Active Members

[Jon Brakel]

This was posted on the PDGA board by my friend Becky Zallek. I had the pleasure of working with Becky Z at the 2004 PDGA Pro/Am Worlds in Iowa. She had asked Becky Brakel and I to be TDs for the jr. divisions and I discovered that Becky Z is not only a great volunteer but also a great volunteer leader. Anyway, I wanted to post this for future reference. I thought about posting it in a restricted area but thought that other people might want to read it. There's a lot of good stuff in here!

If you read this, keep in mind that I don't think anyone who is currently involved with Discontinuum is burned out. However, as we continue to grow it will become critical to find more members that want to be active in the club. Also, I think some of us would like to take a break from being on the Discontinuum board of directors at some point.

________________________________________________________

Drink your caffeinated beverage if you want to read this post!

I went to a leadership conference back in 2001 for the American Society of Training and Development (www.astd.org) and I took some notes at one of the conference sessions and wrote up something for our DSM disc golf club leaders. We've found it helpful to review over the years and there are some good hints on how not to become the volunteer ogre!!


Are You Burned Out? Getting People to Get Involved
Does your club have a small group of leaders who run your tournaments and your league? Has your club experienced the loss of a TD who ran your tournaments for years and now there is no one to take his or her place? The intent of sharing this information with you is to help you grow membership in your club, and to have more than just a core group of people in your club taking on the tasks to promote the sport of disc golf in your area. When you have a larger club, you have more people to tap to get involved in club activities.

Why Do People Join Organizations?
First we need to understand why people join organizations. People have different motivators for joining a group. Disc golf is competing with a multitude of other organizations. Why should people join your club? There are four key motivators for people to get involved:

(1) Loving the Sport and Wanting to Give Back. People love playing disc golf and want to give back to the disc golf community.
(2) Contribution to the Greater Good: People want to know if my joining the organization would make disc golf in my world a better activity. People want to see how they can make a difference. They need an outlet to help make things better.
(3) Belonging to a Community: People want a place to belong to, to build relationships, and to find a community who understands what they do. To get a community, you have to show up and be involved.
(4) Personal and Professional Development: People want to improve their skills or skill development.

Perspective is Everything:
Think back to the first time you ever decided to volunteer for your disc golf club. Why did you agree to help? What fears or concerns did you have? Leaders forget why people become first time volunteers, and what it feels like to be a first time volunteer. We forget what it is like to be somebody new to the organization.

We have to realize there are all kinds of people and the fear of rejection is a major reason why people don't join or come to meetings. The biggest reason people leave organizations is because they come to a meeting or event, they stand or sit there, and nobody talks to them. They figure the organization has no social skills. Help your new members feel like they are part of your disc golf community and specifically invite them to volunteer for something. Give new members a sense of belonging to the group and make sure they walk out of the meetings pumped up.

Why Don't Club Members Volunteer?:
There are many reasons disc golfers don't volunteer. One fear is that volunteering is a black hole/time suck and this makes many afraid to step forward. Set up the volunteer experience to overcome the new volunteer's fears. You need clear and explicit defined hours, and assigned descriptions of what to do. Don't just ask people if they want to help, give them a specific role because people are afraid of mission creep. Tell them what they are and are not going to do. Other reasons people don't volunteer are:

• They are not asked.
• They think it will take too much time.
• They think it is too difficult.
• They don't know how.
• They think it is overwhelming.
• They have priorities in other organizations.
• It is not spelled out what is in it for them.
• They think they have to do it alone.
• The leadership is not welcoming.
• There is a conflict with the leadership team.
• There is no sense of tangible personal gain.

There are many excuses people give to not volunteer, and then there are the real reasons why they don't. Drill down to find the real reason why they don't want to volunteer.

What Doesn't Work to Recruit Members?
1. Don't use guilt to recruit new members by saying it's your time to give. Have you ever heard club leaders say the club only works if we all give and some of us aren't giving? Guilt doesn't work. Some people may respond to guilt, but think back how you responded to your parents when they tried to lay the guilt on you. People don't list guilt as the main reason they are volunteering. They like to volunteer because of the challenge, to explore issues, etc. Guilt does not work on outsiders to bring them in to a new role. When you point fingers, you are telling them they are on the outside of the group and still looking in. You are saying to them that you are outsiders and some of us give a lot and you give nothing.

2. Club leaders shouldn't send messages they are overworked. They may say, "I need help, I'm overworked." Then people will think it is not a positive thing to volunteer and they'll be overworked too.

3. Don't expect people to self-nominate. If they are not in the group, they probably won't volunteer.

4. Sometimes there is a leader who owns volunteerism. Not one person should be in charge of getting volunteers. The entire club leadership must recruit for volunteers. Then the club is more successful.

Change the Word Volunteerism to "Involved":
When most people think of the word volunteer, they think of Mother Theresa. They think volunteers are altruistic and that they give for the joy of giving. They think volunteers are willing to give up their time and are supposed to make sacrifices, that they only give and don't receive. They think volunteers are not supposed to have their own agendas. Well, this type of volunteer who just feels that they want to give back to the community only make up 5% of any volunteer base. Most new members have an agenda and they need to know that it is okay to have that agenda. Make it okay for them to own their agenda. Ask the new member, "What do you want to get in return?" It's okay for them to use involvement as a way to advance their agenda, as long as the agenda is not incompatible with the club goals and it creates win-win results to benefit the volunteer and the club.

One idea is to ban the word volunteer from your club. Come up with a term that makes sense to your club. One phrase that works well is "Get Involved". Talk about involvement with the club. Another word is "Active." Here are some phrases you can use to recruit members to help:

• "Let's talk about how you can be active with the club."
• "Here are some ways to get more active with the club..."
• "Would you be interested in gaining experience... or would you like to learn?"
• "Would you like to get plugged into an opportunity to get more involved?"

If you want to use the word volunteer, shape it with action words to get involved.

Ask Members to Get Involved:
Recruiting is a never-ending process. You have to recruit people to come to meetings, to get involved, and to take leadership positions. You have to prove to new people why they need to get involved. Explain to them what's in it for them. Let them know what they get for being involved. Does the organization speak to them and does it meet their needs?

It is a skill to recruit new members to your club. Find out what hits their buttons. Find out what they want first and then tell them the benefits of joining your organization. Let them know what the successes are of the club.

Ways Club Leadership Enables Non-Involvement:
Unfortunately, club leadership often enables non-involvement for these reasons:

(1) They think it is too difficult to delegate. A response is it is just easier to do it myself then to say that it is my job is to grow a successor. You are not a success in your position if you aren't grooming a successor(s) to take over your position. If leadership appears overworked, then people won't want to join.

(2) It is too difficult for club leadership to manage a committee and to define roles. They may not know how to manage a committee. They may think it is too difficult to train someone and to trust them. There is the failure to ask for involvement.

(3) The leadership is a "Cult of Secrecy". Leadership needs to be visible to members and publish meeting notes, committee reports and notes, and archive them. New members can then read them and know what is going on.

Tips and Tactics:

• Observe your club bulletin board. When you see new people hanging out and reading everything on it, get them involved to create a volunteer stream.
• Contact all new members and ask them why they joined in the first place. Get the big picture of why they joined and discuss how much time they have and how they would like to volunteer if there are available opportunities.
• Put up brochures and posters of the benefits of involvement (with quotes).
• Give exposure for active members. Acknowledge people when they do a good thing. You don't have to have a member of the month, because you don't want people to feel like it is a quota and they are competing against one another for being active.
• Be a high-energy leadership group with positive vibes. This attracts people. If leadership appears energized, it attracts people.
• Each meeting, have one or more people talk about their role and what they are doing. This gives new members a peek at what people are doing behind the scenes. It's a quick way to introduce someone and find out what they are doing without making it sound like a sales pitch.
• Ask people what they would like to see more of in the club. Then say okay and ask them why not start a committee on that topic. Then let them know you'll show them how to start the committee and mentor them.
• Ask what would make this club more attractive/useful/productive for you? Then ask would you like to do something about it?
• Say to new person, "I'm so excited! You wouldn't believe the really cool project I'm involved in. Some really neat people are on the team. Do you want to join?"
• Ask them what they want to get out of the membership at the beginning. Find out how we can make sure they get what they want from this club. After six months or a year, ask them if they are getting what they wanted from the club. Ask what has happened or needs to happen for them to consider membership in the club worthwhile.

How to Market Your Membership Opportunities:
Hit the new members' hot buttons and answer their question, "What's In It For Me?" What do you offer your membership? One size does not fit all members' expectations. Ask what task can a member perform that feels like a fit for them and that it is worth stepping up for. Tap your members' passions. Don't assume you know what people want to do. Don't assume that they are specialists in one area and that they want to do the same thing. They may want to expand their skills and try something new.

Instead of having volunteers, you can have taskateers. You can expand a new member's skills by assigning a certain task, and then they can learn in increments and gradually take on more responsibilities.

Remember to close the sale. You have to talk to new members before your meetings and ask them to take the chance and come to a meeting. If nobody asks a person to join, then the person could be thinking that maybe they are not a good enough person to join.

Challenge people who say they have no time to join the club. You have to make them an offer that hits their hot buttons. Tell them you will help them contribute, to be active in the group, and to develop. Leadership in your club needs to be on a mission to make people belong. Leadership in the club needs to serve their members and make them feel they are an important part of the team.

Good Ideas Gone Bad:
Here are some good ideas gone bad:

(1) Bribes and one size fits all gifts do not work to recruit volunteers. You may use gifts to increase the energy level of volunteers, but it won't motivate most folks.
(2) Volunteer of the year contest makes people compete against each other.
(3) Recognition ceremonies and special events aren't very effective. Plaques don't really do anything for most people.

The vast majority of people would rather just have a party!

Secret Weapons to Help Recruit:
There are two secret weapons to use for leaders to help recruit new members: caring and fun. New members need to be more than names on a roster. Does your club leadership care about new members? Do you have fun at meetings? Did the general membership have a good time? Meetings are for members to learn, to get members' needs met, and to have fun. Members stay in the group because of caring and it is a fun group that gives value. Increase the fun activity level of the club, and it is easier to get more people involved.

Generate Your Own Ideas:
Generate ideas with your club to recruit, reward, and grow volunteers. So they move up higher and higher in the organization and take on more responsibilities. Everything in the club will continue to function fine if somebody leaves and the successor or successors are groomed to fill in. Tap into the energy of the new members right away and capture it in the beginning.

Action-Planning:
Identify one idea that you have just read that can enhance member involvement for you and your leadership team:

• What is it?
• Who needs to implement it or do something different?
• When does it need to happen?

--Posted to the PDGA message board by Becky Zallek
January, 2006

[Dan Michler]

maybe we can get a summary of that post for those of us who don't like reading.

[Jon Brakel]

maybe we can get a summary of that post for those of us who don't like reading.

That post is a summary of a seminar that Becky Z took plus her own life experience, but I'll list some of the more important points that I thought were applicable to Discontinuum. If you want a summary of this post, just read the bold parts. 

1) Ask people to become more involved in the club. Some people don't become more involved because they don't feel like they belong or they think you need to be part of the "inner sanctum" of the club in order to be more involved. Inviting people can break down that barrier.

2) Call it being "active" or "involved" rather than "volunteering". Volunteering to some people means doing some one else's dirty work or doing things you don't want/like to do. Becoming an active member or more involved in the club has a more positive sound...like you are pursuing your goals for the club.

3) Welcome people who "have an agenda" that are offering to get more involved with the club as long as their agenda isn't opposed to the cub's mission. Most people who volunteer their time have some kind of agenda...there really aren't any altruistic people, it is against human nature to be altruistic.

4) Don't use guilt to try to get people to volunteer. Guilt will drive more people away and those that it attracts will be reluctant volunteers. No one should be asked to "step up and do their part" or be told that it's time for them to "give something back" to the sport. That can have some people deciding to drop out rather than drop in.

Real life examples of how these points have effected my participation in Discontinuum.

1) My first contact with Discontinuum was a work day at the Fairfield course. I had never heard of Discontinuum before. Brett posted a notice at pdga.com and Becky, Maddisen and I showed up to help. Brett invited me. He didn't know me, but by posting in a forum where I already felt I was a member, broke down any barrier that might have prevented me from helping out at that work day. I joined Discontinuum the next month just to help support the club with my dues. I went to the first meeting after joining and Jim told me that I could be of help to the club and I should consider running for one of the ops positions. Boom. Another invitation, another barrier down. I never would have run if Jim hadn't invited me.

2) "Volunteering" to me sounds like "work service" but becoming an active member sounds like taking initiative or taking action to make the club better.

3) Jim used to tell me that he thought I had some kind of agenda in my involvement with the club. I was unaware of it at the time, but he was right. I have been playing disc golf for over 35 years. Before there were any courses even. I'm not very good. At best I am OK...and I don't mind. I love playing the game. But I realized long ago that there is no "taking my game to the next level" for me. I will probably be able to keep getting more consistant. So, somewhere I redefined "taking my game to the next level" to "helping to grow disc golf in the ways that I like". I started to help run tournaments that I wanted to play in. I started to help run a club that I wanted to be a member of. That is my agenda. Shaping disc golf's future through my active participation is my agenda. So, Jim, now you know what it is. 

4) Discontinuum is not a service club. We are a disc golf club. For some people attending league or our events is all the resources they have for disc golf. This is the extent of their involvement. This is good. We need you. For some people joining the club is what they can do to help. That's great!!! We need you as a member. We might ask you to become more active in the club or to become more involved in our tournaments. It's ok if you say you don't have time for that right now or it's not what you are interested in doing. But if we ask people and be inclusive in our club activities we will find the people who have the time and have the interest. We will find someone who says that they have time to help at one tournament on one day. We will find the person that wants to learn how to run league and be a part of the league director team. We will find the next BOD member and/or the next tournament director.

If for some reason we don't ask you to do be a more active member, this is your invitation to hunt us down and tell us what you would like to do for the club. What's your agenda? 

[CEValkyrie]

I read that on the PDGA site as well.

I've had several people over the past few weeks ask me what was expected out of them if they join the club. I said absolutely nothing is expected out of you. You can get involved with whatever aspect of the club you want. If you don't want to do anything that is fine too. Any support whether it is finacial (club membership, supporting events, & fundraisers), promotion of the club & disc golf (bag tag on bag or talk about club & disc golf), & volunteering all help this club grow & disc golf.

[Younk]

I would like to become more involved this year.  (1st year member) Last year was my first time playing in any sort of organized tournaments and I think that Discontinuum does a really good job and I would like to help out.  Unfortunately for me I don't live anywhere near where the monthly meetings are and that discourages me.  One of these days I will make it though... 

[Clonefan94]

I'm in the same boat as chains. I joined last year as an effort to find like minded players with a similar attitude as mine towards the game. I found that here and that is great. Then, I found out that my family obligations with two kids under two didn't allow me an entire days worth of disc golfing and related meetings. I personally don't see that really changing this year either. I live almost an hours drive from the leagues and meetings and decided to re-up this year anyways because I like to support the effort here in the area and always enjoyed the club memebers when I do get a chance to play. When the kids are older, I can see myself getting more involved, hopefully with them being excited about the sport also. I would love to be more involved with the club. Right now though, without regular club meetings being closer to Schaumburg, I wouldn't be available more than a couple of times a year.

[Jon Brakel]

I'm in the same boat as chains. I joined last year as an effort to find like minded players with a similar attitude as mine towards the game. I found that here and that is great. Then, I found out that my family obligations with two kids under two didn't allow me an entire days worth of disc golfing and related meetings. I personally don't see that really changing this year either. I live almost an hours drive from the leagues and meetings and decided to re-up this year anyways because I like to support the effort here in the area and always enjoyed the club memebers when I do get a chance to play. When the kids are older, I can see myself getting more involved, hopefully with them being excited about the sport also. I would love to be more involved with the club. Right now though, without regular club meetings being closer to Schaumburg, I wouldn't be available more than a couple of times a year.

We are glad to have all of our members no matter what their commitment level is! Thank you for helping to make Discontinuum the club that it is.

[Bruce Brakel]

This bit from Jon's long post bears repeating:

For some people attending league or our events is all the resources they have for disc golf. This is the extent of their involvement. This is good. We need you.

Seriously.  If all you can do is show up for tournaments or league sometimes, that is supporting the club.  If you shop at the Discontinuum on-line store, that is supporting the club too.