I watched something amazing and unique on TV earlier this month. For ages I have said we need to create unique approaches to recruiting volunteers — and it appears Connecticut may have found a best practice that we can all use.
The two-hour program originally aired on September 11, providing a look at volunteer public service programs and giving the public a chance to call in and find out how to volunteer.
The program, entitled “On Watch: Connecticut’s Emergency Service Volunteers,” was a Connecticut Public TV initiative in partnership with the State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Citizen Corps, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Public Health Foundation of Connecticut.
As a cooperative event, the program followed the common public TV telethon layout and rotated between short sections about different volunteer organizations and their responses to major incidents, and discussions from state emergency leaders who explained how the public could call in and volunteer.
This unique idea showed many of the areas that the public can volunteer, ranging from fire and EMS to CERT, DMAT, and specialized volunteers such as structural engineers for building collapse. By involving as many public organizations as possible, the program was able to find a way for everyone to get involved. It was very effective because it focused not on money or donations but on something even more valuable — volunteers.
Money is needed and solves immediate problems, but if you can get the public to buy in as volunteers, the organization can benefit for years. The program included a toll-free number that the public could call to find out how to volunteer. While I do not know how many people called in, each time it flashed to the call center most of the phones seemed busy and was staffed by quite a few representatives from all types of organizations and in all types of uniforms.
Creating this type of program may not be a huge problem for your state public TV organization but the bigger issue would be the logistics of hooking up the public with the right volunteer organization and assuring they get a prompt response. This is usually where we fail in recruiting members and it is a shame.
A simple database can provide the contact information of different organizations but everyone needs to be ready to get the public involved. If a program such as this one is successful in sparking interest in volunteering, time is of the essence to engage the potential member before the spark dies.
Efforts such as the “On Watch” program should be applauded and copied throughout the country. The fact that it aired on September 11 is a tribute to all of those who serve and gives the public a chance to get involved and give back. It would be amazing to see programs like this across the country every September and hopefully we can get volunteerism back on track. Nice job, Connecticut!