What Wags Your Volunteers' Tail?

Helen B. Arnold, CFRE often says, "Managing volunteers can be like shoveling fog into a bucket." When things go wrong on calls or in the community on your volunteer team, Helen's description can seem all too real.

Despite the challenges of volunteer management, it can dramatically improve volunteer culture to focus on the positive from time to time. In short, it's good to look closer at what makes your volunteers' tails wag, what makes them happy. Consider the following idea:

Ask your volunteers the following four questions (or any adaptation of them that works for you, keeping the focus on simplicity):
1.  What is the most meaningful experience you've had with this department, i.e. where you felt like you were making a difference?
2.  What accomplishment are you most proud of in your volunteer role?
3. What one thing would you most like to see improved in your volunteer experience?
4. What would you like to accomplish on the volunteer level in the next 12 months?

You could ask these questions in a variety of ways:
1. Face to face at a department meeting - You could pair members off and have them share their experiences with one another to get to know each other better.
2. Hand written at a department meeting -  This can be valuable to give you a chance to reflect on your members' honest input.  If this option is used, be sure to provide a copy for each member for their own records.
 3. Via free form questions on www.surveymonkey.com. This service is free if you have less than 100 responses and easy to export for future reference.


When you apply this exercise to your volunteers and to yourself, you're bound to find renewed inspiration for the amazing public safety mission you live every day. Thank you for all you do for your communities!

What's working well at your department in terms of volunteer engagement?

Strategic Planning: Your Bridge to Better Fundraising Efforts

The tall grass of public safety operations can sometimes feel cluttered with too many priorities. Taking a step back to develop a strategic plan can be the bridge your department deserves to a stronger tomorrow. A strategic plan can serve as a bridge to:

1. An even safer community
2. More efficient operations
3. More fulfilled firefighters, be they career or volunteer
4. Stronger community connections

Although some strategic or business plans look out as far as ten years, a plan that covers no more than three to five years is generally recommended. Funding sources and community realities often change dramatically during that time. Once a plan is in place, it can be updated annually to make it a continual bridge towards an even better future. 

Strategic planning makes fundraising efforts better through definition of need to donors. A request that says, "Your fire department operations would be improved through a backup power generator. Your fire department would be honored by your support" is much stronger than an appeal that relies only on community goodwill in making the fundraising ask. Prioritizing unfunded needs through strategic planning brings a more meaningful case to your community.


An outside facilitator is often used for the full strategic planning process to ensure impartiality and a compass for the process. The facilitator will often prepare a detailed reference document to ensure your bridge to a better department. As an alternative, the Amazon Affiliate link below offers strong workbook-based information on the process:

FlashPoint Fundraising offers strategic planning facilitation services.  Send us an email today with the subject line, "I was reading carefully" and you will receive a free example three year plan from a Midwest department. 

Strategic planning is about where your department goes from here. It's about how you build on your strengths, as Lewis Carroll reminds is in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:

"Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?" asked Alice.

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get," said the Cat.

"I really don't care where" replied Alice.

"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go," said the Cat. 

A Few Options Through the Blurriness: Tracking Your Donor & Volunteer Information

With so much "tall grass" to look through, trying to determine what donor and volunteer tracking software might help you become an even better fire department and nonprofit feels blurry on the best days. Firehouse and other common  public safety operational software pieces don't necessarily making tracking your amazing volunteer commitment easy. 

Solid donor and volunteer management software offers several significant advantages, including:

• Quantifiable source of information for your grant applications and fundraising appeals
• Detailed historical records of all the times your supporters interact with and donate to your cause
• Information to help plan to focus your fundraising efforts to make them even more effective

After some research, what follows are a few recommendations for affordable, comprehensive donor and volunteer tracking resources that might be a fit for your nonprofit (listed in alphabetical order)

1. If you have internal access to someone with software knowledge, Civic Contribute is a free open source donor software. More information can be found here. 

2. Etapestry is an online donor and volunteer management service available for free to organizations with less than 1,000 donor records. In considering this option, it is important to budget for and understand the monthly recurring fees that would apply when your organization surpasses 1,000 donor records

3. DonorPerfect includes an online option for $40 per month and software purchase options quoted on a customized basis. 

4. If your annual operating budget is less than $50,000 and you are a 501 c 3, you may purchase GiftWorks software through TechSoup for $25. You may add on the Volunteer Module for an additional $199. More information can be found here. 

5. Other GiftWorks options, including an online version that is available anywhere and allows you to outsource updates and database maintenance are available through FlashPoint Fundraising for a 15% discount. Contact Dawn Svenson Holland for more details. 

If you're considering a donor/volunteer software purchase for your organization:

• Take the time to make sure you're comparing apples to apples
• Compare the staff and/or volunteer time needed to support software against the recurring costs of online systems that allow you to outsource these functions
• Ask for input from your fellow area nonprofits

What's working well in terms of donor software at your organization? 

Remember the Splashes of Color in the Tall Grass: Your Current Supporters

Took this photo on a weekend walk with the family. It struck me as a good visual for the realities of fire department operations. The tall grass represent the highest priorities that demand and should continue to demand most of your attention:

• Fire calls
• Rescue calls
• Medical calls (if applicable)

The "tall grass" of firefighting gives plenty of opportunities for measurement and improvement, like:

• Time between page and station departure
• Volunteer response and participation 
• Opportunities for learning on any call execution items that could have gone better

As you glanced at the picture above, did you notice the purple blooms? Think of those as your current supporters. They bring beauty by providing the resources needed to offer the best possible emergency response services to your community. 

How readily do you think you are noticing the "purple blooms" in your department operations? Try this exercise:

1. Make a list of every unsolicited donation, check dropped off in the boot at your pancake breakfast and any significant in-kind support. 
2. Keep the list for future reference.
3. Ask yourself - when was the last time these people were thanked?
4. If the "slate" of response to question two is blank, start thanking them through any means that work best for your department:
• Personal phone calls just to say thanks
• A postcard or note of general thanks signed by department members
• An email (if you have it) 
• Consider at least one additional communication in the coming 6-12 months to report to your donors precisely how emergency response is stronger due to their support

Your current supporters are given hundreds of options for their nonprofit investments each year. They've chosen your department. Make sure those supporters know how grateful you are for the beauty of their generous decision! 

To build on this point, next week's post will focus on options for tracking donor and volunteer information and follow up (besides Firehouse software).

What's working well for your department in terms of thanking your current supporters?