ASK! The more members and voters who you invite to join: the more will say “yes”. Typically for every 4 hours of outreach to voters will yield 1 member. Thus 1 person volunteering 4 hours a week will recruit 40 members over 40 weeks. A team of 4 will recruit 160 members over the same time period. 8 volunteers can recruit an additional 320 members.

LISTEN. Talk to members and voters about what is at the top of their mind. What they believe needs to change. Ask them what they would like to do.

TOP OF MIND ISSUES. Talking only about the environment will be much less effective than by talking about all the issues of concern to voters. The environment is very effective in motivating most GP activists but 80-90% of voters are more effectively motivated by other issues.

STRESS IMPORTANCE. The need is great. Time is short. You can make a difference.

GET THEM INVOLVED. A successful team will have a variety of volunteer activities and meetings each year. Getting a member to do something easy will make them more inclined and willing to do something more involved. Getting someone to come to a meeting or social event will increase the chance of their agreeing to hand out membership/issue brochures to their friends. Then that will make it more easy to get them to hand them out to voters in front of health food stores, on street corners and going door-to-door.

WHAT THEY ARE BEING ASKED TO DO IS IMPORTANT. Give members a variety of activities they can do to help. “These are the volunteer opportunities that will help us ________” “Which are you most interested in? What times are best for you?”

CONVEY MOMENTUM. Perception can become reality. Tell members a story of what volunteers are doing in your area (submit your stories, click here). Tell them about what other groups are doing in your province/state.

BE PRODUCTIVE. Outreach teams should have periodic meetings to discuss strategy and the assignment of tasks to ensure work is being done between meetings. For every 1 hour of meetings there should be at least 2-3 hours of other work between meetings to accomplish the goals of building a stronger, more successful organization. The most productive volunteers will often be the ones with the least desire to be part of an organization that has low productivity.

RAPPORT. Email outreach can be effective provided there is human contact that develops a rapport with members, who are all potential volunteers. Put the most dedicated volunteers to work with as much volunteer time dedicated to outreaching to voters.

EXPECTATION. Develop an expectation and a culture of volunteerism and outreach. Even if a member doesn’t outreach to voters on street corners, the chance they will renewal their membership, donate more and more frequently, talk to friends and hand out brochures on street corners will increase with the communication of expectations. The more a member hears that your riding organization is active and doing things, the easier it is to acheive member involvement.

FEEDBACK. Telephone participants (especially new participants) after a meeting and ask them what they thought. Find out what they would like to do and what their schedule permits. Develop a rapport by asking: what they thought of meetings, what issues are important to them, what advice they have to make the organization more productive? Their feedback will generate information that you can apply in the future.

EXIT INTERVIEWS. Find out why people leave. Most people who decide that an organization is not accomplishing their goals quietly leave. When asked why, they will often be unforthcoming and polite.