Presidential Election 2011

Sharon Hughes

THE ‘WHY’ FACTOR

• Financial benefits: Volunteers can bring a host of skills to the table that could be extremely financially costly if purchased

• Skills Benefits: Volunteers can bring skills to a table that people didn’t even know were available

• Public Relations: Every volunteer involved (successfully!) will increase word-of-mouth promotion, the most valuable in political campaigns. Their families and friends will know of their involvement and see it as encouraging

• Geography: Having volunteers around the country gives great physical coverage

• Human Resources: Every volunteer is another set of eyes and ears on the ground and bums on seats, these are the sort of benefits that can’t be bought or faked

WHY VOLUNTEERS

•Obamas Presidential Campaign was credited with turning down no-one who offered to volunteer.•Critically volunteers were involved in ALL aspects of the campaign*•Providing a good plan is in place from the start, and then implemented and managed in a positive and productive manner, there is no limits to the tasks which could or can be undertaken by volunteers•The obvious way to designate volunteers is by skill sets, however this can have the disadvantage of looking exclusive•Location, and then age, would be a suitable first designator•This would then be followed by skill set and CHOICE•There should never be a situation where a suitable job cannot be found for someone willing to give up their time*http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/860703/obama-campaign-example-manage-volunteers/

THE ‘WHO’

•There are two major points to recruiting and assigning volunteers which should be remembered from the start:

• Involving Volunteers in all aspects of the campaign is crucial, if you don’t you run the risk of creating tiers, hierarchies and ultimately discontent. If volunteers feel from the start they can only reach certain ‘heights’ in the campaign because of their status as volunteer, this will put people off. The campaign must make a conscious decision from the start that provided a person demonstrates all suitable skills, there should be no limit to what they can achieve in the campaign

• Giving volunteer a choice in how they want to help is essential. If they are forced or coerced into doing something based on their professional background for example, this will result in them losing interest and bowing out quietly. Just because an accountant volunteers doesn’t mean he wants to number-crunch on the campaign, in fact, it could possibly be the last thing he wants to do

THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUSION

•As mentioned in the previous slide the Obama campaign allowed volunteer inclusion at every and all levels of the campaign•Volunteers can, and have been utilised at all areas of the campaign, and should be encouraged to do so•Many volunteers will have their own ideas on the campaign and their worth to it, there should be mechanisms from the start allowing them raise any ideas they have•When the campaign staff are appointed the campaign should be divided down into areas, and then chunks and where there are staffing and financial barriers efforts should be made to bring volunteers on board•Studies have shown that as long as the volunteer feels that their contribution has a recognised value, they will carry on involvement

THE ‘WHAT’

•It is never to early to start recruiting volunteers in fact there have come in a large number of interested people already•Not everyone who supports the campaign will offer to volunteer, it is important we know how distinguish well-wishers from people with the skills, the time and the will to help the campaign•Everyone involved already should be on the watch for people with potential or recruiting•It is important to let all potential volunteers know that the campaign doesn’t expect anything from them, that there are various areas and tasks to be completed and wherever they feel comfortable is where they will be

SO WHEN?

•Volunteering, and having volunteers is more difficult than people think, and is rarely done successfully•There are many examples of wholly volunteer organisations that are very successful (Order of Malta, Meals on Wheels etc.) •The difficulty seems to start when there are ‘full time’ staff and volunteers together and there are no systems in place to manage the relationship •There exists a range of issues from full time staff not ‘trusting’ the volunteers or not wanting to pressure them, coupled with the volunteers feeling idle and like they’ve wasted their time or undervalued•Getting volunteers will not be the problem, it will be keeping them and getting the best from them that will

AND THE BIG ONE: HOW?

•The campaign must have clear vision of what it expects needs and desires from the volunteers or it will swiftly become evident there are problems•Clear vision and understanding of the role expected of the volunteer will benefit all involved *•Please remember none of these issues are ‘life threatening’ as such, they are just considerations that when not taken in advance will be detrimental in hindsight•Remember as well that Ireland has a unique cultural history of volunteering and activating, and the benefits of the current economic status is that people have more time•Before we look at ‘how’ to get a volunteer, lets look at ‘why’ people volunteer

*‘Steps for setting up a volunteer program’ April 2011

http://www.volunteer.ie/involving-volunteers/uploads/docs/vms/setUpNewVolunteerProg.pdf

THE DIFFICULTIES

•An altruistic sense of giving something back for personal reasons•A sense of giving something back, to a relevant or irrelevant cause•To meet new people•To learn new skills in new areas•Some people do it to spy, or gain insight into an organisation•Some people do it to get an edge in their career•Some want to practice skills or talents they’ve learnt and they can’t use anywhere else•Some people are looking for a connection, to meet people with similar interests•Many are just looking for the craic*http://www.volunteerpro.com/past_newsletter_001.htm

WHY DO PEOPLE VOLUNTEER?

There are a number of ways we can get people on board•Word of mouth, as always in Ireland, word of mouth has the highest Return of Investment, it will hit people, and it will hit the right people•Labour will have their own volunteer list/section and youth branch, we should advertise with them•There should be volunteer specific paraphernalia on the tour, you could be surprised by how much it will affect a persons vote if they feel you think enough of them to ask them to help•The website and all of the Social media should have ‘help out section’, as the volunteer section is fleshed out these details should be published as soon as available•I do not believe there is any need to advertise outside of these media

SO HOW DO WE CATCH THEM

•Its essential we have a plan. We need to know the following:

• What skills do they have and do they want to bring to the table

• How much time they have available and when

• What resources they have access to and are happy to use (car, phone etc)

•And they need to know they following:

• How much time and commitment we require from them

• An organisation and campaign overview

• What training and induction they will be provided with

• Where they’ll be based

• How they will be monitored and evaluated

• What's in it for them: Benefits and expectations, support and supervision*

*http://www.volunteer.ie/involving-volunteers/uploads/docs/vms/howToDevelopVolRoleDescr.pdf

AND WHEN WE CATCH THEM?

•Expenses•Work Space•Role and Task descriptions•Support and supervision needs etc.•Role development•Recruitment•Training and Induction•Selection and Recruitment•Volunteer recognition

‘Steps for setting up a volunteer program’ April 2011http://www.volunteer.ie/involving-volunteers/uploads/docs/vms/setUpNewVolunteerProg.pdf

 

THINGS TO CONSIDER

•There needs to a generic list of ‘areas’ within the campaign where people can express an interest•There's a need to develop some for of non-intrusive questionnaire to audit the resources and skills available

•Need to develop training modules and decide dates and trainers for these modules •The ‘recruitment’ activities need to begin as soon as possible•Need to develop a volunteer and MDH contract (tokenistic)•Need to develop a volunteer handbook•Need to develop training modules and decide dates and trainers for these modules

THE NEXT STEPS

•Once the generic areas assigned there's a need to develop more specific role descriptions, (these will be narrowed and narrowed as people find niches etc.)•Need to develop a Volunteer Policy for the campaign, outlining the level of commitment to volunteering and the value of volunteers to the campaign•There needs to be a resources audit of what the campaign has to offer a volunteer (office, phone, email address etc.)•Text needs to be prepared for the volunteering paraphernalia and this should be produced as soon as possible•There needs to be clear recognition systems in advance•Need to develop an online system for communicating with volunteers and online tools for them to communicate with one another

MORE NEXT STEPS

•A lot of people do not see themselves as ‘political’ it is important the campaign is not seen as a partisan one (this will link in with hierarchy of roles)•It’s a slim line between guiding and bossing this needs to be managed•A slim line between motivating and overworking•A difference between over-seeing and micro managing•Important that nepotism does not become a factor•There must be a clear vision of the campaign and the end result at all times for all involved, staff and volunteers•There must be a mechanism put in place for volunteers to raise concerns rather than quitting

SOME PITFALLS TO WATCH FOR

•Once a good framework is in place the campaign has the potential to be a win-win situation for all involved•The campaign will benefit from all the volunteers have to offer•The volunteers will meet new people, learn new skills, build up their resume’s and C.V.’s, feel like they’re a part of something important and relevant, understand their own Government better as well as many Public Relations and Media practices. There will be networking opportunities and opportunities to get dressed up, be in the paper meet their neighbours…the list is endless. But I shall end it now

THE BEST BITS

Any comments questions or ideas please

Thank you

Sharon

May 2011

QUESTIONS