Are you motivating your volunteers?

Are you motivating your volunteers? - When was the last time you treated a volunteer to lunch?

A very simple gesture for just a couple of dollars really shows that you care and appreciate that volunteers support and efforts.

Idea to retain your volunteers

Idea for retaining volunteers – be clear and concise with your expectations. Make sure your volunteers know that they will be doing and that the organization will do for them.

Are you motivating your volunteers?

Are you motivating your volunteers? - When was the last time you welcomed a volunteer by saying thanks for coming to help us today?

Retain volunteers by recognizing them

Idea for retaining volunteers – Recognize your volunteers. Always show your are grateful for their time and talents by thanking them and offering appreciation activities.

It is too easy to get caught up in the day and forget to say thank you.  Schedule the time to show your appreciation and they will keep coming back.

Helping Grammy … what you learn by helping others

67 years young, a brand new cemented hip and an unplanned trip to Tampa. It is never easy when an older parent that lives far away needs your help, but when things happen what are you going to do? That's been my last couple of weeks. Grammy went down, broke her hip and had total hip replacement before I could even figure out what happened. It is 3 weeks later now and here I am in Tampa Florida releasing her from the hospital rehabilitation center and transitioning her back to her home where she lives alone. Interesting time and much to learn on several fronts.

Let's not get into the crash course on types of cemented vs non cemented hips, the expected rehabilitation times and insurance forms and documentation. For this post I want to share share how I felt I could help, how I saw my job during my 5 day trip to help Grammy.

We help in many different ways and helping older parents can be an interesting experience. They kinda become the kids. My job was similar to that of my teenager that is beginning to prepare for college. I needed to prepare Grammy to live on her own. My job was in 5 days to help her be able to live on her own again. To build the confidence in her ability and stability with the new hip. To make her house accessible for walkers, high toilet seats, and shower facilities she can safely use. I needed to clean the place, and make sure she had food and everything she needed since she can't drive for another 3 weeks. I also needed to balance the me arranging things for her and the her taking charge for things so she can keep progressing when I leave. Those of you that have experienced this before know what I am talking about.

I think things went well and only time will tell how it is going. Obviously the concern and purpose of the visit was for Grammy, but as we give of ourselves there is always something that we end up with also. The surprising thing is; what I got was totally unrelated to the purpose of the trip.

I got to get away from work with no internet access. I got down time. I got the ability to just slow down (it was necessary for her to do things slowly). I got to see how much her friends in the area love and care for her. I got to realize how this is a result of how she has cared and helped them over the last several years. I got to learn and I got to grow. - I got to realize I have a lot to learn.

HelpTime hits 1,000

Time to Celebrate !

 

HelpTime hits 1,000 – Time for a celebration for those 1,000 generous and giving people that volunteer their time for others 

– Thank you and keep up the good work.

HelpTime for Halloween Celebration

HelpTime Tip - Halloween is coming up, if you're planning a party or event that needs volunteers to help, this is a perfect use for HelpTime. Create your event, add your tasks and share your signup page. - Perfect for those school and class parties. http://helptime.com/EventNew.aspx

Are you motivating your volunteers? - When was the last time you asked volunteer if they were enjoying their work?

Too often we just expect our volunteers to contribute.  We need to take the time and ensure that they are enjoying what they are doing.  If they don't enjoy the work they will eventually stop coming back to help.
Just ask!