Entries Tagged 'volunteers' ↓

Often we plan program and events thinking start to finish. But the real work takes place after the finish, with the follow-up.

For example, our Disarmament Working Group recently had a movie showing. Did the event end when the last guest had left and the last dish was washed?

NO.

(Okay, you saw that one coming.)

After the event, we had thirty people who expressed an interest in nuclear disarmament. Now the real work begins. How will we follow up with them so that they stay involved in the organization and in the issue?

For us, the first step means getting a follow-up email to them  within 24 hours to remind them about the issue, reinforce the message, and reiterate what actions they can take.

Getting this follow-up email out is an important development here at ICPJ. Now, just like a chess aficionado, we need to plan three steps ahead.

Take home message: Plan your follow-up just as much as you plan your publicity and your logistics. It’s in the follow-up that you win or lose new members, new donors, and new activists.

“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.“ Ralph Nader

When we talk about building a movement for peace and justice, a large part of what we need to be talking about is building up the people who will lead the movement.

This is an area where I have a lot of growth to do.

So, I’m working to recruit more chairs and leaders in the committees I’m working on. A chair doesn’t have to do all the work, nor does the chair need to set all the plans. But the chair does need to ensure that all the work gets done and all the plans are made.

In the ICPJ Wiki  I’ve posted some information about what it takes to be a good committee chair.

Of course, it’s easy to write about it–the work ahead is to

• Recruit people to be chairs
• Train them so they rock as chairs
• Support them in their work.

It’s never as easy as writing a wiki entry or a blog post.