New Member Pipeline

Groups who want to contact these potential new members fill out our simple program application.

We find people who have taken relevant actions, live near your group, and–as far as we can tell-aren’t affiliated with a currently active group.

We send you a recruitment list with new member contact information, along with instructions.

We provide a tracking spreadsheet for you to fill out, so that we can use your experience and feedback to help improve the program.

You’ll notice we send you phone numbers, not emails. That’s because this is a personal outreach program. Volunteering is essentially a personal relationship, and it takes energy on both sides to make it work. Of course activism offers plenty of meaningful work well-suited to introverts as well as to extroverts, but the first few contacts must build personal trust. 

We’ll usually send you a list of between 10 and 20 people. It can be hard to find the time to make personal calls – but at the same time this can be a fun team effort! Consider setting aside time at or after regular meetings for folks to make calls together. Maybe toast your work with a glass of wine or a soothing cup of tea!

Find a couple people in your group who would like to form your “Welcome Team.” This is a great project for newer members, and often fits right in with the skill set some of our volunteers bring. You might not want to ask them to “lead” this team to start as people often feel they don’t have enough experience to lead a project. Instead, you can ask them to take on the project, or brainstorm ideas. The tasks this team can take on might include:

Make an introductory call or send an email to welcome the new volunteer
Announce the new volunteer at the first meeting the volunteer attends (just be sure to give them a heads up that you’ll be doing this)
Assign a current member as a buddy to take the new volunteer out for coffee & make sure the new volunteer is invited to the next meeting
Learn the interests of the new volunteer, and provide them with a simple initial task or role
Make sure the new volunteer is added to all your social media and email communication lists

Most people feel nervous showing up for the first time at a meeting, so a great time to recruit new volunteers is when you’re hosting or co-hosting a public event or action.  Invite them – and make sure to find a way to say hello at the event if they attend! And of course, do follow up with an invitation to your next event and a thank you for coming to the first.