Egoboo! Recognizing Municipal Volunteers
What in the world does egoboo have to do with town government?
Does your town government give away enough of it?
What can you do to increase egoboo in your town? Volunteers!
By Cotton Cleveland Although egoboo is primarily a “nerd” term, there are many non-nerdy public officials who wish they knew how to get and give away a lot of it to make their towns run better. The official Word Spy definition of egoboo is: recognition and praise for a task well done, particularly a task that is performed for free. "Use lots of egoboo," is a key answer to the question: How do you attract and retain interested, committed municipal volunteers in town government? As experienced municipal officials well know, working effectively with volunteers is vital to the governance process. Without sufficient quality volunteers, town government comes to a screeching halt
There are many challenges to attracting and retaining engaged, effective volunteers in our towns. As John Scruton, Town Manager of Plaistow says, “Without volunteers, democracy in our small towns could not function.” Pam Brenner, Town Administrator of Peterborough, adds, “The downside of volunteerism is, it's hard to get good people to run. We are in such a fishbowl. Growth issues pit neighbors against neighbors and put huge demands on volunteer time on planning and zoning boards.” Doug Lyon , Chair of the Board of Selectmen in New London , echoes Brenner's concerns about the fishbowl environment, “Everything has to be done in public. Even deliberations are public, which can discourage thoughtfulness, creativity and humor.” These officials believe the fishbowl effect can also make it harder to attract volunteers to public office.
Art Grant, member of the Durham Town Council, stresses the challenges of time commitment and technical knowledge, “Everything today in town government requires so much time, attention and knowledge. It requires too much for most people. The commitment is almost beyond hope!” He also notes the insecurity that board and committee volunteers can feel over potential lawsuits if the wrong decision is made. (Please read Art's thoughtful letter to me – accompanying this article -- which details his concerns and hopes for volunteerism in New Hampshire town government.)
Town Administrators and Managers Use Creative Approaches to Involve Citizens Despite the challenges, the administrators I spoke with use creative approaches in their towns to attract citizens to the numerous boards and committees which make critical decisions at all levels of town government. Dan O'Neill, Town Manager of Newport, is particularly enthusiastic about local cable access, citing it as an important communication tool in wooing volunteers into the administration. “The two most heavily watched shows in Newport are the School board meetings and the Selectmen's meetings. We talk regularly at the Selectmen's meetings about the need to volunteer. We focus on specific openings, either appointed or elected, as they occur. We know as we do this, that lots of Newport people are listening.”
David Caron, Town Administrator of Londonderry, also found cable useful in a recent pinch, although he worried at first. “This summer we were getting a lot of bad publicity about our inability to keep a quorum on our planning board. It was always on the cable channel when they aired the planning board meetings. But the good news is we then had four letters from citizens volunteering to help! They saw the problem on the cable, then volunteered.” Dave also makes use of another technology. Londonderry has a Volunteer Bank on the website, so the Town Council can keep a running list of who might be interested in a given position. Whenever there is an opening, they interview potential volunteer candidates and make their selections.
Initial findings on Best Practices for thanking and rewarding community volunteers range from the very basic to the complex. Those I talked with feel that the reward must be genuine when it is given. Dan O'Neill doesn't believe in giving baskets of flowers, but he does give out egoboo. “I pay attention to thanking volunteers individually when I see them around town. We also send nice letters to all volunteers at the end of their terms. Also, the Board Chairman and I put a general letter of thanks into the annual report.” Jessie Levine, Town Administrator in New London , talks about the consistently high attendance at annual Town Meeting. She credits the tradition of a delicious potluck supper ahead of the meeting. She also thinks it's a nice touch when the Selectmen ask individuals at Town Meeting to stand up if they are currently serving or have previously served on any town board or committee. In a gathering of 400 citizens, well over 100 people stand up each year to enthusiastic applause!
In Enfield , Town Manager April Whittaker thanks volunteers at the same time she does her paid employees. “We invite them to our existing employee picnic, to come on down for a burger, a hot dog, and some talk. This event is reasonably inexpensive, but gives the volunteers a chance to mingle informally with the town employees. This is a relaxed time, not too formal, good for relationship building. A great way to say thank you.”
Dave Caron reminded me not to forget a long-standing program recognizing the New Hampshire Volunteer of the Year Award at the NHMA annual conference. Towns can nominate outstanding volunteers from their community. “When I was Town Administrator of Gilford, we nominated Kathy Francke, who won the State award. This nominating process was arduous. But a great volunteer got statewide recognition. It gave a huge boost to the folks back home in Gilford, to know that one of their own had been recognized.”
Peterborough has its own Volunteer of the Year award. The volunteer is awarded a clock, plus the recipient's name is added to a large plaque at Town Hall. This award is given out at the annual volunteer recognition dinner with costs donated from business, not paid by taxpayers. This year the speaker was PJ O'Rourke. Another year Jack Agati spoke on birth order. Brenner says, “We try to make this event fun, not lecturing them on ‘right to know' law. Plus the newspapers love it and give us lots of exposure!”
This past spring Derry initiated an annual egoboo event. The Council presented certificates and a reception followed. Pictures were hung all around the reception room showcasing yet another Derry volunteer recognition program, Beautify Derry. Carol Granfield, Town Administrator of Derry, says, “We got great feedback from the volunteers who really liked our effort to recognize their work. They are all so very busy and so involved, but they were happy to come to this event, because it is light, upbeat and very positive. It was also very manageable administratively, in terms of both time and money. We just had to gather all the names from the various departments and develop a database for mailing the invitations. The refreshments were simple but thoughtful. Once it's been done once, we can easily administer it on an annual basis. We tied it into the end of March when the volunteer terms end, so that we can thank those going off their boards or committees as well. Now that it worked so well, I can't think why we didn't do this before!”
On an even more elaborate note, Dave Caron credits the Town Council in Londonderry for launching a Best Towns Initiative over the past several years. They have used UNH Cooperative Extension consultants to help the town with a series of Community Profile meetings. First 90 citizens, then 300 citizens meet to set the vision for the community. Caron emphasizes, “The Londonderry Town Council sets the expectations that volunteers are not just window dressing; they are a vital part of the town governance process. In this way the Town Council has 'rewarded' citizens by giving them real responsibility, within a workable structure with clear guidelines.”
Make Volunteers Part of the Team In addition to programs, several administrators stress the importance of treating volunteers as any well-run organization would treat its paid employees - with inclusion and respect. John Scruton notes, “What needs to be focused on with volunteers is respect, recognition and communication, to understand the value they bring to the town organization, as does any paid employee. Each volunteer has significant responsibilities. The administration needs to recognize this. Those of us on staff need to support each volunteer with quality information in a timely fashion."
April Whittaker says, “I treat them as part of the team. I treat volunteers as if they are paid employees. Here is the coffeepot. Help yourself. Make yourself comfortable. Is there any literature we can order for you to help you do your job better?” Jessie Levine adds, "I think it is important to remember that we work for our citizen volunteers. Our function is to support them and make their job easier." Art Grant concurs, " The knowledge level for many of these decisions is so detailed that the average volunteer needs good staff available. In fact, having trained staff and good lawyers available with information prepared in advance would be a real 'reward' to volunteers."
Town Officials Plan to Increase "Egoboo" for Citizens
Many town officials would like to increase egoboo for their citizens. Some have specific plans. Jessie Levine already publishes a newsletter four times a year. She thinks it would be an additional thank you to highlight a special volunteer in each edition. April Whittaker wants to add a volunteer orientation program in Enfield . “The volunteer gets elected or appointed and we just throw them out there to do the job. We just assume they know everything!” Carol Granfield also dreams of educating townspeople. “I am hoping to put together an on-going Citizens Academy program to educate citizens on all different aspects of town government. This would help residents to know more and hopefully increase volunteerism.”
Some worry about additional stresses and strains on volunteerism lurking in New Hampshire 's future. Pam Brenner thinks we have only a short time before we see declines in numbers of volunteers for small town fire departments and ambulance squads. Art Grant says, “Municipal government these days is really difficult! But I wouldn't quit! I do strongly encourage people to volunteer in their local government, but come knowing it is not a bed of roses.”
Each town that I researched has its own way of giving egoboo to its volunteers for their many hours of unpaid work. As April Whittaker says, “Most of our volunteers are wonderful. Most really care about service, giving back to the community.” And that ties back to egoboo : Does your town government give away enough of it? What can you do to increase egoboo in your town? For most town officials, whether it's individual or programmatic, simple or complex, a little bit of recognition and praise goes a long way toward enhancing volunteer participation, performance and job satisfaction.
Egoboo (EE.goh.boo) n. Recognition and praise for a task well done,
particularly a task that is performed for free.
~ Word Spy Definition
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