 AP Photo/Dan Steinberg LA firefighters extinguish a burning storage yard that ignited from a wind-driven brush fire earlier this month. |
After every natural disaster or big fire, my phone rings off the hook from people looking to volunteer. I’ve had this for years — and the recent wildfires in California were no exception. While there is some variation in specifically what the callers want to do, they are all keen to volunteer either their time, money or both. The problem they have is not knowing how to help or who to contact — and this is our fault.
My advice to them is always to either knock on the door of their local department or contact their state fire association. Neither of these are great options, but they are all that are available. The problem is that if they try to stop by their local volunteer department there is no one there, and the state fire association may not even have a way to help them. The fact they are contacting me looking for assistance goes to show that the current system is not working.
On the flipside, their approaches to me hopefully help to debunk the myth that “volunteerism is dying” or that people do not want to help. Maybe they want to help but we are not giving them the chance to volunteer and do so. If they have to go out of their way to find out how to volunteer, they may give up. We ask so much of every volunteer; maybe it is time we make it easy for them to become one.
State and national efforts have had difficulty due to the lack of a unifying force. The FireCorps is doing great work, but this is specifically for non-firefighting positions, as is CERT efforts. The 1-800-FIRELINE program was doing OK, but varied by state and now has been replaced by the FireCorps in many areas. As outlined in my previous column, Connecticut has made a great attempt toward a statewide effort, but each department needs to take responsibility for their area. Regional efforts would definitely be great if we could all work together, but at the least we need a good method of information dissemination at the local level. We may not think about “marketing” our department but this is exactly what is needed.
Learn from realtors
With so many houses for sale, realtors have to work hard on marketing so maybe we can use them as an example. In a lot of ways getting people to buy-in on volunteering is like getting them to buy a house. You have to have the right timing, house, financing, marketing and salesmanship in order to get someone to buy. The timing for volunteers is obviously good right now as emergencies and the call for help are at the forefront of people’s minds, but we may need to work on the other parts.
As far as the right “house” goes, in volunteering this would be a combination of the right location, need, and organization overall. If your department is too far away from where the potential member lives or works, obviously you are not the right house for them, but you may be able to refer them to someone else. If your department does not need volunteers, which I highly doubt, then it is also not the right house. Lastly, your organization has to be ready to support new members and actually want new members for you to be the “right” house, but that is a much larger problem.
To have the right “financing” your department needs to have appropriate membership classes with scaled responsibilities and requirements that match the potential member. Not everyone has the time or capabilities to be an “active” firefighter but there is always something they can do. If they have specialized skills, they may be better off referred to a CERT or DMAT team, but what department couldn’t use the skills of a trained accountant, lawyer or nurse? If the member wants to be an active firefighter, what about financing their initial training and allowing them to do it in small chunks rather than requiring 100-plus hours upfront before they can volunteer at all?
Sale signs
The right marketing is where we obviously are failing but realtors have it down pat. Every house that is for sale has a large sign out front stating that fact and who to contact. How many departments have such a sign? Many houses also have a “take one” plastic container on their sign with a flyer describing the house. This would be perfect for volunteer organizations to advertise the many volunteering options and how to get in contact with your “salesperson.” Realtors also frequently have open houses. These are often more a chance for someone to be nosy and kick the tires, but if we can get potential members and their kids to kick our big tires, maybe it will ignite a fire in them to ask for more.
The last part of selling a house is the realtor themselves. Does your department have a salesperson who can act as the welcoming committee, provide prompt information and encourage potential members to join? This could be anyone, but you at least need someone to answer the phone number on your sign and flyers, or respond promptly to voice messages. Too many departments do not even have an answering machine or voicemail and calls go unanswered or the public may not even know any other number for the firehouse besides 911.
There are people out there who want to help but cannot currently because of the lack of marketing we have done. Simple actions such as posting a sign, giving them a flyer, having a phone number that works, and having someone respond quickly can turn those who want to help into members. Even if it only adds one or two new members a year, marketing efforts are well worth the time in the long run.
Hopefully if each department can take responsibility for marketing their opportunities, the public will not need to call me to find out how to volunteer and will instead be reading VolunteerFD.org for ways to improve their department.