What you do on the first day or at the first meeting may determine whether a member will return! An induction helps new members become familiar with the people, the environment, the role and the group’s activities.

Make them feel welcome, perhaps by:

• preparing an induction timetable
• introducing them to other volunteers and staff in the group
• providing a complete list of committee members
• giving them the latest annual report, information on essential policies, and general information about their role

This should be done as soon as possible after selection and can fill a useful gap while waiting for references. Formal induction should include a session on training needs and more detail about the service the group provides.

Keeping new members interested

Whatever systems you have for supporting and supervising new members, you will need to know that the work they are doing continues to meet the access group’s needs, and satisfies their personal reasons for volunteering.

In this is not done adequately, new members may become bored. Reviews are a way of identifying where there is a need to rework the group, either for personal development or organisational reasons. Recognition and appreciation of members should be built into a membership strategy. This may be provided formally through training, or informally by holding ‘thank you events’, giving thank you cards, or via mentions in newsletters and annual reports. Organisations should continually try to find ways to reinforce the message that members are a valuable and important asset.

Evaluation

The final stage of the strategy is to have a mechanism for checking whether the recruitment strategy is working. Set aside time each year for an annual evaluation, linking back to the reasons why you recruit new members to get an overall assessment of whether the strategy is fulfilling your objectives.

Remember that members may want to leave at some point. They should be allowed to do this without being made to feel guilty, or forced to stay through a sense of obligation.