June 1981 RA IN Page 9 ~ " ~e,~\~~o"t~ . , ~~G~o"t~ . A Celebration a/Volunteers: How Citizen should be chosen. While a volunteer coordi- is included in a section at the end of this paGroups in the Northern Rockies Can nator is essential to the smooth operation of per. While recognizing the room that exists Work Effectively with Them, by Mary a volunteer program, the involvement of all for debate and refinement, this publication is Lee Reese, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1978, $3.00; staff members in planning, training, and an outstanding resource both for its informaevaluation is still essential. tion on capacity building within the organiAdministration 0/Public Interest Groups Reese suggests that the ideal relationship zation and for offering stimulus to the effort by William L. Bryan, Jr., Vol. 2, No.2, between the organization and the volunteer to evolve effective organizational structures 1977, $3.00; is one of partnership in which both are bene- consistent with our social values. fitted and the organization moves forward. In a somewhat different format than the Membership Recruitment Manual, by Her paper is full of thoughtful and pointed first two NRAG papers, the Membership Bruce P. Ballenger, 1981, $10.00; suggestions for creating that partnership. Recruiting Manual maintains the quality of In the week before a recent board meeting, previous publicatIOns in expanded size. all from: I went through William Bryan's Adminis- Building on a philosophical base, the first Northern Action Rockies Group tration of Public Interest Groups with a fine third of this manual is devoted to the politics 9 Placer Street tooth comb. While offering no cure-all, Bry- of recruirment : why people join citizen Helena, MT 59601 an presents a needed context and several movements, the politics of numbers, and models with which to approach questions of organizing strategies. A brief though excelThere is a commonly held belief among the organizational structure and accountability. lent resource guide to materials and organizRAIN staff about our luck: that when the This ambitious paper is divided into four ing training centers concludes this section. going gets tough someone or something issue areas : decision making, internal com- The remainder of the book is concerned with comes along that pu~hes us back from the munication, " nuts and bolts" (internal office the " how-to's" of recruitment. Techniques edge. In accord with that tradition, these maintenance), and planning. Using a more for conducting direct mail campaigns {letter three NRAG papers (and a fourth on Pre- traditional (hierarchical/participatory) model writing tips, mailing lIsts and costs) ; canventing Burnout reviewed in the April 1981 Bryan explores the role of the executive vassing (doorstep tips) ; opportunity recruitissue of RAIN) arrived in our mail basket at a director or coordinator. His characterization, ingand events (outings, dinners, house critical point. Each has proven useful in our a useful one for any structure concerned with meetings); and phonathons, advertising and internal restructuring, our board meetings, "leadershjp" functions, includes: minimiz- publicity (telephone raps) layout the details and the organization of our volunteer pro- ing procrastination on decisions, being clear for organizers. Lastly, a section on " Pulling gram. Although each manual is directed pri- about expectations of other staff members, it All Together" ties the pieces into a commarily toward citizen-based, public interest delegating responsibility (while refraining posite strategy-an annual recruiting camorganizations, the material contained is gen- from looking over shoulders), being sensitive paign. Bruce Ballenger provides a step-byeralty applicable. about receiving criticism and feedback, and step approach to building a recruitment plan Written by an experienced volunteer, being blunt about evaluating oneself as an from the identification of recruitment goals Mary Lee Reese's A Celebration of Volun- innovator, project person , and administrator (what kind of members, from where, how leers tackles the major obstacles organiza- simultaneously. many) through evaluation of the campaign. tions face in recruiting and maintaining vol- Alternating between structure and process This manual is bursting with invaluable unteers. Although most of us, either concerns, Bryan addresses issues such as the information: success stories, common pitindividually or as organizations, are familiar role of the Board of Directors, guidelines for falls and methods for evaluating costs and with volunteer programs and their benefits, creating personnel policies, and methods for benefits of various strategies. An appendix, careful planning and integration of volun- establishing integrated and regular planning 13 pages long in itself, covers particular teers are often given low priority. In design- practices. While Bryan advocates an active questions such as renewals, maintaining ing or improving existing volunteer pro- role for the Board of Directors (a less than membership records and the emotional prepgrams Reese lists several key steps to common occurrence) , he is less anxious aration for selling yourself and your organiundertake. First, an honest and realistic eval- about pursuing alternative organizational zation. Recognizing t~e increasing imporuation of the work that needs to be done forms . "I feel it is inevitable that some form tance of an active and informed citizenship, should be conducted with an eye toward va- of hierarchical structure will be the basic un- this manual is a must for any organization riety and varying levels of responsibility . derlying mode of decision-making within a considering or currently engaging in memSecond, a thorough plan including job de- constituency -based, staffed organization." bership recruitment. One of the best investscriptions, orientation and training, record A short critique of Administration of Pub- ments I've heard of for this nominal fee. keeping and evaluation procedures should be lie Interest Groups , identifying some of the -LS established. Third, a volunteer coordinator major issues and biases of Bryan's approach, I
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