Retaining Volunteers

Tips for working well as a team within a Freegle group

• Swap numbers asap in case of emergencies that lead to a sudden inability to mod (!)
• Respect each other's skills and different time commitments
• Consider having informal meet ups every 3 months, maybe sometimes with neigbouring group mods
• Meet up online if face-to-face meet ups never seem to happen
• Have your own mods' group - some freegle groups cc relelvent messages to the group-owner address, others have a yahoo group that's just for mods of one or a couple of adjoining re-gifting groups. Advantages:
  • archive
  • files
  • practice polls
  • chat & support

• Check the management logs 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 Mod Support

• Interesting retaining volunteers article:

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/resources/goodpracticebank/Core+Themes/retention/retainingvolunteers-overview.htm