Finding new and exciting ways to engage members and inspire loyalty is the secret sauce for successful associations. Getting creative about the types of engagement opportunities—everything from leadership roles on the board to a few minutes of social networking on behalf of the association—allows organizations to reach members willing able to help despite limited availability. Associations everywhere are embracing microvolunteering as a means to engaging folks with the least amount of time to give, but a desire to contribute. And the concept is taking off! So much so that this Saturday, April 15, the U.S. celebrates National Mircovolunteering Day for the 4th year in a row.

To celebrate, AMC asked our full service clients how they incorporate microvolunteerism into their volunteer opportunity lineup. Thanks to the Awards and Personalization Association (APA), the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), and the National Association for Neonatal Nurses (NANN) for their enthusiastic participation.

Question. What successful microvolunteerism opportunities are at work within your association?

The Awards and Personalization Association has a lot of dedicated, long-time volunteers. These are people you know you call on for just about anything. Finding new volunteers has been a bit of a challenge. During the annual International Awards & Personalization Expo, we have several short-term volunteer opportunities. Our awards program is need of booth and catalog judges; the education program looks for “education advocates” who introduce the speaker, monitor the room logistics, and ensure compliance with the anti-trust policy; and our foundation’s silent auction needs several volunteers to work the auction area during the three day event. We invite all members/attendees to volunteer and ask for 2-3 hours for these assignments.

Louise Ristau, Executive Director, APA

At NAHQ, we offer small work groups for time-limited projects. Recently, we published HQ Essentials: Competencies for the Healthcare Quality Profession, a resource that defines an industry-elevating set of competencies that guides healthcare quality professionals to ensure they are prepared to continue serving and leading in their roles. We engaged more than 90 volunteer subject matter experts, divided into six work groups. Each worked together within a rapid cycle Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) practice model framework over a 4-month period of time. 

Amanda Roseboom, Education Coordinator, NAHQ

At NANN, we’ve learned our social media audience, particularly on Facebook, is doing a lot to advance the association’s mission. They’re making a big impact, but are able to do so with a small time commitment. It’s become clear through our work on social over the last two years that both our members and nonmembers are passionate about topics that impact the fragile population of neonatal patients and their families NANN nurses serve. They take the time to like, share, and comment on posts that matter to them, exposing neonatal topics to a much larger audience. Their effort is minimal and takes place within the confines of their daily social media practice, but it’s impactful. Moving forward, we plan to formalize volunteer social roles and processes as they relate to microvolunteering opportunities for our members.

Dionne Wilson, Executive Director, NANN

Question. How is your organization benefiting? What higher level strategies are being driven by microvolunteerism efforts?

The association benefits from these volunteer opportunities as they draw in some newer members who are looking for a way to engage with the association without making a long-term commitment (dipping their toes in the water). It provides the leadership of the association an opportunity to meet potential new leaders and assess where their interests are and the capacity they have to grow into leadership positions.

Member retention is also a benefit as an engaged member is much more likely to renew their membership than one who doesn’t have a personal connection. The volunteers benefit as it’s an outstanding networking opportunity! These short term volunteer opportunities allow a way for former board members/presidents to stay involved. They still feel like they are contributing to the association.

Louise Ristau, Executive Director, APA

NAHQ benefited by having volunteers create the content for HQ Essentials. We grew our volunteer base as well as improved member engagement and satisfaction. In addition, we increased NAHQ’s visibility among nonmembers (as these volunteers shared the experience with their peers who were nonmembers).

Increasingly, we have found that volunteers want to engage but they have limited time for these opportunities. Microvolunteerism allows members to make valuable contributions and helps keep them engaged with us. Thus, we see it as a great strategy to increase member retention. Engaging volunteers where they share their specific expertise allows NAHQ to stay ahead of the curve and create professional development products such as HQ Essentials that are relevant and useful to our customer base.

Amanda Roseboom, Education Coordinator, NAHQ

If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that our members are short on time. This sentiment comes through in every survey and evaluation we do, so we want to make sure we’re continually looking at volunteer opportunities and evolving them to work for our members. These short-term or minimal-time commitment opportunities allow us to tap into an ever-growing pool of member passion and talent, and increase their engagement levels and loyalty. We believe a side effect of this will be steady growth not only on our social pages, membership and retention, but also in NANN member satisfaction.

Dionne Wilson, Executive Director, NANN

Question. Why do you think your members are finding this an appealing way to engage?

Micro volunteer opportunities are a great way for our members to support the association without a long term commitment. They like to know that when they volunteer they are positively impacting the organization. With these types of task focused roles, our volunteers see “real time” how important their contribution is. It’s a win-win.

Louise Ristau, Executive Director, APA

Members see microvolunteering as an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the healthcare quality profession without having to make long-term commitment. Our volunteers were highly engaged in the project and expressed seeing a number of benefits for their service: creating a tangible product they were very proud of, networking with their peers, and professional growth.

Amanda Roseboom, Education Coordinator, NAHQ

To NANN, these smaller-scale contributions feel like the perfect way to make volunteerism fit into today’s busy lives. The more we can do to make it easy for our members to engage and get involved with the organization, the better.

Dionne Wilson, Executive Director, NANN

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