Tag: Organization

Never Turn Away a Volunteer

Always Make Sure You Have Work to Give Them

By Mitchell Slepian

I have been volunteering since I was very young. Work includes community groups, political campaigns, religious institutions, and my building’s board. I am still involved with a few groups. I chair one.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of organizations.  Volunteers come in all shapes and forms. Some have limited time. Some have lots of it. Sometimes some have too much time. But we make sure we use all these people. 

I remember working on political campaigns, and the so-called experts come in, volunteer, and tell you how they are running for political office and plan to start with the U.S. Senate. Sure, things like that can happen. But realistically, it does not. Volunteer coordinators sit and listen to all of this. We do our best to build a rapport with all our helpers. Some give money besides their time. Some are only in play because of how much money they can give.

No matter what, all these people are important. They have something to give. These folks all want to give back. The most important thing is to recognize that and make sure you have work to do. I remember days in volunteer offices when people would come in after we just wrapped up sorting out a big mailing. We had everything ready to go to the post office. We were almost done for the day. But people came when they had time.  So, we found work for them to do. Sometimes it was as simple as asking them to check the mailing project we sorted or double-check the alphabetizing of lists. 

The people were giving back, and we saw the smiles on their faces. They felt they were contributing. Several people thanked me when they left for giving them the time to help the organization. It feels great to see people wanting to contribute and enjoying themselves. Some of the groups I used to help regularly aren’t as interested in having people work for them anymore. It is a turnoff. 

Bottom line, never turn away a volunteer and always make sure you have something for them to do. 

The Annoying Things PR Pros Get Stuck With

Think Them Through and Realize How Important They Are

By Mitchell Slepian

Every job has its exciting stuff. Every job has its why am I stuck with this? Sometimes, the latter is what grows your metrics and ultimately your organization’s revenue or reputation. I am sure Hall of Famers like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera found specific training or other drills annoying. But they did it, and they have five rings to show for it. I wish they had more.

Back to the real world. We all love it when we score a hit on Dow Jones Newswires, a key industry trade, or when your Instagram and LinkedIn posts are hitting record views and have positive comments. Then there is managing the communication team’s email box. We all know that’s the overloaded inbox with requests from reporters, analysts, and event producers who want your CEO and CFO to speak at a leading industry event. We jump on those. Then there are the customer emails complaining. In your mind, you wonder, why didn’t they contact customer care? Maybe they did. Perhaps they never heard back or weren’t pleased with the service.

We get emails from people asking you to buy batteries, hamburger patties, insurance, or to see if they are related to you, and wonder what discounts you can give them. I am sure you’ve received the queries from people whose parents or grandparents worked for or were involved with your organization. Maybe they contributed money for fundraising campaigns or held leadership roles.

When I was in the internet telephony world, people emailed the PR Team’s mailbox every day. Rarely was it a reporter. They knew how to find us. One guy called me and tried to get me to buy his battery backup system. He said that if our network went down, his company would save us, and he was the only one who could. I directed him to our website, which explained our procedures for network outages. They had to be on our site. People purchasing our service needed to know the system worked. He said he never checked our site. I remember saying something along the lines that you probably should research the company you’re asking to spend six figures on before cold calling. He hung up.

I often get emails or calls from people whose now-deceased grandparents made donations to the organizations I volunteer for or work for. They want to know whether the plaques with their names are still hanging or whether the rooms dedicated in their honor are still in use. Often, they tell their children about the nice things their family did. 

Many of us do not consider this public relations. But it is. When you take the time to listen to these people or work with those at your company or volunteer organization to get them the answers they need, it goes a long way.  They are happy and will write positive comments on your social media feeds, buy more of your products, make donations, and come to events. Sometimes the annoying things are what help you grow.