By Cotton Cleveland

Cotton Cleveland has been researching how to increase municipal volunteerism and to determine "Best Practices" in this area. She asked a number of officials around the state about the challenges of working with volunteers and what their towns do for reward and recognition. Her first article called Egoboo! Recognizing Municipal Volunteers was published in Town & City, October 2002. In November, she conducted a workshop at the Annual NHMA Conference entitled Encouraging Municipal Volunteerism , where she presented a list of "Best Practices". Participants talked about enhancing volunteerism in their towns, adding valuable insights to the project. Cleveland has also done extensive reading, researching the links between building social capital, practicing effective leadership techniques, and enhancing municipal volunteerism. This article summarizes her findings on Best Practices for Encouraging Municipal Volunteerism .

As I continue to do research on municipal volunteerism, I am intrigued to find clear linkages between building social capital, practicing effective leadership techniques and increasing volunteerism in town government. It seems that the more sense of community a town has, the more volunteerism exists. Also, the more effectively led a community is, the more volunteerism exists. Finally, the more municipal volunteers see themselves as part of a well-run community, the more they volunteer and the more they encourage others to volunteer. It's a classic case of the better it gets, the better it gets. Why do these connections exist and how can municipal leaders leverage leadership Best Practices to increase the volunteer base and to build a healthier community?

On the most fundamental levels citizen volunteers are looking for stronger community ties, deep connections with people and place, inclusion in various socioeconomic and cultural groups, and a sense of shared values. The cutting edge work being done by Robert Putnam and Lewis Feldstein in their new book, Better Together: Restoring the American Community , addresses the community's need to develop strong social ties, called "social capital", in order to build and maintain a healthy community.

Lew Feldstein, President of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation explains it this way: "Social Capital is all about the cooperation and the shared values that bind us together…Our communities depend on these connections. This web of associations, shared values and habits of the heart is called Social Capital…It is what connects people to one another."

Additionally, citizen volunteers want results! They want a chance to make a positive impact on their communities. They want to be part of a team that is working to improve the community; that has a sense of forward, positive momentum. A few come in with their own agendas of "no change" or "lower taxes" or “pave my road”; however, the stronger needs are to be valued, recognized, respected, and included as part of an effectively led and managed community.

Our New Hampshire towns need strong leaders to help integrate diverse volunteer interests and to constructively channel these interests in a manner consistent with the community needs for stronger social capital and better run government. Steve Taylor, NH Commissioner of Agriculture, says, “This small-town, community based structure needs constant care and feeding… That's where prospective leaders are sorely needed. As New Hampshire becomes ever more of a commuter state, many of our local institutions are at risk of collapse for lack of fresh energy and talent from people willing to volunteer time.

As part of the project, I developed a list of Best Practices for encouraging municipal volunteerism. Following these effective leadership and good management practices can help to build a stronger base of volunteers to run community government. These Best Practices include building more social capital that will not only bring in more volunteers, but will also serve to strengthen community ties and make the town healthier.

Attracting and Recruiting Volunteers

Probably the most effective way to attract and recruit good volunteers is to have a well-run municipal government! Most people like to join a successful effort; this is especially true if they are doing it for free. These volunteers do not mind working long, hard hours if they feel they are getting results, if they have a sense of positive progress. The need for strong, consistent, fair leadership from the Board of Selectmen or Town Council and from municipal managers cannot be underestimated. Effective leaders focus their attentions on Best Practices.

Additionally, there are specific actions that municipal officials take that will enhance their efforts to attract and recruit volunteers: advertise upcoming or current volunteer openings by paper postings around town, in newspapers, on radio, on public access television and on the municipal web site. Build a sense of team and excitement about the openings and the value they have to the community. Don't be afraid to do a little marketing! Make sure your existing volunteers all know about the openings; don't leave it to the rumor mill. Use your volunteers as ambassadors to recruit others.

Interviewing Potential Volunteers for “Fit” & Appointing Good Volunteers to Open Positions

Effective leaders in municipal management stress the importance of interviewing all potential volunteers. Running the town is important business, important enough for the Selectmen or Council to know who is volunteering for appointed positions. It is equally important that a potential volunteer understand town governance and the wide variety of positions available. These discussions can assist volunteers in learning where their skills “fit” best, and can help the town officials learn where the volunteer's skills could be best utilized.

Each interview should include the basics of getting the citizen's name, address, phone and email. The interviewee should discuss his or her previous volunteer experience, time availability, hopes for the job, any special areas of interest, and any specialized skills. The volunteer interviewee should also explain any previous or current paid work experience and education background. Additionally, each interviewee should provide at least two references.

The interviewer of the volunteers should be experienced, balanced and trusted both by the citizens of the community as well as by the officials. Preferably, there is one person who does the initial interviews, so that all the data comes to the town officials in a relatively similar way. This interviewer acts as a gatekeeper, and as such, should be someone with little ego and a balanced view of the world, not someone with a strong personal or political agenda. This information should be kept in a well-organized fashion, either by file, on data base, such that each time there is a volunteer position open, the Board of Selectmen or Town/City Council has the information on each interviewed volunteer available as they make decisions.

Selectmen or Councilors should be encouraged to interview their top candidates as they face appointment decisions. Making a decision will be challenging, particularly when you have the difficult task of turning candidates down. Remember that you will have other positions open in the future. Do not close any doors. Treat all interviewees with respect and consideration. People can usually handle “no” if it is done in a fair and equitable way. Selectmen and Councilors: Do not hesitate to request additional training for this interviewing and decision-making process!

Orienting and Training Volunteers

Each volunteer position will have a clear written job description, including:

•  What the job entails

•  Purpose and overall contribution

•  How to do the job and with whom

•  What internal and external training sessions will be required

•  Time involvement (no fudging here!)

•  How performance is measured

•  How feedback will be given

Note: Use the job description in the interviewing and appointment process and again at the initial orientation discussion for the new job.

In many cases this volunteer's new job is his or her first real experience with town government. This is an excellent opportunity to educate each citizen volunteer to the municipal management organization and issues. If the volunteer has previously worked with the municipality, this is a great chance to update or refresh this citizen's knowledge. Each new volunteer, no matter what the job, should receive an organizational packet (including job description, committee charge, relevant RSA's, etc), appropriate background reading, a tour of town facilities, and introductions to all paid employees and other volunteers. If there are any relevant films or slides, these should be reviewed. The volunteer should attend any appropriate committee or staff meetings that will assist in broadening his/her overview of the situation.

Additionally, the volunteer should be requested to go to relevant NHMA or regional planners training sessions at the earliest possible time. In fact, the commitment to attend this training should have been made back in the initial selection process.

Effectively Leading and Managing Volunteers

Effective leaders of volunteers will treat each volunteer as part of the municipal team, with fairness and respect. Each volunteer is also a voting citizen, but then again, so are many of the community's paid municipal workers. Kouzes and Posner The Leadership Challenge This leadership action applies equally to paid and unpaid employees.

Another critical function of leading and managing volunteers is providing useful resources. Not only are training and reading materials important, but also providing town legal counsel where appropriate. Town officials will provide volunteers and committees with timely and thoughtful written materials with copies for all volunteers, staff support, and other assistance necessary for running effective meetings.

Motivation and Recognition of Volunteers

Municipal leaders also work hard to motivate and recognize their community volunteers. Kouzes and Posner refer to this as “encouraging the heart” and they offer some exciting ideas:

•  Be creative about rewards

•  Make recognition public

•  Provide feedback en route

•  Foster positive expectations

•  Make the recognition presentations meaningful

•  Don't be stingy about saying thank you

•  Schedule celebrations

•  Install a public “Bragging Board”

•  Demonstrate caring by walking around

•  Be a cheerleader – your way

•  And most of all, Have Fun!

Evaluation and Feedback Processes

One of the major weaknesses of most organizations is forgetting to ask for feedback. Well-run municipalities ask for feedback from their paid employees, volunteers, governance committees, and citizens. Questions such as How are we doing? How can we improve? How well is this committee meeting being run? What can we do to improve our meetings? How are "we" (municipal leadership) doing? Are we being responsive to community needs? Rather than focus on the individual, it is more productive to focus on the outcomes: What do we want to accomplish? Then, focus on the process: How do we want to get there? What are the criteria for success in outcome and process?

Some municipalities create Citizen Advisory Boards, not just to keep them informed, but to provide feedback on how well the leadership is doing. Some get feedback formally, some informally. The most important step is Just Ask! You will generally not get feedback unless you ask.

In summary, research demonstrates a positive correlation between leadership, social capital and volunteerism. Following Best Practices and utilizing effective leadership techniques can increase the quantity and quality of volunteers in your municipality. More significantly, as you are building your volunteer base, you are building social capital in your community, which in turn helps to enhance the volunteer base even more. Strong municipal leadership can leverage this mutual benefit: generate excitement and enthusiasm in building community and more volunteers will come!

   Best Practices For Encouraging Municipal Volunteerism 

•  Attracting and Recruiting Volunteers

•  Interviewing Potential Volunteers for "Fit"

•  Appointing Good Volunteers to Open Positions

•  Orienting and Training Volunteers

•  Effectively Leading and Managing Volunteers

•  Motivation and Recognition of Volunteers

•  Evaluation and Feedback

Using the Front Porch to Increase Municipal Volunteerism 

Patrick Overton in his book Re-Building The Front Porch of America: Essays on the Art of Community , discusses the importance of the “front porch”, which he defines as a place where people would gather and share, sit and talk with families and friends. These Front Porches were an important part of building and maintaining social capital in the past. What can town administrators and managers, selectmen and town council members do now to enhance the sense of Front Porch in our towns? Advisory committees; pot lucks ahead of annual Town Meeting; walk-arounds to speak with citizens in their work places...

Use your local arts, music, theater and business, social, environmental, health volunteer organizations. They can be your creative allies as you jointly work to build community, thus increasing the volunteer base for municipal, nonprofit and whole community needs.

Try brainstorming with local creative community individuals and organizations:

•  NH Author Rebecca Rule might come to town to read her short story, “Minna Runs for Selectman"

•  The local Historical Society might produce Our Town at Town Hall

•  Sponsor a community health day in partnership with your local health organizations

•  How about the play 1776 , featuring some selectmen or zoning board members as the founding fathers and mothers?

•  Youth involvement? Senior involvement? Dog owners? Don't miss anyone!

•  Initiate a beautify our community effort along with local environmental, nature and garden groups

•  Music on town greens; contra dances at Town Hall; community centers

•  Oral Town Histories such the Warner Women's project, It Had To Be Done So We Did It!