Retaining Volunteers

Tips for working well as a team within a Freegle group

• Swap numbers, in case of emergencies that lead to a sudden inability to mod, attend an event etc.
• Respect each other's skills and different time commitments.
• Consider having informal meetings every 3 months, maybe sometimes with volunteers from neighbouring groups.
• Meet up online if face-to-face meetings never seem to happen.
• Have your own mods' support group - some Freegle groups copy relevant messages to the volunteer team address, others have a shared space, such as a WhatsApp group or mailbox, for volunteers from one or more adjoining groups.

Advantages:

• • archive
  • files
  • practice polls
  • sharing promotional and other local news
  • chat
  • support

• Check the management logs (ModTools > Logs > Messages) or (ModTools > Members > Approved > Moderation Team) from time to time, to ensure that the bulk of the modding is not being done by one mod - this puts the group at risk for several reasons:
  • the busy mod may be more likely to burn out
  • if the busy mod is not available, there may be a serious gap in modding cover
  • other mods may feel that they are not getting sufficient opportunity to mod, and lose interest

• If you have a sensitive and difficult issue within your team that cannot be resolved locally, consider asking for confidential advice from Confidential Volunteer Support.

Back to Recruiting, Training and Retaining or Running Your Group