THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY'S SUCCESS'992600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 *Washington DC 20037 * (202) 333-0008 *www.LP.org

VolunteersDo's and don't's for managing volunteers

Do...

Take a clipboard with a volunteer sign-upsheet wherever you campaign.

Treat them like gold.

Keep accurate records of their names,phone numbers, etc.

Give them something to do as soon as theyoffer to help.

Remember to express your gratitudesincerely.

Pay attention to each individual's strengthsand weaknesses and assign tasks accordingly.

Schedule 50% more volunteers than youthink you will need for any project.

Keep them "in the loop" as much as pos-sible. Make them feel part of the campaign.

Keep an eye open for the really competentones who may be moved up to a staff job.

Make sure you have a volunteer coordina-tor who is OKwith making lots of phone calls.

Help your candidate remember their names.

Have the candidate show up (briefly)during volunteer events and thank each person.

Try to have a job for the kids, too. Shred-ding sensitive documents is a good one.

Help them to stay motivated by sharinggood news and making them feel important.

Encourage the candidate's spouse to par-ticipate in volunteer activities.

Don't ...

Be upset if people say they will be thereand don't show. Ask them again next time.

Ever get angry at the volunteers.

Everccriticizestaff, other volunteers, or thecandidate in front of them.

Talk about some volunteers in front ofothers.

Forget to thank them for their efforts.Remember they could be doing something else!

Let them leave non-campaign materialsaround your headquarters.

Let the hard-core, long-time Libertariansscare the new people.

Allow volunteers with "good ideas" to side-track your plan.

Always Remember:"Goushaw's Rule of the 100""When you have contributed 100 hours or $100,then you are entitled to an opinion on what Iam doing."

- . THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY'S SUCCESS'992600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 *Washington DC 20037 * (202) 333-0008 *www.LP.org

Koop· Voluntoors12 steps to keep your volunteers happy

"1 volunteer!"Those two words are guaranteed to

bring a smile to any Libertarian Partyleader. As a smaU, grassroots organization, theLP was built by - and is still largely powered by- the volunteer spirit of its members.

But the words ''1 volunteer'" merely.beginthe process. After that first rush of enthusiasmdissipates, LP leaders notice that manyvolunteers stop volunteering - or simply stopshowing up for LP events.

How can we change that?According to Dr. Peter M. Sandman - a

professor at Rutgers University - the secret isto focus on the needs of the volunteers.

In the late 1980s, Dr. Sandman was avolunteer coordinator for the Nuclear Freezemovement, and wrote an article entitled,"Holding Your Volunteers." His advice appliesnot just to the Freeze movement, but to anygroup that relies on volunteer support.

Sandman wrote: "1 want to list for you the12 most common reasons why volunteers quittheir organizations ~ or, more often, simplydisappear. Most of the 12 can be dealt with ,---,-,ifwe are paying attention to organizationalmaintenance. None of the 12 reasons forquitting, by the way, is people changing their ,.minds about the issues. Note also that none ofthe 12 is 'not enough time: That's what manyformer volunteers will tell you if you ask whythey left, but it's a cover story. Their day didn'tget shorter, after all; they just decided toreallocate the part of it that used to go to [you]."

Instead, noted Sandman, volunteers leavebecause the volunteer work "no longer satisfies

their own needs. Holding volunteers, in otherwords, is more a matter of maintaining their joythan of maintaining their conviction."

Here are Dr. Sandman's 12 reasons (slightlyedited). Notice how many of them mirror thedifficulties that your Libertarian Party

.orqanizatiorrrnay.be. having with yourvolunteers.

1. BURN OUT. People often leaveorganizations when they are asked to do toomuch too fast. We are all familiar with thephenomenon: A newcomer at the March meetingspeaks up at the April meeting, is appointedcommittee chair at the May meeting, anddoesn't show for the June meeting. To avoidburn out, we should try to offer volunteers aseries of slowly increasing responsibilities.

2. COOL OUT. The opposite of askingpeople to do too much too fast is not askingthem to do anything at all. In many groups thisis the number one reason for leaving: No oneinvited me to the workshop, no one asked me to

., help with.the [neighborhood] canvass, no .onetold me they needed me. The solution to "cool

.out" is straightforward. Don't be diffident. aboutasking, and don't lose track of people. Beespecially careful to touch base with volunteerswho missed the last meeting, so the lack of arole doesn't become a reason to miss the nextone as well.

3. KEEP OUT. We old-timersinevitably gravitate to each 'other at gatherings,especially when we've been through tough times

together, or when we have work to transact andgossip to transmit. This leaves newcomers sittingpainfully alone, watching the inner circle andpondering the invisible "Keep Out" signs wedidn't mean to post. You can't stop theformation of cliques, and you can't stop wantingtime with your friends. But you can consciouslyreach out to newcomers. In larger groups youcan even institutionalize a buddy system. Paireach newcomer with another newcomer tocompare notes with, and with an old-timer to goto for basic information.

4. PULL OUT. Newcomers maybecome old-timers, but they don't want to feelthat they must. That is, people are more likelyto participate when the extent of their

.participation is safely under theircontro 1.Organizational commitmentsare like personalcommitments in this way: No.one likes to feeltrapped, and so the sense that a person or groupis clutching desperately provokes a strongimpulse to escape while there's still time. Part ofthe solution is to project desire but notdesperation. The rest of it is to let the volunteercontrol the commitment; when a volunteer setsexplicit limits ("1 don't want to sell tickets tothe lasagna dinner"), respect them.

5. CAN'T WIN. Nothing scaresvolunteers away faster than the sense of futility- either the feeling that the work is doomed todefeat or the feeling that the goals are unclear,that defeat and victory hardly apply. To forestallthis "can't win" feeling, try to build instead asense .of efficacy, a sense that the goals are

. worth achieving, that the.qroup can achieve. them,and that the volunteer .is contributing. significantly to their achievement. This meansdefining explicit short-term objectives as well asthe long-term vision, and it means making afuss each time an objective is achieved. Don't letpeople go out on an afternoon canvass withouta standard of how many homes, how manysignatures, and how many dollars represent asuccessful afternoon - and don't let them gohorne afterward without crowing over thesuccess.

6. CAN'T LOSE. As many front-running political candidates have learned totheir dismay, working for a sure thing strikesmost people as just as pointless as working for afutile longshot. For purposes of volunteermorale, the ideal probability of success is about40%: We're a little behind but with your help we'regoing to pull into the lead. Be especially alertfor the anticlimax that follows a victory. Youneed to celebrate the success, of course, but besure to connect it in advance to the next step andthe step after that, so the pause to celebrate isalways following by a reason to keep working.

7. NO GROWTH. Alienated labor isbad enough when you're paid for it; it'sintolerable when you're not. Volunteer work

..'_._should beinterestinqrat.should offer variety,. change, achancefor.personal growth. There isboring work to be done: nf course. But spread itaround (officers too); make it fun where youcan; and alternate it with more interestingwork, volunteer training, and other plums. Note,however, that boredom is in the eye of thebeholder. Some of your volunteers may preferthe conviviality of an envelope-stuffing party tothe tension of a Congressional lobbying visit.But most do not; though they may not complain(until they quit), they expect a chance to grow.Look around for volunteers who may be in a no-growth rut, and offer them a spicy newchallenge.

8. NO APPRECIATION.Volunteers don't just enjoy being appreciated.They need it (without.it they tend to lose faith

.:,in.the .value.ofszhatztbeyre doing) 'and they....des.erve .it. Ata.minimum, appreciating

volunteershas.fhree .components. The mostobvious is "thank you": We are grateful for whatyou have done. But just as important - and farmore often neglected - is "please": We are nottaking for granted that you will do more. Andperhaps the most crucial aspect of appreciationis meticulous attention to logistics: Returningphone calls, answering notes, passing alonginformation, scheduling meetings at times thevolunteer can make. Organizations that really

know how to appreciate volunteers - theAmerican Cancer Society comes to mind - useeverything from newsletters to awards banquetsto endless desktop pen sets to make the point.

9. EXTERNAL OPPOSITION.If family and friends are opposed to avolunteer's volunteering, odds are you'lleventually lose that volunteer. The obvioussolution is to avoid external opposition in thefirst place. Family and friends are in a real sense"contributing" some of their time with thevolunteer; find ways and occasions to thankthem. Better still, lessen the contribution byinvolving them directly. Even family memberswho do not want to volunteer themselves maystill want to meet the people and get a sense ofwhat goes on during aU those [volunteer] hours.And think about external opposition that risesout of skepticism about the cause rather thanresentment of the competition. Involvement isthe best way to cope with this, too, but secondbest is to make sure volunteers bring home asteady stream of "ammunition" demonstratingthe wisdom and effectiveness of [yourorganization's] work.

1o. EXTERNAL CONFLICT.Personality conflicts, tensions, and even quarrelsmay be acceptable at home or at a paying job,but not at a volunteer job - especially not apolitical one. Part of the problem is imaginingthat people who share political values are alwaysgoing to like each other. Part of the solution isaccepting that we may not like each other. Oncethe conflict is acknowledged, the rest of thesolution depends on the style of your group.Some groups mediate the battle, some encouragethe battlers to duke it out, some urge them tomake up, and some reorganize the work so theywon't have to deal with each other so much.

11. POLICY DISAGREEMENTS.Sometimes - though less often than we image- the conflict is genuinely over policies ratherthan personalities. A consensus decision-makingprocess will help here. Though it takes forever, itleads to better decisions, and unlike voting it

doesn't produce disgruntled minorities. Even ifyour group decides things by vote or by fiat, thecrucial need is to listen to the losing side.Volunteers who quite over a policy disagreementalmost always report that the majority (or thechair) didn't understand their position. If youcan summarize the minority viewpointaccurately and respectfully, the minority willusually accept the decision. A coronary is thatvolunteers who weren't present when a decisionwas made are the ones most likely to see it asgrounds for quitting, so try to make keydecisions when the dissidents are there toexpress their dissent.

12. NOT ENOUGH FUN. Yes, ofcourse [achieving your political goals] is seriouswork ..But we.mere. humans need parties .andpicnics and softball teams.

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part ofyour revolution."