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Rotary's Area of Focus for the month of April is: - Maternal and Child Health 

By Nancy Shepherdson

I have learned that when you personally ask people to take on a task that is important to a cause they care about, great things can happen. The key is finding out what will give volunteers satisfaction without drawing attention to the fact that you are trying to motivate them. 

In many ways, motivating volunteers is much harder than motivating employees. You don’t pay volunteers, and you can’t fire them. But there are still effective approaches: Remember that every potential volunteer is looking for something, whether it’s personal satisfaction, the chance to contribute to a good cause, or simply a fun thing to do. 

Why do some people enthusiastically volunteer for every event your club puts on, while others rarely or never do? 

Ariely believes that part of the answer depends on recognition. “Ignoring the performance of people is almost as bad as shredding their effort before their eyes,”

When a reluctant volunteer receives public appreciation for his work, even just a text saying “good job,” it can increase the chances that he will step up for the next project. 

But recognition alone isn’t enough. Being a committed volunteer is hard work, and people know it. So to recruit volunteers, you must overcome what behavioral scientist David Halpern calls “friction”: Will it be worth my time? Will I look like a fool? Will it be too hard? “Humans have a deep-rooted tendency to take the line of least resistance,” notes Halpern, the author of Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference. 

Always think about how to make it easier to participate, such as by breaking up large assignments into smaller tasks. 

So to maintain a contingent of motivated volunteers, you have to plan ahead. When you throw something together at the last minute, you’ll find yourself relying on the same people who always carry the load. Or you’ll quickly overtax new members, who are sometimes the most eager to get involved. 

Encouraging members to identify problems they want to solve and letting them come up with ways to address them are the keys to keeping people motivated. My club is in the midst of another listening tour that I hope results in more good projects that will, in turn, ease members into becoming more engaged. In my experience, if you praise regularly, nudge often, and make sure your group’s values are clear, people who volunteer for you will be grateful to you – even if they’re not sure why.