Navigating summer's volunteer engagement challenges

[Michelle Fifis]

As many of us approach the busy summer season, maintaining employee engagement in volunteering initiatives becomes a pressing issue. The unique challenges of warmer weather and longer days, such as competing priorities and holiday schedules, often require a flexible and unique approach to volunteerism. 

Do you adjust your employee volunteering programs during the busy summer months and holidays? What techniques have you used to keep employee engagement and interest high?

Here are some strategies to consider:

• Remain flexible: Accommodate varying schedules and preferences during summer to ensure maximum volunteer participation.
• Create meaningful opportunities: Ensure that your volunteering opportunities resonate with employees and align with their passions and interests.
• Communicate and promote: Use creative methods to promote volunteering opportunities and keep employees informed and engaged.
• Recognize and appreciate: Use meaningful recognition gestures to reinforce the value of your employees' contributions and encourage continued engagement.
• Team-building and bonding: Use this season to leverage volunteering as a team-building platform and foster a sense of camaraderie among employees.

Have you used these strategies to maintain employee engagement and interest during the busy summer and holidays? Please let us know in the comments below! ☀️

[Michelle Fifis]

@Carlos_o9, @InesGarcia, @Natina and @brevity-marketing if you have a moment, I would love to hear what strategies your organization has used to maintain engagement during the summer months. Thank you!

[InesGarcia]

Thanks Michelle, why does 'volunteering initiatives becomes a pressing issue'? Would be interesting to know the figures / facts from this. 

When embedding social and natural capital within the fabric of the organisations is a default rather than a side 'gig'

As biomimicry practitioner cant help but also reflect that there are governing laws and natural rhythms we are bounded to, regardless of how aware of those we may or not be.

[Michelle Fifis]

Hi, @InesGarcia! To clarify, it's the maintaining employee engagement that becomes more difficult in the summer months. Many of our members face this challenge, but nonprofits and HR professionals also report a "Summer Slump." Maybe you have encountered this challenge with some of the teams and organizations you have worked with?

[InesGarcia]

Not necessarily, again when is within the fabric layer of an organisation isn't a separate 'effort' but as part of the rythm.

Also is ok there are cycles as it happens in nature. trying to keep a mechanical '5th gear' every day every season throughout the year is not attuned nor realistic. my 5 cents!

[Michelle Fifis]

Thank you, Ines. That's a perspective I hadn't considered and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

[Carlos_o9]

That's a good topic! I agree with the strategies mentioned in the post and I would add:

• Engage Virtually: Offer virtual volunteering opportunities for those unable to commit to in-person. Also, virtual volunteering offers the opportunity to gather people from different locations given the reduction of staff in one specific office during the holiday season. Last, it will also help to avoid the extreme summer heat waves!
• Family-Friendly Activities: Not always easy but this can encourage participation while accommodating family vacation schedules.

[Michelle Fifis]

Thank you so much, @Carlos_o9! These are fabulous recommendations and I love the idea of including family-friendly activities. My family and I have enjoyed volunteering together at our local food bank, but I am sure there are countless other opportunities. 

[Natina]

Great question Michelle! My initial thought is - while it may be summer/holiday for you, if you're a global company, it's not for others - so there's always a group of people who are present and primed for engagement!

Now, to answer... 🙂

With the nature of work changing, we've in some ways been accounting for engagement through seasonal shifts (summers, holidays, etc). Our teams are globally distributed, so we're more intentional about how and when we come together. With that, we build in time for social impact/community engagement experiences during in person and virtual convenings.  

With respects to what those events look like, I'd plus one the family friendly convenings - and note to be more inclusive AND accessible in how we're defining family. Our immediate defaults tend to go to partners and children, but families have more meanings than our defaults - so keep that in mind. Even with those defaults, the activities we include aren't always accessible or relevant to one's interests.

Partnering with your employee groups can really be advantageous here. There are opportunities to lean into culture and heritage celebrations during these times of year, which can be great employee engagement opportunities. When an employee group is hosting an event, you’ve got thought partners and collaborators to aid you with the design - and they are invested in seeing the event reach the community. This has worked well for us.

A final thought is reliability. There isn't always a reliable cadence of seasonal engagement, so people tend to expect that this is "off" time; they aren’t missing anything. Even if your engagement is low - do it! Creating a culture of engagement isn't just the what, but also the when. FOMO (fear of missing out) is sometimes a great motivator for employees to join in! Use it to your advantage 🙂 

[Michelle Fifis]

You've raised so many insightful points, @Natina. I appreciate you highlighting being inclusive when defining family and the idea of "leaning into culture and heritage celebrations during these times of year."

And your statement, "Even if your engagement is low - do it!" is such an inspiring reminder. Thank you for these inspiring and actionable ideas!