Don't waste my time

As stated yesterday, there are literally millions of people who are willing to volunteer. They are motivated enough and interested enough to go through whatever training may be required of them, as long as they feel the reward is sufficient. The problem comes when the volunteer activity becomes a greater burden than the required training.

Having been a EMS volunteer for several different agencies over the past 25 years, I can attest to the feeling that "it's not worth it". Rarely will you hear someone voice the opinion that maintaining the EMT certification is not worth it. Most people who get into that field, do so out of a genuine interest in pre-hospital emergency care. What they don't count on is the hours of mind-numbing meetings and time-consuming requirements that really have nothing to do with actually being an EMT.

Some of this can be alleviated by expanding the scope of the recruiting drive to enlist the assistance of others to help. For example, one agency spent hours and hours involved in fund-raising activities such as stuffing envelopes for fund drives and frying any type of food available for fund-raising dinners. All of this became "required" of all members because it was vital to the agency's existence. The problem was, it was more than the EMT's signed up for. It was work that could have been done by people who enjoyed assisting the agency but who had no EMT training. This is the type of non-focus activity that burns out volunteers.

Another big time-robber is the meeting. I was a member of another organization for years and saw the difference between leaders in running a meeting. We had monthly meetings that were "required" for all members. One leader, a specialist in minutae, would allow discussion on the smallest item without limit and his meetings would last, literally, 3 hours. Another leader, same organization, same members, would hand out a tight, meaningful agenda and keep all discussion focussed on only the necessary business resulting in more things accomplished in 45 minute meetings. This makes a HUGE difference to the volunteer membership.

Remember, volunteers do want to be a part of your organization, but they don't want to make it the only thing in their life. You must be respectful in your use of their time.