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Customer Success Manager at Blackbaud Canada

frustrationUsing the right technologies to communicate with younger volunteers
  No, they’re not ignoring you. They are living, working and playing through different communications channels. Email, a “communications staple” of our office lives, is much less important to young people. Here’s a nifty list of communications tools that you can use to communicate with youth volunteers “in their space.” Most importantly, don’t forget to ask younger volunteers “how” they want to be communicated with.

Below is a recent letter that I wrote to Kivi Leroux Miller about my experience in one of her online classes.  My biggest take-away from Kivi’s class was that there are people out there that are struggling with the same issues that I am, and that we really should find ways to “share the space.”

Here are three suggestions for including peer-to-peer support in your daily work routine:

  • Pick up the phone and talk to a fellow fundraiser about a challenge you are having. Better yet, invite them out for lunch to talk in person;
  • Use a conference, or a learning opportunity to connect with a fellow fundraiser – someone with whom you would like to build a relationship. The fact that you like their energy, or their perspective is as good a reason as any to start a conversation;
  • Formalize any of the above-mentioned relationships into a bi-weekly or monthly call with your new colleague.  Use skype, or google hangout - so that you can actually see each other – and create a peer-to-peer safe environment where you can articulate short-term tasks or professional goals that you want to accomplish before the next peer coaching session.