Keeping volunteers engaged

Several alumni chapters are led by a whole team of people rather than just one or two individuals. Keeping all members of the leadership team engaged and involved can be a difficult task. To help with this issue, I want to provide you all with some advice from one of my favorite books, The New Breed: Understanding & Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer by Jonathan McKee and Thomas W. McKee.

One of the best things an individual can do to lead a successful volunteer organization is understand the difference between a “leader” and a “manager.”

According to McKee and McKee, “Leaders set the vision for where an organization is going. Management paves the road to get there.”

When working on chapter programs, it’s easy to get lost in the details and the managing of events and volunteers. To be successful, your leadership team must first know the vision and mission of the group. And they will look to you as a leader to set and define the vision and mission. I recommend taking time at your next meeting to establish mission and vision statements for your group.

Begin by asking these questions provided by McKee and McKee:

1. Who are we?


2. What do we do?


3. Whom do we serve? (Who are our members? Who are our customers? Who are the people who benefit from what we do?)


4. What benefit (service, impact) do we provide for those we serve?


5. Why are we unique (Why are we better at what we do than any other organization or group)?

After answering these questions, develop your mission and vision statements, keeping mind that McKee and McKee define the two as:

A mission statement states your cause. It states why you exist and the service you provide for the people you serve.

A vision statement states your future. It declares where you want to go. A vision statement is strategic—it puts strategic legs on the mission statement to capture the energy of your volunteers.

Once these statements are established, you and your leadership team will be able to better define roles and responsibilities for members of the leadership team and hopefully understanding those roles will help keep each member engaged.

If you do take the time to establish a vision for your group and a mission statement, I hope you will share them with me!