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Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979

Instructor’s Guide
for DVD Inservice Training

Table of Contents | NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet | Administrator Post Test

Introductory Commentary
(Prior to reading this Introductory Commentary, be sure to read the preceding Section  on page 3 regarding “Culture Change,” especially the section entitled “Feel you don’t have the time to leave your facility and give a volunteer recruitment talk?”.   This Section provides the rationale for this Course’s focus on developing a volunteer recruitment talk.)

Are you ready for an adventure?  Think I am exaggerating?  Wondering how a manual on recruiting volunteers can be an adventure?  Well, I'll tell you how.  Part I of this manual is an Instructor’s Guide for the DVD Inservice training of activity Staff and Volunteer Coordinators.  Part II of this manual will give you “Volunteer Program Basics.” In Part II you get exactly: the bare bones of how to organize and develop a basic recruitment talk and volunteer program.  However, in Part III "Advanced Speaking Skills," you get what I consider the really, really great stuff.  By "great stuff," I mean the gems and jewels of the "public speaking world." 

Part III of this Manual tells you step-by-step how to build your volunteer recruitment talk.  I have made a living instructing seminars nationally for fifteen years.  You are benefiting from some of these ideas which took me years to figure out.  When I started giving seminars for activity directors, I would give a seminar on Monday in Chicago, which was well received; then I would then give the same seminar, in my mind, in Milwaukee on Tuesday, and I would be not as well received.  Why?  That is what I would ask myself as I would pack up my activity projects to drive or fly to the next city.  The inconsistent reception my seminars received, when they had seemingly the exact same content, was "making me crazy."  I really, really wanted not to do a good job, but to do a great job.  My goal was when activity directors walked away from my seminar, they would say excitedly, "That was the best seminar I ever attended!"  But that only happened initially about 25% of the time.  As I traveled and talked to other speakers who had booked other meeting rooms in that hotel, I learned about the National Speakers Association.  The dues were over $500.  Wow!  What an investment.  Burt I received monthly training cassettes from them, attended their national convention in California, and ordered many additional materials.  In essence I learned the "trick" of the speaking trade.

So guess what?  Guess what's in this manual?  You guessed it!  The best of the best.  I put together every conceivable tip, tool, and technique that I have used in fifteen years of presenting seminars and hundreds of hours on the road listening to national speaker's association cassette tapes, and they are all here waiting for you in the pages of this manual in Part III!

So, when I ask, “Are you ready for an adventure?”, “adventure” is the exact word that I mean to use.  I guarantee that if you are interested at all in recruiting and keeping volunteers, by the time you read the last section of this manual, you will exclaim excitedly to yourself, or perhaps out loud, "My gosh!  I can't believe it!  It's all right here!  Everything that I need to get and keep the volunteers my activity department needs!  I can hardly wait to get started!"  What fun!  As you can tell, I am excited to share with you what I have spent many years learning.  So let's get started!J

Part I of this Manual provides an Instructor’s Guide for the “Activity Staff and Volunteer Coordinator Reproducible Note-Taking Booklet.”  The DVD can serve as a springboard for brainstorming sessions to discuss how the speaker’s volunteer recruitment and organizational ideas might be appropriate for your facility.  Avoid the “That won’t work here!” syndrome.  What do I mean by the “That won’t work here!” syndrome?  What I mean is, I encourage you to use your imaginations.  If my way of involving volunteers in the facility is not compatible with your facility; I challenge you to find a piece or part of that idea and adapt it in some manner more compatible with your facility.

DVD TRACK 1

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since this DVD was recorded in a hotel meeting room, and not a studio, the audio and video have been digitally optimized as much as possible.  However, the features of the speaker’s face will appear blurry at times.  This will not hamper your learning experience. The quality of the content speaks for itself.

Introduction

What type of volunteer do you want working with your Success Therapy® program?
An achievement motivated volunteer.

QUESTION #1: What mistake did the speaker say she made when first working to recruit volunteers?
The speaker started to internalize the negativism that is out there in the community for nursing homes in general.

DVD TRACK 2
Four Factors that Influence Volunteer Recruitment

How does negative publicity about facilities that care for the elderly affect potential volunteers?
Potential volunteers may have developed a subconscious negative perception of nursing homes, and may respond with, “Ugh, that place?”

QUESTION #2: What are four factors that prevent recruitment of volunteers?
1. We live in a youth-oriented society; 2. People think of nursing homes as a place to die; 3. Negative publicity; 4. In this economy, people need two paychecks.

DVD TRACK 3
Writing Press Releases to Recruit Volunteers

What three mistakes did the speaker make when asked to submit her first press release to the local newspaper?
1. The speaker was overwhelmed by the use of the words “press release.”
2. She addressed the envelope to the wrong department at the newspaper.
3. She sent the story in during the wrong time frame for the editor.

QUESTION #3: When writing a press release, what simple advice did the editor of the newspaper suggest?
Write a simple fact sheet with the who, what, when, where, and why, along with your telephone number.

DVD TRACK 4
Recruiting Volunteers by Telephone

What is “cold calling?”
Calling a stranger out in the community to ask them to volunteer.

When cold calling, what is one way to combat subconscious negative images of nursing homes your potential volunteer may have?
Give the potential volunteer specific images of what they might be doing in the facility, such as reading to room-bound patients.

QUESTION #4: What did the speaker say to the woman on the phone before she came in to volunteer?
The speaker prepared the volunteer by being very specific about what they would be doing so any negative notions the volunteer might have about nursing homes are reduced.

DVD TRACK 5
Be Specific with Potential Volunteers

If a volunteer states they can come in on a weekly basis, which activities should you describe to them?
If a volunteer can come in on a weekly basis, list all of the activities off of your calendar.

What activities might be appropriate for a volunteer who can come in every other week?
Calling Bingo numbers.

What activities might be appropriate for a volunteer who can come in once a month?
Birthday parties or the facility newsletter.

What activities might be appropriate for a volunteer who cannot come in on a regular basis?
One-to-one Success Therapy® projects.

How did the speaker use visual aids to help her during her presentations to recruit volunteers?
She made a poster board calendar of the activities schedule, so that she could show the potential volunteers specifically what kinds of activities they might be involved in.

QUESTION #5: What makes the term “Activities” difficult for people to relate to?
The term is too general and people need examples of what the activities are.

DVD TRACK 6
Using Group Presentations to Recruit Volunteers

What are two things you should make sure are understood before you speak to a group?
1. The topic on which you are speaking
2. The length of time for which you will be speaking

QUESTION #6: When the potential volunteer from the Rosary Club told the speaker that she did not want to become a volunteer, how did the speaker get the potential volunteer to participate in some way?
The speaker asked the potential volunteer to simply consider sending a Christmas card to a resident that does not receive letters or visitors.

DVD TRACK 7
Motivating Unwilling Potential Volunteers

How did the speaker create a successful program around potential volunteers who were unwilling to contribute time or come in to the facility?
The speaker mentioned that several residents did not receive Christmas cards, and invited the community member to send a card to a specific resident.

If a potential volunteer states that they are unable to volunteer at this time, what is one crucial point to remember?
Never leave the responsibility for the follow-up call to the potential volunteer.

How were future volunteer contacts organized?
File folders were created with the names of each month, and index cards regarding contact information for that volunteer were dropped into the folder for the month the contact is to be made.

QUESTION #7: What are the two criteria of a resident that might benefit from receiving cards or letters?
1. Alert enough to be aware of a card or a letter; 2. someone you know will be at the facility for a long time.

DVD TRACK 8
Public Service Announcements

What is one fact that the speaker suggests considering if you are intimidated by the thought of contacting your local TV station to put up a Public Service Announcement?
TV stations have to run a certain number of Public Service Announcements to keep their licenses.

QUESTION #8: Why is it important to include a professional photograph in advertisements?
The visual image is what people remember; it is better to have no picture at all than one that is poorly done.

DVD TRACK 9
Getting Television and Radio Coverage

How did one of the activity directors adapt radio coverage to get free publicity for her facility?
Activities helped the residents make a birthday present for one of the station’s DJ’s, and all of the day’s DJ’s commented on the air about the present her residents made.

QUESTION #9: What is another way to get coverage from a television station besides a public service announcement?
A news event at the facility

DVD TRACK 10
Getting Recognition for Your Programs

What were two ways suggested by the speaker to showcase the Activities program to visitors to the facility?
1. Keep a scrapbook
2. Have slides made of the scrapbook photos

QUESTION #10: What is a reason why Activities Staff may not be recognized by the general public invited into the facility?
If someone comes in on a day when a large event is not planned, Activities look like they are not doing their job because 1-to-1 activities in the rooms are not seen as easily as big events.

DVD TRACK 11
More Ideas for Volunteer Recruitment

What were two suggestions made by the speaker regarding selling crafts made by residents?
1. Avoid places where customers are spending money.
2. Bring a resident along to help you sell the crafts.

QUESTION #11: In the story about the nursing home having problems with unresponsive funeral homes, how did the facility solve the problem?
The facility invited funeral directors from around the city for a luncheon to explain more about the nursing home to alleviate the funeral directors’ generally negative image of nursing homes.

DVD TRACK 12
Adapting Activities Around Your Volunteers

How did the speaker build a successful one-to-one program around a fairly frail volunteer?
The volunteer went room-to-room cleaning resident’s glasses for them.

What did one participant suggest as an advantage to getting young children involved as volunteers?
Young volunteers tend to have a ‘ripple effect’, and get their whole families involved.

QUESTION #12: What were two reasons the first group representative gave as to why church groups or senior centers are good resources for finding volunteers?
1. Church groups and senior centers are faithful volunteers and  2. “pretty well take over their own programs” (can work independently).

DVD TRACK 13
Participant Suggestions for Volunteer Recruitment

According to Serena, what makes clubs like the 4H club a good place to recruit volunteers?
Children involved in clubs like 4H need to do service projects as part of their club activities.

QUESTION #13: After holding a Volunteer Day at the facility, what did one group representative do in order to make sure anyone who offered to volunteer did so?
She called the volunteers as soon as possible after the event to get them into the area of volunteering they said they were interested in.

DVD TRACK 14
Participant Suggestions, Part 2

What was the most frequent suggestion made by the participants as a source of recruiting volunteers?
Schools and children’s organizations.

QUESTION #14: What is one reason why families, staff, and church members that are already in the facility are often the best recruiters?
These people see the need for volunteers first hand and so they are often very motivated to get the volunteers.

Residents as Volunteers
How might you consider engaging alert, mobile residents with an attitude of helping as volunteers?
You might pair an alert resident with a less capable resident, and have the alert resident help his or her partner around the facility, or make room visits to read to the less capable resident.