Raising three children has caused me to view volunteer organizations much differently than I did early in my marriage. I became a pastor when my oldest was 2 years old, and I began leading my children’s ministry before having the experience of volunteering for my own children’s activities. Years later, I have a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old who are both deeply invested in their activities. My 5-year-old waits in the wings, certain to open more opportunities for me to become a volunteer.
I’m currently a den leader with Cub Scouts for one of my sons, and am also involved in another group on some level (I’m struggling to define my relationship with it) for another son. I’m impressed by the difference in communication styles between these groups.
For the latter group, once a month the leadership team gathers on Wednesday evening to plan events. Being new, I wasn’t aware of these standing meetings until the day before, when my son presented me a strip of paper with a note reading: PARENT MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT AT 7 PM. The following line was in much larger print: BE THERE! I read the note not knowing if the last two words were a demand or an attempt at being enthusiastic.
Not wanting to disappoint my son, I changed my plans for the evening, so I could BE THERE! The meeting started late, and the use of Robert’s Rules of Order and committee reports stretched 10 minutes’ worth of work to over an hour. We were told that we could get parent updates if we subscribed to a newsgroup at Yahoo!, but “no, we can’t remember its name, just use the search tools to find it.”
At home later that evening, I received an e-mail from one of the scout leaders inviting me to register at www.scoutlander.com. Creating an account, the e-mail informed me, would allow me access to the master calendar for our pack. As a den leader, I’d be able to post all of my meeting times on a calendar. I’d be able to send broadcast e-mail to everyone in my den. Maps, handouts, and fliers can be posted to the website. Every member of our den can contribute to a photo album to celebrate our accomplishments together.
There are several points of differentiation between the way the two groups communicate (like the emotional tone), but I’d like to focus on how the scouts are embracing Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a trend on the Internet to create online communities that promote collaboration, creativity, and the sharing of information. Instead of a single webmaster generating the content, a team is invited to come together to generate the content.
Take www.scoutlander.com. I’m a low-level scouting volunteer, a den leader. But I’ve been given the ability to add to the pack calendar and to connect easily with all the families in my care. My scouts have been empowered to generate content. These children, with their parents’ supervision, can upload their favorite scouting moments to the website…making it theirs.
One of my professional goals this year is to give my volunteers a Web 2.0 experience. (We’re not there yet. Our communication team will be ripping up and improving our church website this fall. I’ll let you know when we get there and will share the web address with you.) Meanwhile, let me share a few free tools that can help you better connect with your volunteers:
Facebook: Sure, I’m not giving away any government secrets here. It seems that everyone has a Facebook account. So why not harness its power? By creating a Group, you can create a message board that allows your volunteers to ask questions and interact.
Ning: Ning is a free social networking platform that allows you to create your own social network. It’s like Facebook, but you limit access to only those on your volunteer team. Check out www.cmconnect.org. This website was created using the Ning platform and open to children’s pastors and volunteers everywhere. With a three- to five-hour time investment, you could create the same community for your own team.
Twitter: Okay, this application will not promote productivity, but it will create a sense of connectedness between teams. Twitter is a “micro-blog.” A user of Twitter decides who he or she sends updates to and then answers the question, “What are you doing?” in 149 words or less. I’m using Twitter with a few close friends and leaders to so we can give one another a sense of how we are using our time. When we get together for a leader or mentoring meeting, we already have a sense of how we can support or challenge one another during the week.
Oh, and here’s a nifty secret about Web 2.0. Yes, the statistics demonstrate that it’s the Millennials who are most openly embracing the technology. But Xers and Boomers are getting on board, because we don’t want to miss the next big thing. We want to be a part of the conversation. So, have hope. The energy you spend on the Web 2.0 learning curve will help you connect with more of your volunteer base than you might think!
Copyright © 2008, Group Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
September 2008 
