the top lines of your data everyday, down the road at some point we’ll do a “google sheets for organizers” training where we can dig deep into some fun spreadsheet building skills. Also note there is a lot of great software out there now too, I find I always build out these trackers for myself even in the presence of tools like the VAN (Voter Activation Network, though you may also hear it referred to as “State Voices,” “America Votes,” and “Every Action,”) because I can get the exact data I want, in a format I prefer, quickly. Note, if you don’t have excel, you can upload it to google sheets and make it your own. Track that data!! Let me know if its of any interest and we can do an organizer software overview as well of some of the different vendors out there that organizers are utilizing.

5,50,500 – This is a framework from the National LGBTQ Taskforce to help you think about the growth capacity and commitment levels of your volunteer team.

IPVR – In Person Volunteer Recruitment – Going out and finding public places with high density foot traffic of folks that are likely your supporters to build your universe (list/membership) and expand your circle of supporters.

PAST – Proximity (how close is the venue to your action/office?), Accessibility (is it public space, can you canvas there?), Size (how many vols/staff do you need to maximize the opportunity?), and Target (are the folks that will be there likely supporters?). The key criteria you want to take into consideration when you are deciding what events to IPVR. See below for a flyer to download that has PAST spelled out for your office.

Universe – In an organizing context, can be one of two things. In a recruitment or membership building context, your “universe” is the entirety of your list. Your universe could be as small as 10 folks and as large as millions. The key is that they are all folks you have contact information for so that you can reach out to them for asks for your cause; be that volunteer recruitment, donations, requests for letters to the editor, patch through calls to legislators, voting reminders, et cetra. When you are talking about universe in a political campaign and you are talking about your field strategy, your universe becomes your list of registered voters and how you narrow down to your targets. Let’s say you are organizing in the state of Maine and you have access to the voter file. Your starting point will be close to a million folks, last I looked it was just shy of a million folks, 996 thousand and change. You’ll want to narrow that, and be more efficient through targeting based on geography, districts, demographic information, political party, et cetra. Depending on what issue your working on and where within the state you’re working, you can (and should) narrow your universe, which is good. That means you can take a more targeted approach which will be more effective. Typically, on the membership side, the bigger your universe the better, and on the advocacy/voter side, the more narrow and targeted your universe, the better.

Files to download

Template Statewide TrackerDownload

IPVR – PAST FlyerDownload

Vol Recruitment Bulls EyeDownload

5,50,500 TriangleDownload

• Transcript

  Benn Marine 0:13

  Welcome to the Ocean of Organizing podcast, where every week we explore what it means to build community and create change. I am Ben Marine, your host, and today we're going to be diving into some skills building around volunteer recruitment and capacity building. Now, if you are a seasoned organizer and you've done a ton of recruitment, a lot of this might be familiar to you. Some key concepts to kind of listen out for is the 550-500 IPVR that maybe equals no. If any of those things I just mentioned, you're like, oh yep, I totally know what all of those are. You can probably skip this. This is kind of a this is kind of like a baseline beginner spot for folks who are maybe just getting their feet wet or have an idea that they want to start tackling but don't really know anything about recruitment or maybe just learning about recruitment. This is for all of you folks just getting started. So let's let's dive in. All right. So if we're gonna talk about recruitment, we have to talk about asking for help. Because asking for help is how we build capacity. It's how we invite people into the work. The reality is, as much as many of us like to think that we're superheroes, we're not. And the idea that we can do it all ourselves is just not true. I mean, even in the making of this podcast, right, so many hands have touched this and have been a huge part of making this happen, from people giving advice to folks volunteering their time to help me with events, to uh folks giving me feedback. And I mean, even to the point of uh, you know, asking folks for materials and and different uh thoughts on different training pieces. It's everything we do in organizing, it's important that we're inviting the community that we're serving into the work. And the best way to do that is for ask, is to ask for help. And I know how challenging that can be. I think that can be challenging primarily because when we ask for help, or at least I know for myself, there can be a sense of inad or feeling of inadequacy, or or that we don't want to burden somebody, right? Like I want to make sure it's perfect, no one can do this action as well as I can do it, right? There's there's a little bit of work hoarding around that, right? Like making sure that there's like a control piece, that we want to make sure that it's perfect. There's an adequacy piece that like if somebody else can do this work, well, what what's my role then, right? Like, does that make me replaceable? Um I think these are some of the concerns and some of the underlying pain points or underlying pieces that hold us back from asking for help. The reality is, and actually, if you haven't yet listened to episode one with Shane Diamond, Shane actually I think explains really beautifully how powerful asking for help is, and I and I think explains really well the difference in uh sometimes what we perceive asking for help to be and then how the receiver feels, right? And and essentially what Shane says is that if I ask you for help, if you're on the receiving end of that, and that that's quite the compliment, right? Because it's saying to that person that's receiving that ask that I have faith in you to do this thing that I'm asking you to do. You're a competent person, I I respect you, I know you can do this, right? Like there's a lot, there's a lot of good stuff in that asking for help. And the reality is, I mean, odds are, if you're listening to this podcast, you've probably volunteered for some things yourself, right? And I think reminding ourselves how good it feels to be able to help, to be able to contribute. As an organizer, it's our duty to be providing those opportunities and being really honest with the communities that we serve about the help that we need, right? If we're working on an issue or we're working towards a particular goal, we need to be honest with the folks around us about the help that we need. So ask for help, right? That's that's that's point number one. Know that there is nothing, when we think about the capacity of a volunteer, I think sometimes we can get pigeonholed into this idea that volunteers can only do specific tasks, right? Volunteers can write addresses on envelopes, they can stamp envelopes, they can make phone calls, they can knock on doors, they can do these like very specific actions that we have in our heads about what a volunteer does. But remember, volunteers are just people that aren't paid. That's it. The only difference between you and a volunteer, and you might not even be being paid yourself. I bring this up because even if you are being paid, there's nothing, I promise you, there is nothing that you can do that a volunteer is not capable of. That being said, there may be some things that volunteers prefer not to do, don't feel comfortable doing, or there might be some issues around or limitations around ability, and that's all that's all fine, and that's a little bit different of a conversation. But I think it's important to recognize that whatever it is that you're doing, you can bring folks into that. So whether that's how asking your volunteers to also do recruitment, or maybe asking your volunteers to help you sort through testimony, maybe you have a big hearing coming up. Maybe you have maybe your plate is full at work and you really need to be able to delegate some of those tasks off, right? Ask for the help you need. Ask for the help you need. People are gonna feel honored. And if and if they're not able to do it, they're just gonna tell you that. And that's okay too, right? Like we can hold space for that. There is a thought that, oh gosh, it's gonna take me like 30 minutes, maybe even an hour, to teach this person how to do the thing that I want them to do. And if I just do it, it's gonna take me 10 minutes, right? So why am I gonna spend an hour of my time investing in training this person how to do this thing when I can just do it and it's only literally gonna take me five or 10 minutes? Like I do not have time to train this person right now. Right? I mean, who has thought that before? I feel like that's a very common thing that we run into. The reality is though, if you take that hour to train that volunteer, support that volunteer, make sure that that volunteer is feeling successful and that you set them up for success, sure you've spent an hour up front. But now if you do that particular task, maybe it's prep for an action, right? Maybe it's putting out materials, or maybe it's printing things for an action or organizing lists or whatever it might be. Let's say that thing that takes you 10 minutes every day, now you've trained this other person to do. Sure, you spent 60 minutes up front. But by the end of one week of a volunteer doing those 10 minutes every day, you've earned that hour back. And now you think about that volunteer and you multiply that across multiple weeks, right? Like if like if we're talking about a volunteer leader who's who's there a lot, or even not, but you multiply that over time and you've bought yourself hours upon hours of capacity. So while it may feel tedious up front, it's really important to make that time and to set folks up for success. And I think another area where sometimes folks can run astray with this is that it's like, well, you know what, I trained a volunteer how to do this thing, and then they never came back. Right. And so I think it's really important to be thinking about who when we're training folks, how we're training them, if we're setting them up for success, and if they're feeling supported. And and how why are we asking this particular person to do this thing? Right. So let's so let me back up a little bit. So if so if this is a volunteer's first time ever in the door, my number one priority is to make sure that they have a great experience doing whatever it is that they signed up to volunteer to do. Because I want them to experience success. I want them to feel welcomed and valued in the space because I do genuinely value them taking time out of their day to work on whatever it is that that we're working on. Um, whether that's calls or you know, calling constituents to phone their legislator, whatever whatever, whatever the task at hand may be, whatever the issue is, somebody's taking time out of their day to spend it with you doing a thing. That's amazing and it's beautiful, and we want to honor that. If people are walking in the door and we are handing them a script and telling them to go make some calls, that one can be a very scary and intimidating thing for a lot of people. It's not setting that person up for success. Um, it's also, it can make someone feel like they're just a cog in a wheel. And that's how we one burn people out and and lose really great folks. People are gonna show up to your action or whatever it is that you've asked them to the first time because they care about your issue. They're gonna keep coming back because of the experience and the community and the sense of accomplishment and success that they feel working with you. If you give someone a positive experience, you set them up for success, you invest in them genuinely because you appreciate and value them being in that space. That genuine care is felt and appreciated, right? I mean, think about the things that you've volunteered on. Think about the think about the good experiences you've had and think about the bad experiences you've had. I know I've had some beautiful moments volunteering for things. It's a huge part of what got me into organizing, was I felt invested in and cared for and excited about the work. I've also volunteered on some things where I felt like the organizers weren't setting me up for success. And I I and I and I had no interest in in returning to to work with them, even though it was an issue I cared about. So I think I think it's remembering that we're working with people, right? Like that I think sometimes we can use that volunteer label and undervalue people. Okay, so now let's get into the good stuff. So we've talked about um asking for help, how important asking for help is. Always thinking about when we're doing recruitment, that we're working from that framework, right? We are asking the community for the help that we need to be successful in the issue that this community cares about, right? So now our job is to go out and find that community. Uh we so when you're thinking about building your team and networking, you want to first start with the folks that you know personally, folks in your in your circle of humans that you know personally and you know care about this particular issue. Those are gonna be, those are gonna be your rock star folks, right? Because they love you as a human and they care about your issue. So it's kind of like a two-for-one. They can spend time with someone that they that they like and also work on an issue that they care about. So those are gonna be the first folks that you ask. So think about friends, family, co-workers, uh, maybe somebody that you're in an association or a club with or a social group, maybe it's somebody that you play volleyball with on Thursday nights or uh soccer or swim, whatever, whatever it is that you're into. Think about those folks that you are in contact with. Maybe it's an online group. Maybe there are folks that you are in communication with through online gaming or um meetup.com event type things. Think about those folks that you're interfacing with that you know care about the issue. Those are gonna be the first people that you ask. Next, you wanna think about the folks. So you're thinking, think about, I want you to visualize in your mind right now that uh there's you, like that you're standing in the middle of a couple of circles, almost like a think about like a bullseye, right? So the closer those circles are, the tighter those circles are to you, uh, the the one, the easier the ask is gonna be. And often your commitment level is gonna be a little bit higher. So the first ring out from center are the folks that you know, care about you, and care about this issue. Those are your like first ask people. Your second ring out are gonna be folks that maybe you don't know, but you know care about this issue. And so then that brings up the question: well, how do you reach out to people you don't know, right? Like how does that work? So think about whatever it is, the issue that you're working on, what are associations and clubs that are that would have folks in them that care about the thing that you're organizing on? So, for example, if you are working on, let's say, universal health care, maybe reaching out to nurses, doctors, healthcare professionals, those are gonna be people who care about healthcare, right? Uh there are a lot of um large organizations that have signed on and offered support for universal healthcare, right? Like those are kind of like one of like one of those rings that you can think about. Or if it is um racial justice work, thinking about what, you know, are there, are there churches, are there community groups that you can be in touch with that you know maybe are already doing the work, right, that you can, that you can work, that you can kind of network with them and get to know those folks and and combine forces, right? Because I I think the the more we can build in coalition and work together, the more resource sharing can happen, the more capacity we can build, right? There's there's if we don't have to reinvent a wheel, let's not. Um your last ring out, furthest away from you, are gonna be folks that you don't know, and you don't know if they care about the issue, right? So what does that look like? Well, that looks like often the way that that can manifest is uh maybe something like IPVR. So for folks that don't know what IPVR is, if that's a new term to you, it stands for in-person volunteer recruitment. In-person volunteer recruitment is if you've ever been to, say, a farmer's market and there's somebody standing there with a clipboard and they're like, hey, do you care about saving the planet, right? Or whatever the issue, whatever the issue is that they're working on. Um that's in-person volunteer recruitment. Or it's also very often fundraising, too, right? I think it's more often fundraising than it is recruitment. But it is certainly a tactic. Um we think about IPVR, in-person volunteer recruitment, what that looks like is going out into the world, talking to strangers, asking if they care about this issue. If they do, asking them to volunteer and get involved in the work. Right. And again, these are the this is your this is your third ring out. You are certainly not starting here, right? Like this is your, as you're building capacity, you know, this is a uh a way that you can kind of build your universe, if you will. Universe, if you've not heard it in an organizing context, essentially is referencing your list or your membership or the number of folks uh that you have contact information for that you can reach out to when you have asks for help, whether that be fundraising or uh volunteerism or perhaps it's professional advice, et cetera, right? That is your that is your that list of humans is your universe. All right, so when we're thinking about IPVR, what that means is you're going out into the world, talking to strangers, asking if they care about your thing, and if they do, great, you're inviting them into the work. Now, where you go to do this is really important. Um, and there are a few other things to be thinking about when you're deciding uh where and when to do your in-person volunteer recruitment. And so I have a fun little acronym that I think is really helpful. It's PAST, P-A-S-T. So if you're thinking about doing volunteer recruitment, always just remember the past. P for proximity. How close is the event that you're considering or the location, how close is it to where your action is that you are recruiting for? So if you're going to have a rally in the center of town, and that's what you're recruiting for, you want to find, you are looking for folks to come to your rally, how close is this event that you're considering going to recruit for, recruit from, how close is it to that? So, say for example, let's let's say you want to have a rally for awesome unicorns, right? Like we are going to be talking about how great unicorns are, how we need to protect the unicorns, and how wonderful and magical they are. Okay. And you hear that there is a unicorn celebration concert happening two hours away. Awesome. Are those your people? Yes, 100%. But if it's two hours away from the center of town, you're gonna get a lot of people that are excited about your cause, but that are not gonna be able to make it to that particular thing. Which is fine if if ultimately your goal is to build your universe, then great. Maybe you can maybe you can sign them up as like an interest and you can follow up with them later. But but if you're talking about recruiting for a specific action, which often I think um is what you want to be doing, especially with IPVR, you want to think about how close is the proximity of the venue or event that you're thinking of IPVRing, how close is it to where the action is. You want to make sure that it's within a commutable distance. So first is P for proximity to the action. Second is A for accessibility. Not accessibility in the way that you're thinking, like is it handicap accessible, is it, you know, this is accessible to Canvas. Because there are some spots that are private property, like frequently your neighborhood grocery store uh is private property, and they can ask you to leave. They can ask you to not be on the premises, they can ask you to not be in the parking lot. Um and so if it's now if you if you there's something called gorilla IP VR, which is where perhaps you're very intentionally doing recruitment in a place that you know you're not supposed to be and you're likely gonna get kicked out, uh, which is fine. Uh depend you know, depending, you want to think about safety and you want to think about like what are like what are those risks, right? Because often it's somebody just asking you to leave, but also recognizing that that isn't potentially always the case, depending on like if if you're somebody of a marginalized background, like people of color, trans folks, queer folks, you know, uh I believe are at a higher risk for things potentially escalating higher than they need to, right? So these are all calculations you want to make when you when you're thinking about something like Gorilla IP VR. I'm not gonna spend too much time talking about that, but wanted to throw it out there so it's you know in your mind. But thinking about accessibility. So if it's a public event, great. You have every right to be there, right? If there is an outdoor uh you know art walk that's just free and open to the public, and it's a public space, and you have every right to be there, excellent. That means it's accessible to Canvas, no one can kick you out, you have a right to be there, you can talk to folks till you're blue in the face. Awesome. Great. It passes the accessibility test in this case. Um S is for size of the event. How many people are gonna be at this event? Is it twenty people? Is it a thousand people? Is it multiple thousands of people? It's important to know the size of the event because that's gonna determine how many volunteers or staff folks you bring with you on location to do recruiting. If there if it's a gonna be a small event with maybe 20, 30 people, you do not want more than one person doing recruitment. It's overwhelming, it's too much. You're likely gonna talk to everybody yourself anyway in a setting that small, which is great because it's a more intimate setting. You kind of get to know people, you get to build relationships, which is I think always like the best case scenario. Uh but if we're talking about thousands upon thousands of people, like if it's a huge festival and there's gonna be like 50,000 people and it is a festival that is 100% your people, then you wanna be thinking about who can you ask to join you in that recruitment. I am also a big believer in never recruiting alone. Not so much for safety, though that is an important thing to think about, but more so for morale. Because sometimes when when you're doing this, when you're doing IPVR, you're going to get more no's than yeses, period. And it is 100% a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the more yeses you're gonna get. It also means that you're going to be rejected a lot. And that can be taxing and that can be hard. But if you have a buddy that you can laugh it off with or that you can be connecting with or celebrating success with, it does make it a lot easier. So never organize alone, always have a pal. Just as a sidebar there. Last but certainly not least is Target. Who are your Target folks, right? If we are talking about so perfect example. I worked on uh marriage quality campaigns in a lot of different states. And something that came up in one in particular was we heard about this huge food festival. And uh it was gonna be this huge event, tons of people were gonna be there. Great, awesome. Ooh, let's IPVR that, right? Uh, because I'm thinking about lots of people in a in a in a particular place means higher conversation rate, the higher conversation rate. It's you're panning for gold. So the more of those conversations you can have, the more likely it is you're gonna you're gonna connect with somebody who cares about the issue. However, something that we missed in going to this particular event is that not only was it a food festival, but it was an Irish Catholic food festival. I'm not saying that all Irish Catholic folks don't support marriage equality. It's not at all what I'm saying. And those are not our target demographics, right? Something that might be more in line with like our target folks would be like a Lady Gaga rally or a Lady Gaga concert, right? Like those are gonna be, we know the type of folks that go to that are likely going to be supportive of the LGBTQ community because we know Lady Gaga is a huge advocate of the LGBTQ community. So we know that we're likely gonna be talking with folks that are with us on the issue. So those are things you want to think about. Who are you looking to talk to? Where do they hang out? Is where they hang out close to where your action is. Are a lot of them gonna be in the same place at the same time? Do you want to bring multiple people? Right? So remember the past whenever you're thinking about doing IPVR. So it's proximity, accessibility, size, and target. Okay, great. So you've identified who the people are that you want to ask to get involved to build your team. When you're making the ask, it's really important that you make a specific strong ask, and we'll do a whole other thing on strong ask, so that's a whole nother thing. Uh make a specific ask that is clear what you are asking for. It's really important that folks understand what it is that you're asking them to do. A really great example of this recently just came up. Uh I've been doing a little bit of consulting work for an organization that is looking to grow their field program. And there's the and they have a couple of, they have two rock stars, these folks are like amazing, rock star lead volunteers that are full of passion, full of fire, really excited to be, you know, move moving up in leadership, learning skills, all the things. Just really incredible folks. And this particular organization has a big hearing coming up, but doesn't really have they don't they don't have a paid organizer on staff. And they want to have people at this hearing. Now the obvious now for you know, from the outside looking in, the obvious solution is, well, clearly we're gonna ask these folks, these volunteer leaders, to take on a little more responsibility and own this action, own this hearing, own running it from start to finish. So what was really interesting was that at one of the recent actions, you know, we're talking about this hearing and all of this stuff, and I and I don't know, and I did not know if the ask had been made of these folks yet or not. Uh, but I made the ask of if these two particular volunteer leaders would have any interest in, you know, and they have no experience, they've they've never run uh a lobby day or uh organized anything like this before. It's totally new territory for them. But I wanted to know is w do they have any interest in owning that action, in owning being the point folks for volunteers on that day, knowing that they would need support, knowing that they would need some training and some guidance ahead of time. Of course, we always want to be setting folks up for success. We want to make sure even our volunteer leaders are always having a positive experience because we want to we want to support them in their development and growth. And the really interesting thing was, you know, they were they were really excited about it. They're like, yes, absolutely, yes, would love, would, yes, would love to take this on. Um they were they were super jazzed about it. The reason why I'm telling you this story is because this was not the first time these folks had been asked. However, it was the first time that they understood that they were being asked to take it on. So the uh one of the folks that is overseeing this project had in in the moment we're all in this room together, had said, Oh, I already asked them, and I just didn't get the vibe that that was something they were interested in. And one of the VAL leaders said, She's like, wait, when did you ask me? And and I'm I'm just gonna make up some names. Let's say um Janet uh is the is is one of the staff folks at this organization. And so and and we'll say this other volunteer leader's name is um Joe. So Janet says, uh well, I you know, I put feelers out and kind of you know tried to test the water and see, you know, if this was something that that the two of you would would be interested in doing. And uh Joe was like, that's so fascinating because I I had no idea that that was an ask at all. Uh so I bring this up as really to emphasize it's important to be really clear, right? So the language I used when I asked them if they wanted to do this was and I and I prefaced it with, you know, I have a big ask for you, you know, and and and knowing that like I'm just I myself am coming into this organization, uh, you know, these two volunteer leaders have been involved with this organization for over a year, year and a half, I think two, maybe even over two years for one of them. You know, I'm I'm new, I don't I don't I don't know these folks. So I'm also working on building relationships with these people. They're super fun to be around, so they make it super easy. Uh and so I was super transparent and honest. I was like, hey, you know, I I have a big ask for you. I'm curious if either of you have an interest in really owning this hearing as your action. And I sit in the silence and I just waited to see what they what they thought. And they were they were really excited about it. They're like, yes, yes. Uh, you know, I I think, you know, and especially for uh this volunteer Joe, uh, she she even admitted that she is has is much better in person, much prefers to be doing in-person actions rather than doing stuff on the phones, which was which is a lot of the work that these folks have been doing, has been uh training folks on on making calls and and patch through calls, which is having constituents call their legislators on different issues. So so yeah, they were they were they were excited. But it took that direct, clear language of this is what I'm asking. I want to know, do you want to own this hearing? Like you would be the point person that volunteers would go to. We'd create an email for you that the two of you could check, right? Like, and we talked through all of this. Like what like what would it look like? Uh, you know, make making sure that it was really clear to them what they were signing up for and what they could expect and and what kind of support they could expect, right? Because I also, as as somebody that's in a consulting role, and my job is to support them, I want to be really honest about what the limitations are of the of the support that I can offer. I don't want to make promises I can't keep, right? Uh so I think it's being honest about what we need, being clear and and and uh and and and not overpromising. We want to set folks up for success. It's really, really important. All right. So when you are asking folks to when you're making these asks and you're recruiting folks and you're and you're inviting people into the work, right? Always think about asking for help, inviting people into the work, right? That's that's what we're doing here. Maybe always equals no. I'm gonna say it again. Maybe always equals no. So you're talking to your buddy who you know is super passionate, cares about this thing, cares about you, right? This is your first circle of folks that you're gonna be talking to. Hey, Edmund, I'm really excited. I have this rally that I'm trying to organize. Can I count on you to be there? And then if she says, uh, you know, maybe I might, I might be able to make it, maybe. Right? Okay, time out. As soon as somebody says maybe, maybe equals no, you want to immediately think about troubleshooting. Your job as an organizer is to help support folks in figuring out how they can take action on the things they care about. So when you hear that maybe, when you when you're thinking about troubleshooting that maybe, you want to ask more questions. You want to practice genuine curiosity and what you're trying to figure out. I feel like most maybes or no's are gonna come from one of three places. So those three underlying things, are they nervous? Right? Is the action you're asking them to do make them nervous? Oh, I I could never phone bank. I don't knock on doors, I'm not good in person, I'm not good on the phone. I'm horrible with technology, I could never do data entry, right? All of all of these things. So are they nervous? Are they a hot mess? Do they just not know what the heck is going on in their life? I am totally one of those people. For folks who know me, I'm totally one of those people that would say, Oh my goodness, would love to help. I don't know if I can make it, I got a lot going on. Let me think about it, da-da-da-da-da. Right? On and on and on, because life is chaos. So you got your hot mess folks. So you have your nervous folks, you have your hot mess folks, and then you have folks that are then you have some folks that are just like legitimately busy. Like they just can't. Like that's, you know, they've got a doctor's appointment, they've got work, they've got kids, they've got whatever, they've got 10 dogs, who knows, right? They're busy, it's a hard, it's it's uh, it's not happening. They just don't have the they just don't want to tell you no. But that's but that's what's going on. That's what's happening in the moment. They're that's their soft no. So, how do you troubleshoot those things? You ask more questions. So somebody says, Oh gosh, oh, yeah, I would love to be there. I don't know though. Maybe, maybe. You you you you can put me down as a maybe. So the next line, well, I'm curious, like what's what's holding you back from from being able to join us? And this is where you really want to actively listen, listen to what they're giving you. Oh gosh, I don't know. Um I I just I have so much going on. I I I I gotta figure out if I can if I can even make it. Like I just, you know, I'm like working and I'm a student, and I, you know, I'm do I've just am doing too much and I got a dog that's needy, all the things. So the organizer is gonna troubleshoot with that person. Maybe it's figuring out if somebody can walk their dog, maybe somebody that can watch their kids. If it's a transportation issue, maybe there's an organizer or another volunteer that can help with transportation to the event. Uh, you know, but like think creatively, think outside the box. If it's somebody who really is passionate and excited and it's just literally like life is too much to think through, be that thought buddy, help them figure it out, right? If if that's something that they uh that they want. All right, so you're nervous, folks. So let's I'm gonna role play a nervous Nelly, right? A nervous person. Um okay, so the organizer has made the ask. Let's say we're let's say the ask is about a phone bank. Oh gosh, yeah, no, I oh my goodness. I appreciate that you think I I can do that. Uh and the reality is phones terrify me. So, you know, I could stuff some envelopes or something, uh, you know, or even doors. I'd even be happy to do doors. I love doing in-person stuff. I just phones are not my jam. Um I don't do phones. I yeah, sorry. I I wish I could help you out, but you're talking to the wrong person. Um okay, cue the organizer. Totally hear you. I totally hear you. And you know, I remember the first time that I actually ever went to a phone bank. I was super, super nervous too. And, you know, one of the things that is really important to me as an organizer is making sure people feel supported. So we do do a full training before you ever even get on the phone. We do a couple role plays to make sure you're feeling really confident and great. Uh and then uh and then we'll then we can jump on the phones. And and if that feels really scary, then you know, I'm gonna be at the action. You can listen to one of my calls, see how it, see how it is. Uh and I can even be sitting with you while while you're going through that. Is that something that, you know, is it something that you're willing to try? You know, and if you if you give it a try and you realize it's not for you, that's totally cool. Uh but but you know, what what do you what do you think of giving it a shot just this once? So, pause. Something that I want to call out. The organizer just made a lot of promises, right? The organizer promised that this potential volunteer could listen to some of their calls. They promised that uh they would sit there with this potential caller while they're making their dials. Now, those are incredible and amazing things to offer. And if you're able, like genuinely able, like if you know that's a commitment you can follow through with, you can absolutely make that commitment, but you have to know that you can follow through with that commitment. Because that person is going to be coming into that space depending on you following through on your word. And if you fail to do so, you have lost that person, and rightfully so. Underpromise, overdeliver. Always. So something that is safe to offer, and if you're not already doing it, I highly recommend that you do. Say that there is gonna be a full training. If you're not doing a full training, uh, you know, there's gonna be more resources on Ocean of Organizing for how to set up and facilitate trainings. Make sure you have a full and thorough training so that that's a promise you can make to every volunteer with confidence because you're gonna do it at every single action. You're gonna have a thorough training, and that you're gonna have uh coaches supporting in the room, right? So those are two things that you should have at every action anyway, right? A tr a full and thorough training and coaching support in the room. Whether that's the trainers that are also coaching, or maybe you have volunteer leaders that are coaching, or maybe there's staff people that are coaching. Always have coaches, always have trainers at every single action. And if you do that, not only are you setting people up for success, but this also is a great opportunity to be building community. Because whenever you do those trainings, they're getting to meet other folks in the room, um, things like that. And if they've been to a lot of trainings, maybe you're asking them to be a trainer. Something to think about. It's another great like role opportunity in terms of leadership development. Um so if you're always, if you're consistently offering trainings, consistently offering coaching, when you have folks that are nervous, those are things that you can with confidence offer and know that you can follow through with to help alleviate their concerns. And sharing with them a time, and it has to be real, don't make this up. Like we want to be building genuine connections with folks. If you can remember a time that maybe you personally struggled with the thing that they're nervous about doing, share that. Like remember that we're building relationships with folks, right? If it's not something that you can genuinely speak to, that's okay. If you have in your back pocket a story from another volunteer, right? Like maybe you can say, hey, you know, actually last week was Susie's first time ever being on phones. And uh, you know, she was she wasn't even gonna come because she was so nervous. And by the end of it, she felt so successful that she was really excited to actually come back and do it again, and it actually wasn't as bad as she thought it was gonna be. Right? So these are those are things that you can that you can share with folks. Also, in the case of phones, the reality is, I mean, uh the 15-20% pickup rate is an incredible pickup rate. The reality is that the majority of their dialing, they're probably not even gonna be talking to anybody. So, you know, um, not that you necessarily want to be sharing that, but I think also setting up some expectations that it's it's not that scary uh can be helpful. Or, you know, any any more information that you can give them to help them feel safe and secure is important. All right. So we've talked about our hot mess people, our nervous people, and now there's our busy people. Those folks are the easiest and the hardest. The easiest because you literally, it's just a scheduling thing, right? Like you just need to find a time that they can come in. They've got a lot going on, they know they have a lot going on, they know what they have going on. So it's a matter of pulling out your calendars, swapping notes, figuring out when that person can get in. The reason why it's also the hardest is because that person's super busy and they're super booked, and it's hard to find a time that they can make it in. Um so, but that one's pretty straightforward. You're literally just troubleshooting calendar stuff with them. So ask questions. Be genuinely curious when you're when you're when you're making those asks. Maybe always equals no. All right, so I'm gonna talk about this 550-500 model. Uh I in the show notes, I am gonna include uh a link to a graphic. It's actually, this actually comes from the National LGBTQ Task Force uh training modules, which they have some excellent, excellent training modules. They're totally free. All you have to do is register on their website. I think turnaround time is like a day or two. Uh but I'd highly recommend checking it out. Um and actually, I think that they've potentially updated it. I'm not sure. But uh but at any rate, check the show notes because this particular graphic's gonna be in there. I want you in your mind to picture a pyramid. And at the top of the pyramid is a five. It's a pyramid cut sliced into three layers, right? So the top tiny part, picture the number five. The next, that middle layer, that next layer down, uh, picture the number 50, and then that big base bottom is the 500. So, and if you think about this in terms of your volunteer capacity leadership, the five, so the five volunteers at the top of your pyramid, you're like rock star volunteer leaders. Those are the folks that are on fire about your issue. Like they care so deeply and so passionately, they are in it 110% to the end. Like they are with you. Those are gonna be, they're essentially, they're essentially full-time organizers that are volunteering their time. Right? You can treat them like another organizer with responsibilities, maybe you know, a title. Um it's a really great segue for folks to get into the work, especially on issues that they genuinely care about. Uh so those are kind of your five, right? That next middle layer, that 50, those 50 folks, those are folks that really care deeply about the issue. Uh they're they are the folks that um, you know, when you ask them why they care about this issue, they say, this issue is important to me, right? Your five, your your people on the top of your pyramid are like, I'm on fire about this. The 50 are, this is important to me. Those 50, that middle section of that pyramid, those folks that are like, yeah, this is important, I'm committed, those are folks that you want in a recurring role. So maybe you b maybe your big ask of them is for them to come, like, not only can they commit to this like one action, but if you have a recurring action, like maybe you have a phone bank every Tuesday night. Can they come every Tuesday night? Right? Like, can you make that ask of them to just make that commitment to be with you on Tuesdays? It's an issue that they care about. You know, potentially, I mean, if you're making this ask, it's probably something that they're good at too, right? So you're it's you're you're playing into that meaningful role because it's they're experiencing success. Um and then that in that bottom, that base layer are So those are folks that when you ask them, you know, uh, why do you care about this issue, their response is more along the lines of, you know, if I really think about it, this issue is in line with my values. Right? So like they care, they're they're with you, um, but it's not one of their top priorities in life, right? Like there's maybe a hundred other things that's ahead of this particular issue for them. Um so it's not one of the most urgent or important things for those folks. So that base layer, that like 500 layer, those are the folks that you're gonna ask to help out on like crucial times. So you've got like a rally going on, or maybe you have a hearing coming up and you need literally every human on the phone generating patch-through calls, right? Uh that that's where those like 500 come through. There's another way of looking at this pyramid, this 550, 500, uh, in in relationship to recruitment, and that is that if you're five people, your five rock stars at the top, you're five volunteer leaders, if each of those five people can invite ten people into the work, well look, now you've built your middle 50, right? You've got these impassioned people out there inviting ten people into the work. Now you've got that middle layer, that 50. Now if those 50 people who are your people that say this is important to me, right, this is a priority for me, it's not the only thing happening in my life. I got a lot of other stuff going on, but this is important. I'm dedicated, I'm I'm I'm here, I'm with you, right? Those 50 people recruit 10 people each. Now you've got 500. You've got that 500 base. And and through this process, you're gonna identify more folks that you're gonna be kind of like moving up that leadership ladder, moving up into that, into those middle and upper slots. Um but it's one way to think about kind of it's an interesting framework in regards to thinking about how you're doing recruitment and and how and and really the way that capacity building can work, right? Um, how quickly you can grow a team if you're trusting your volunteers and ha and and empowering them to build capacity with you. Last, but certainly not least, is data and tracking. And you're like, oh my goodness, what the heck does data and tracking have to do with recruitment? And I'm gonna tell you everything. Uh I have been known to say, if it's not in the tracker, it didn't happen. Here's why I say that. That's not actually true, right? Like if it's not in the tracker, it it did still happen in the world. The conversation really did happen. Perhaps that shift really did get recruited. Perhaps that ask really did manifest into a volunteer leader, right? These are all things that may have really actually happened. The reason why I say it doesn't count if it's not tracked is because those numbers are going to tell a story. Basic organizer math says that if you recruit 100 people to an action, say, and I'm just saying I'm just arbitrarily picking these numbers for easy math. If you recruit 100 people to an action, 100 people say yes. When you do your confirm calls, which is a whole nother thing that's also really important, when you call folks and confirm that they're gonna come to the event because people need that reminder, confirm calls are a critical part of people turning out to different actions or events. When you confirm, when you do those confirm calls, half of the people that said yes, you're gonna be able to get a hold of and they're gonna say yes again. So those confirm calls are essentially another recruitment conversation, right? Like you're re-recruiting somebody who already said yes. Of those people that confirmed, that you confirmed and said yes, half of them will actually show up. Right? So for the math wizards out there, that would be a show-up rate of 25%. That is like kind of like the basement of show-up rates. That is the worst you will probably ever do is a 25% show-up rate. The reality is if you are doing values-based organizing and you are building relationships with folks as you go, and you're committing and investing in your team to and in your teams, if you're committed to your teams and you're investing in your teams, your show-up rate's gonna be a lot higher. Um I've worked with some organizations that have show up rates of like 80-90% to the point where when they're they're very careful when they do recruitment because they know their people show up. And sometimes they don't have capacity for everybody to show up. So you can certainly increase your show-up rate, but at a bare minimum, that 25% is kind of like your base, your base layer for show-up. Now, why I'm telling you all of this is because this is how the data can can tell a story, right? If you are keeping track of how many people you've recruited and how many people showed up, and how many people know showed, and how many people you confirmed in this whole process, you can see, you will start to identify patterns over time. So you might find that when you do recruitment, maybe you're getting a show-up rate of 50%. And maybe one of your rock star, maybe one of your rock star volunteer leaders are getting like a 60% show-up rate. And maybe one of your canvassers has a 30% show-up rate. If those numbers are holding consistent over time, there is something that that rockstar volunteer leader is doing well that perhaps that canvasser could learn from, right? Or perhaps there's something going on with that canvaser, either personally or uh professionally, that is perhaps getting in the way of them doing successful work, right? And those are all things that that we that we want to figure out, because we want to support folks in the work and we want to make sure we're setting people up for success. But we also are always learning in the work and always trying to figure out how we can do things better and how we can learn from each other. But if you're not tracking, you don't get to see that story. So you don't know that that supervol is I mean, you're gonna have a sense. Like you're gonna know, holy bananas, this person's recruiting like crazy and these people always show up. Right? Like you're gonna have a sense of this, but not to the level that you can make uh that you can dig deeper on, right? So you're so you can look at your data as kind of a a first level um analysis of where you can be spending your time in terms of supporting your team, right? Like so may and you know, and and we'll we'll we'll we'll talk more about coaching and training and things down the road, but you know, if you know that somebody's performing at that 30% show-up rate and the rest of your team's up at like 60-70%, uh, we want to ask questions and not and not in a critical way, but in a like in but in a genuinely curious, like, I want to know what's going on, and I want to support this person, I want to see them be successful way. We will always want to be coming from that place of care and support uh for folks in the work. Because the other thing to remember too is we just never know what's going on in people's lives, too, right? Um and so we don't want to be making any assumptions or jumping to any kind of conclusions without having the full picture. So this was a super fast, um uh just a super fast get your toes wet with some ideas and concepts around recruitment. It is certainly not 100% comprehensive. It is certainly not ideal, I think, to be getting this kind of information through just a podcast. Um I think it's helpful. I think that you can get a lot out of it. And I think when possible, if you can um be at an in-person training or if you can, I highly recommend checking out the show notes. Uh there's going to be some visual uh PDFs that I put in there that are from the National LGBTQ task force. I'll I'll also link to their training platform as well, so you can spend some time in there. Uh and some and I've got a couple uh materials of my own that I've created that I'll that I'll also put in the show notes too. So make sure you're checking those things out. Make sure you're you're also asking for the help you need, right? So if you're new to organizing and you're working with a bunch of veteran organizers, ask them about recruitment. Ask for the help you need. So, in summary, we've covered a lot here. At the same time, this is really just barely scratching the surface, hitting you with some concepts and some ideas and things to be thinking about, you know, working to shift uh, you know, perhaps our framework around asking for help and thinking about ways that we're inviting folks into the work. We're gonna talk about that a lot over time. Something that I just always have in the back of your head. Uh it's just a quick summary of some of the things that we went over. You know, ask for what you need. Maybe always equals no. Find meaningful roles for folks, build genuine relationships, and track your data. Whew, my goodness. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. This is kind of a new thing for me, doing a full uh episode like this, just kind of training and talking about skills. So I would really, really love your feedback. If this was helpful, awesome. If it wasn't, tell me what would have been more helpful. Was it hard to listen to me talk for an hour? Uh tell me all these things. Uh, I want to know because I want to know how I can best serve you. So if this was helpful, great, I'll do more of them. If it was not helpful at all, uh, that's also good to know because I won't do them anymore. And uh also be sure to check out the show notes. There's gonna be a lot of really great materials there for you for your reference. If you're a visual person like I am, uh, there's a lot of stuff in there that'll be helpful in your recruitment efforts. So, with that, um, if you could make your way over to oceanoforganizing.com, drop me some feedback in that feedback form, let me know what you think, and thank you. I appreciate you. I appreciate the work you do out in the world. I appreciate you tuning in. Thank you. Be well.