In every community, a few large businesses are known for their philanthropic activity and everyone seeking money and volunteers requests their help. This means competition and more rejections than acceptance. Yet in every community there are also scores of companies who are never approached to contribute to anything. We all know that most people volunteer because they were asked, so why not apply this recruitment principle to engaging corporations?
In recruiting individual volunteers, the challenge is to figure out where to look for the most appropriate prospects. The same is true in determining the businesses most likely to be attracted to supporting your organization. Don't stop yourself from contacting a company "cold" if you can start the conversation with something you have in common -- the reason why you think you should collaborate. For example:
- You both are focused on the same audience. You help children; the company sells children's clothing.
- You provide compatible services. You offer recreational programs; the company does weight loss counseling.
- You are located in the same neighborhood. The closer your locations are to each other, the more obvious the reasons to get acquainted. And employees can even volunteer before or after work, or even on lunch breaks.
- Someone who works in the company is already volunteering with you. It's always best if you have an "inside" champion to carry your message to people she or he knows.
A frequent question is: Who is the right person to contact in a company to reach employee volunteers? Unfortunately, there is no consistent answer. It depends on each business. Do a little research online and see if a company you want to approach has staff in any of the following categories:
- Philanthropy/social responsibility/community engagement. Such offices are generally found only in the largest of companies, but are logical contact points if they exist.
- Public relations/marketing. These staff may or may not be officially charged with fielding requests from nonprofit and public agencies, but they do understand their connection to "community relations." Present your volunteer recruitment as an opportunity for positive image building and customer development.
- Human resources/personnel/employee assistance. Again, while employee volunteering may not officially be a human resources function, your approach here would be that volunteering: 1) builds staff teamwork and morale, 2) can be a way to train employees in new skills, or 3) can be a part of pre-retirement counseling.
In a small company, don't be afraid to start at the top. Call the President or CEO's office, explain your goal of connecting with the business, and ask who would be the best person to meet with about this. In the last analysis, although we talk about "companies," every business is a collection of individuals. So once you've made contact with someone willing to listen, your success will depend on winning that person's support first, and then attracting others together.