10 Steps for Using Social
Media to Engage Volunteers
August 16, 2009, 3:15 pm
Tweet this session: #asae09 lr1
Content Leaders:
Jessica Medaille, International Society for Technology in Education
Jennifer Ragan-Fore, International Society for Technology in Education
www.asaecenter.org
Connecting Great Ideas and Great People

10 Steps for Using Social
Media to Engage Volunteers

Barriers to Volunteering
• No virtual opportuni<es
• No short‐term assignments
• Loca<on inconvenient
• Concern about expense/
loss of income
from Decision to Volunteer,
page 103
• Don’t know other
volunteers
• No opportuni<es for
networking

Examples of Volunteer Opportuni<es
• Leading month‐long • Short‐term guest
book club discussions blogging
on our wiki or Ning
• Offering an informal
• Serving as “UStream” live event
organiza<onal
“docents” in Second for members
Life • Pos<ng news items to
• Gree<ng new Facebook
members of our Ning • Organizing a speaker
every few days for a series in Second Life
month

Educa<on Advocacy
Periodicals
Technology Standards
20,000 individual members
85,000 affiliated members
Annual Conference
Books Virtual Communi<es

What We’ll Cover:
Sec$on 1: Prepare your organiza$on
Step 1: Assess your organiza<on’s readiness
Step 2: Educate the rest of your organiza<on
Step 3: Establish guidelines & orienta<on

What We’ll Cover:
Sec$on 2: Think Different
Step 4: Remove the barriers
Step 5: Understand the cultural shi_s
Step 6: Make the invisible visible
Step 7: Iden<fy your champions

What We’ll Cover:
Sec$on 3: Avoid the Pi>alls
Step 8: Build in checkpoints
Step 9: Hold them accountable
Step 10: Give good direc<on

Sec<on 1: Prepare your
Organiza<on

Step 1:
Assess your Readiness

How does this fit with
your mission?

How will you
measure success?

Step 2:
Educate the rest of
your organiza<on

Help the rest
of your org
iden:fy
appropriate
volunteer
opportuni:es

Ques<ons to Ask:
• What social media needs and opportuni<es exist?
• Which social media tools and channels are your members
currently using?
• What skills or knowledge are needed to contribute?
• What type of orienta<on will need to be designed and who
will do it?
• How long should the appropriate volunteer have been a
member?
• How much <me is available to manage the virtual
volunteer(s) comple<ng the project?
• How long will it take to complete the project, or is this an
ongoing project?

Step 3: Establish Guidelines
& Orienta<on

Create a Code of Conduct

Issues to Cover:
• How a volunteer/community leader will be iden<fied
within the community
• How a volunteer will differen<ate between comments
that represent his or her own opinions vs comments
that represent his or her role as a volunteer.
• What the volunteer can and cannot say on behalf of
the organiza<on
• How the volunteer handles escala<ng or nega<ve
comments or situa<ons (what he or she can handle vs
what should be le_ to staff or volunteer leadership)

Consider how well you
know these volunteers

Break the work into chunks

Be flexible

How will these volunteers fit?

Make the value proposi:on clear

Clarify your organiza:on’s mission

Tap your volunteer leaders to reach
out to new poten:al volunteers

Sec<on 3: Avoid the Pikalls…

Step 8: Build in Checkpoints

Step 9: Hold them accountable

Strike the right balance

Step 10: Give good direc<on

Watch out for volunteers who take
themselves too seriously

At your tables
Take 5 minutes and discuss 3
ways that you think you could
integrate some of these
opportuni<es into your own
organiza<ons.

Ques<ons?

Contact Information
Jennifer Ragan-Fore
Director of New Media & Member Communities
International Society for Technology in Education
jraganfore@iste.org
Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook: raganfore
Jessica Medaille
Senior Director of Membership Development
International Society for Technology in Education
jmedaille@iste.org
Twitter/LinkedIn: jmedaille
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Annual Meeting & Expo
August 21 - 24, 2010
Los Angeles, CA www.asaecenter.org