EP 13: How to Find, Train, and Thank Volunteers for a Fundraiser Event

- "And so our thought is, well, if you're going to go do that, we might as well just give me your best and brightest...and we will run a much cheaper, much more cost-effective event. And probably a better one." -> softened to "...and in our experience, you end up running a much cheaper, much more cost-effective event. And often a better one."

- "you need to give them a general idea" -> softened to "it really helps to give them a general idea"

- "you need to thank them" -> softened to "it goes a long way to thank them"

- "They need to be that organized." -> softened to "That level of organization makes a big difference."

- "you have to put them to work" -> softened to "it's important to put them to work"

- "you have to feed them" -> softened to "make sure to feed them"

- "you have to put the right types of people and the right types of jobs" -> softened to "it really helps to put the right types of people in the right types of jobs"

Narrator: Welcome to the Elevate Your Event podcast, where we talk about how to plan and execute an unforgettable event that will dazzle your guests and generate more income for your organization. From fundraising and securing trendy auction items to event production and logistics, get the best tips and advice from seasoned fundraising and event professionals who have been in your shoes.

Jeff: Hey, just want to let you know, this podcast is brought to you by Handbid. Handbid is mobile bidding and auction technology software built by fundraisers for fundraisers. We're able to help you with everything from ticketing and registration to mobile bidding to live auction recording appeals -- you name it. And in addition to the software we provide, we have a ton of services we can offer you. If you need help getting everything set up, if you need coaching, if you need counseling and advice on how to get through your event, if you need someone to show up and make sure it runs smoothly -- these are all the types of services we offer. So if you want more information about what we do, click on the link below or reach out to us at handbid.com and we'd be happy to talk to you.

Jeff: Welcome back to the Elevate Your Event podcast. I'm Jeff Porter, CEO of Handbid, and we've got some amazing guests with us today. We've got Lori McKay. Hey, Lori.

Lori: Hey, Jeff. How's it going?

Jeff: Good. Awesome. And then we have Alice Negabauer. Hi.

Alice: Hey.

Jeff: Alice and Lori -- we brought them on today because they are two of our event gurus. They go to a ton of events, and we are here today to talk about volunteers at events.

Lori: Yay. We need them.

Alice: We love them.

Jeff: Yes. We do love volunteers. And the end. Go find some. Go get some. Good luck with that. Feed them well and thank them at the end. That's the end of the podcast.

Lori: Pretty much.

Jeff: We get asked this question a lot. Everything from "Where do I find them?" to "How do I train them?" to "How do I put them in the right types of positions?" and "What do I do with them during the event? How do I motivate them? How do I rely on them?" -- which is not always the easiest. All of the above. So let's dive into this topic. One of the reasons we talk about volunteers a lot is because there are a lot of mobile bidding companies out there that would like to come in with a small army of untrained people and run your event for you. These people typically come from staffing firms and don't know much more about the software or running events than anybody else. And so our thought is, well, if you're going to go that route, why not give us your best and brightest -- or just your most willing to work -- put them up with us, and we will get them equipped and trained. In our experience, you end up running a much cheaper, much more cost-effective event. And often a better one.

Lori: Yeah, I think so. In most cases, they're volunteering because they're either in love with you or they're in love with your cause.

Jeff: Or both, hopefully. So recruiting them -- let's talk about that for a second. People don't always want to volunteer. It's a challenge for sure.

Alice: It is. And I would say start by asking.

Jeff: It's so funny when people say, "Where do I find volunteers?" You ask people if they want to volunteer.

Alice: Yeah. And I think you can connect with people who have been engaged with past events, or people who are connected to your organization, or people who are just connected to you.

Lori: Yes. I also like recruiting volunteers from schools. A lot of schools now require community service hours. It's a great way for students to get those hours. And they're pretty proficient with software -- they're sometimes a little easier to train.

Jeff: Yeah. Now, you all are thinking to yourself, "I am not going to put a high school student at check-in at my event." And in some cases, that's probably a very good call. But if you find the right ones -- look, these kids are working at Chick-fil-A and they're making your food. They're perfectly capable of checking in your guests. So you can find the right types. I love that idea. High school kids, or universities, college kids, sororities.

Alice: Or let's not forget businesses. At one of my events, Kohl's -- we reached out to them and their staff volunteered. There are a number of corporations out there that do offer their employees to volunteer at your event. You just have to go ask and see if you can get that scheduled.

Jeff: That's a great idea.

Lori: The event I just worked at, an entire zoo staff came and worked as the volunteers. And it was fun. It was an animal charity, and the zoo in that town loves the animal charity. So they all volunteered, and they have an invested interest. It might just be a sister or brother type of organization or business that has the same mindset as what you're fundraising for.

Jeff: I've seen that with schools. If one high school says to another high school, "I'll work at your event and you'll work at mine" --

Lori: I was just about to say that.

Jeff: You are set for life. That is the best trade. Then they can get community service hours too. So your PTOs out there -- I know you're going to want to enjoy your event. You're not going to want to be working it. So swap with another school near you -- high school, elementary school, middle school, whatever. Swap with them. You run their event, they run yours.

Alice: I love that idea.

Jeff: I'm going to use that next time I'm asked from a school. Okay, Lori, I'll run your event. You run mine. Who's running mine over here?

Lori: I love that idea. I think it's great because you want to spend time with your donors. You don't want to be stressed out. You want to have good quality volunteers you can rely on.

Jeff: Right. And I get it -- the budget's important. That's why volunteers are a good way to go.

Alice: Yes.

Jeff: Okay. So the next stage is you've recruited some volunteers. At least in my experience, if you want them there at four o'clock to train, tell them they need to be there at 3:30. What do you think?

Alice: Easily. 3:30.

Lori: Yeah. I mean, they're not -- look, I know they're doing it for free. Most of them are fairly reliable. Give them a little bit of grace, but also give yourself some slack because they are volunteers. They realize they're not going to get fired if they show up late. So please, if you need them there at four, tell them to come at 3:30.

Jeff: Yeah, absolutely agree.

Alice: I think it's really respectful to ask them what kind of tasks they want to do at the event. Are they computer savvy and they want to work the software, or maybe they want to serve cupcakes?

Jeff: Totally agree. And it really helps to put the right types of people in the right types of jobs. It's funny -- I remember one day our church was asking for volunteers to serve in different types of roles. They kind of made a skit out of it and it was hilarious. They had the drill sergeant trying to greet people at the door, and then they had the total pushover sweet person who wants to hug everybody out in the parking lot trying to park cars. And the whole point was, yeah, those two people need to swap roles. You need the drill sergeant parking cars, and you need the hugger at the door. So you kind of have to understand what people's personalities are like, and then you can map that. We've done plenty of events where we walk in and say, "Okay, we're going to check people in off iPads." And the look on someone's face is like, "I've never seen an iPad before." And you realize, clearly this person needs a different type of job than using technology for check-in. So you have to be aware of that, and you have to ask them. Are you comfortable using technology? Are you comfortable typing on a keyboard?

Lori: Right. And we've seen people -- one lady was like, "The internet just went away! Oh my God, the internet went over there!" She had just minimized her browser.

Jeff: The internet went away. Let me show you how to get the internet back.

Lori: The World Wide Web disappeared!

Jeff: That's the person you don't -- okay, they're saying "World Wide Web." Hey, would you like to hand out bid cards? You'd be perfect to hand out these cards.

Alice: Or we always love having the volunteer at the front who's greeting people and telling them which line to get in, or the line marshal who's saying, "Elise over here will help you next." So sometimes if they're not comfortable with technology, you can give them that type of role.

Jeff: That's a great job. So they're showing up on time. One thing I have noticed, though, that I think people overlook -- if you're going to recruit volunteers, it's important to put them to work. They get really frustrated and annoyed when they have nothing to do. There was one event we did recently, and a whole bunch of people came from D.U. -- University of Denver, locally here. They were students and they were ready to work. About six or eight of them, and they were sitting around doing nothing. They were totally annoyed because this wasn't their event. They didn't know the cause that well. They were bored. And so I put them to work. One of the things to make sure you have is some sort of good schedule -- these are the types of roles I need, and here are the shifts I have for them.

Lori: I like shifts.

Alice: I like shifts too.

Jeff: Yeah. Unless they're shifting all the way through check-in.

Lori: Well, no, no, no. I had that happen once.

Alice: Oh, so did I. They were trying to alternate volunteers every 30 minutes at check-in, and it was a three-hour-long check-in. And I just had to eventually say, "I'm sorry, we need to keep the same people at check-in through the whole thing."

Jeff: I'm so sorry. You mean you got tired of training new people?

Alice: Well, I basically just didn't. I said, "Guys, this is going to be really tough."

Jeff: Yeah. So when you do shifts, you're bringing up a good point. You have to understand which shifts are splittable and which aren't. Check-in is generally not a splittable shift. Maybe check-in and check-out, though.

Alice: Yeah. You could have different people. You could totally split those.

Jeff: But yes, I did an event once downtown, and halfway through check-in, unbeknownst to me, boom -- eight people stand up and walk away. And I'm like, "Whoa, what's going on? Did we quit? What happened?" "Oh no, our shift's over." Oh no. Please don't do that. Sit back down, please. We're about 15 minutes away from finishing check-in. We're not shifting right now. So make sure you don't pull that on your mobile bidding company or on your guests. If someone walks up and they're ready to check in -- this happens at the airport, I'm telling you. For whatever reason recently, I am the most unlucky. I am Clear. I am TSA Pre. It doesn't matter. As soon as I get to the security X-ray -- shift change. It's happened three times in a row. The X-ray guy leaves, all the bags are on the belt, and we're waiting for the new person to sit down. That's what we're talking about, right?

Alice: Yeah. Don't do that.

Lori: No, don't do that.

Jeff: What do you think are good lengths of shifts? Most events are, what, five, six hours?

Alice: Six hours max.

Jeff: Right. So I think half and half is great.

Lori: If you have volunteers who are not really invested with your organization but they're there for community service or to be good people, three hours is perfect. They're ready to do their work and then be out of there.

Jeff: I think so. And when we say six hours -- before we freak you out and you're thinking people show up at six and stay until midnight -- that's not what we're talking about. Six hours being when most of your staff will arrive around maybe four for a 6 p.m. check-in, and then they'll stay through ten. So within that time frame, you're saying three hours. Someone comes in, maybe they're responsible for setup. So that's four to seven. They're there to either train and get ready for check-in, or they're there to help set up the event -- organize the chairs, put the centerpieces out. You've got your list of things you need done. And so they're going to have that shift. We did an outdoor concert, so I had a trash shift for some of the high school volunteers. They had to run and basically empty trash around the venue. They had half-hour to 45-minute shifts doing that.

Lori: Well, and I also think it's important when you're talking about volunteers to give them the "why" behind what you need them to do. For instance, for check-in in particular, because it seems to be the one that causes the most stress -- explaining to them, "Hey, our goal for check-in is to have enough volunteers here to provide a great experience to the guests as they arrive so that they're not waiting in line, so everybody's being greeted, so everybody's being treated special. So yes, we do need all of these volunteers. And our goal is to not have a line."

Jeff: And not having a line is success.

Alice: Yes, it is.

Jeff: One of the things we get asked a lot is, "Well, should we train our volunteers on Tuesday if our event's on Friday?" What are your thoughts on that?

Lori: It sort of depends. We've all had experiences where we've had great volunteers and we walk away saying, "Can they just come with us to every event?" I'd hire them. And then they're not really volunteers. But then you have others who are very willing, very wanting to be helpful, but maybe they're not as strong. I think those are the people you might want to train right prior to the event.

Jeff: Yeah. And I would think in a lot of cases -- and this is what I've told folks -- I'm 99.9% sure whatever you tell them on Tuesday, they're not going to remember when they show up Friday, and we're going to have to train them again anyway. So if you want to give them an overview on Tuesday like, "Here's your shift and here's the run of show," I think that's really helpful. But if you need them to know the actual tasks, you can even show them a video. We do these, right? Here's a video on how you're going to check in people from Handbid. Feel free to watch it. Either way, when they arrive, Lori's training them.

Lori: Right.

Jeff: And not just that. Here's what I tend to see -- you train people and then we watch them, and I would say even though you've trained them, it takes maybe one or two people you check in and then they get it. And it's not just the software. A lot of it is really the check-in process itself. So if you're handing out -- and don't do all these things, by the way -- drink tickets and paddles...

Lori: Name tags.

Jeff: Oh, Lord have mercy. Say the word "name tags." Anyway, but if you're doing all those things, they have to kind of get the flow down. Like, "Oh yeah, they get two drink tickets and a coin," or whatever it is.

Alice: I say two people in and they're good.

Lori: I always say a learning curve of three people.

Alice: I think some of the most successful pre-event trainings we've had are the ones like Jeff said -- you give an overview of the event. You talk about the run of show. You talk about the "why" behind the event. You talk about when they're going to eat, all the different shifts. You need to feed your volunteers, okay? So make sure you have a process for feeding volunteers. And if they're not eating the food that the guests are eating, where are they going to eat? When are they going to eat? How do they park? Are they going to get their parking validated? All of those things about the event that they don't always read in their emails -- you want to have those addressed beforehand.

Jeff: Yep. Let's talk about eating, because I've been to so many events where the volunteers are neglected. And look, you don't have to put them in the seated gala dinner with the $50-a-person steak dinner. You don't have to do that. You can create a volunteer room and fill it with pizza and beer and wine, and when they're off their shift, they can go in there and chill and have a good time. But make sure to feed them.

Alice: Yes. Please don't leave them hungry. They will be grumpy.

Lori: They get angry.

Jeff: Yes. That's a commercial, I think, from another company. But yes -- and look, they're not going to be nice to your guests at the same time.

Lori: And they won't want to come back.

Jeff: Yes. And I've seen it work well where you feed them before check-in. If check-in's at six, we train them at five, they quickly run into the volunteer area, grab a piece of pizza, grab a bottle of water. I feel really strongly that the only thing they should ever take with them to check-in is a box of mints and a bottle of water -- not a glass of wine. Let them do that later. But I think it's helpful when they've got some food in their belly and some water. You don't know how many events I've been to at really expensive hotels where I have run upstairs and spent hundreds of dollars on bottles of water and given them out. These people are talking and talking and talking, and their mouths get dry. So bottles of water.

Lori: Yeah. Number one, at least give them some water.

Alice: Yes. Thank them for their time. That's the way you do it -- by respecting them and respecting their time and the fact that they're hungry. Most events we work are during meal times.

Jeff: Right. They have to be there early and they're hungry. So take care of them and they'll take care of you.

Lori: For sure.

Jeff: Okay, so we've talked about feeding your volunteers. We've talked about directing them into the types of roles that fit their personality. We've talked about the types of shifts they should have. And then at the end of the day, when you say "thank them" -- let's talk about that. One of the things I've seen that I really liked, and I think we're going to do this for our event in the future, is this charity that threw a post-party for their volunteers.

Lori: Oh, I love that idea.

Jeff: Is that right following your event?

Lori: No, it was about a week or two later, and it was at a local restaurant. They just bought apps and drinks and thanked their volunteers. It was kind of an open house thing.

Jeff: I thought that was cool.

Alice: I love that idea. I haven't seen that yet. Of course, I'm usually in and out, so I wouldn't be there after the event anyway. But I love that.

Lori: I mean, I think even just a personalized note -- especially if you've seen a volunteer go above and beyond, recognize that. Say that in the note. "I saw how you treated our guests. You were completely awesome at the event. If it wasn't for you, this event probably wouldn't have gone off as well as it did." Really care for them as much as you do your donors, because they're the ones saving you money from having to hire staff to work the event.

Alice: And be ready for those people that need some sort of record of their hours. Be ready to provide that. I'm not speaking of any charity I've had personal experience with, but I know my daughters have volunteered at events and they're still trying to chase some charities down for their hours. It's not intentional -- things just get busy after an event and you don't want to think about it anymore. But as it relates to your volunteers, just make sure they're taken care of on the other side. And then they'll come back.

Jeff: They will. And speaking of that, one way to assess the success of your volunteer program is: are they returning year after year to your event, or did you lose them? Are you starting with a brand new set of volunteers every year? If so, you might want to reassess how you're addressing your volunteers -- either before, during, or after. Your goal is to keep longevity with volunteers because they're the ones that love you, they're the ones that love your cause.

Lori: Yep. I think any kind of little token of appreciation -- I think back to events where I volunteered. One organization bought fun themed t-shirts based on the event. It was really cute and fun. And now when we wear them, we think, "Oh, that was a good event."

Jeff: I like the idea -- and maybe not for every event, if your event is super fancy or whatever -- but I like the idea of all your volunteers wearing the same shirt.

Alice: Oh, I love that. I love that at events.

Jeff: Especially if it's branded as you. I don't love the generic yellow "event staff" shirts. But I do like the idea of, "Hey, everybody's going to wear this color shirt," or "We're going to provide these shirts for all of our team." I've seen them say something like "Team PWSA."

Alice: If they're themed, yeah.

Lori: Yeah. I did an event where the theme was Beach and they bought Baywatch Lifeguard shirts for all their volunteers. They were really cute. And everybody was comfy. It was themed and it was a very comfortable event.

Jeff: Super fun. One of the best things that happened was, after I worked an event, about two weeks later I got a package in the mail. It had a bunch of branded content. "Thank you so much for all your work." I had a little beanie. I had a little --

Alice: Now, do I need a beanie and a keychain? No.

Jeff: No, but it's the thought that counts.

Alice: It was. It was like, "I saw you." And you felt seen. You were like, "Oh, I love this." And so now I'll go back and work that event any time they want.

Jeff: That's right.

Lori: I felt like they appreciated me. Plus, you're probably advertising their organization for them, so it's a win-win.

Jeff: And you can create perks like that, too. It's funny -- if you think about The Masters, which is probably the most prestigious professional golf tournament in the world, all of the marshals are volunteers. Every one of them, all the people on the greens and everything. And if you get selected, you can play Augusta. That's one of the incentives. They have a 55-year waiting list to be a marshal now because of the perk you get. So you could do something like that. If you feel like you've got a good, steady flow of volunteers, maybe say, "Hey, if you volunteer for two or three years at our event, the fourth year you get to come for free," or something like that. I don't know -- we're brainstorming now -- but there are lots of ways to incentivize your volunteers and get them going.

Jeff: Let's just quickly recap on this one. So, where do you recruit them? Well, you start by asking. And then you can leverage universities, sororities, fraternities -- they'll all volunteer. High school kids are not bad, trust me. Or local corporations. Like I said, at our event we used Kohl's and they brought eight people. Pretty cool.

Alice: Totally amazing.

Lori: Yeah, I worked an event where the Chamber of Commerce is the one that recruited all the volunteers for the event.

Jeff: So they're out there. Maybe go hit up your zoo. You're going to organize your shifts. You're going to organize your jobs. And then you're going to start to channel different types of people and personalities into different types of jobs. You might have to describe the ideal type of person for that job. And then, if you don't know your volunteers well, you can start to ask them, "What best describes you? Are you comfortable with technology? Are you not? Are you comfortable talking to people? Are you not?" That kind of stuff. So you'll build your list of jobs and your shifts.

Jeff: You're going to communicate that. You're going to tell all of your volunteers in advance what the run of show is. It doesn't have to be down to the second, but it really helps to give them a general idea of how the evening's going to go and where their shift plays in.

Lori: To your point, Jeff -- I have seen so many people walk in the door saying, "I'm volunteering. I don't know where to park. I don't know what my shift is. I don't know who I'm supposed to report to." All of those things have to be answered in advance. Like, "Okay, I was told to park here. My shift starts at six. I'm supposed to report to Elise. Where is Elise?"

Jeff: That level of organization makes a big difference.

Alice: Or, "What does Elise look like?" Because not all the volunteers know who all the people are.

Jeff: That's right. So maybe even just images -- let them see, "This is Elise." Or tell them what entrance to go in. A little introduction. "Hey, all you check-in people, you're reporting to Elise."

Lori: A volunteer check-in is a very good idea. So, "Hey, you're a volunteer? Volunteer check-in's right over there." And then, "Oh yes, I see your name. Here's your shift. Here's where you're going to go. Here's your shirt. Thank you so much for coming."

Jeff: And then definitely feed them.

Alice: Definitely.

Lori: Give them water at check-in.

Jeff: Please give them water. My credit card would thank you tremendously. Handbid does not need to pay for 24 bottles of water at a Westin hotel again.

Jeff: And then at the end, it goes a long way to thank them, okay? Whether that's on the spot or post-event -- through some sort of happy hour event, or sending them a beanie and a keychain. And let them be comfortable.

Lori: Yes, yes.

Alice: Don't make them wear the tux.

Jeff: Yeah. And the high heels. Don't make them wear those either.

Jeff: All right. Well, this has been a great conversation. Thank you, ladies, for attending. If you guys have any other suggestions or questions about volunteers, please drop them in the comments. Otherwise, we'll see you next time on Elevate Your Event podcast.