“You’re joking not ANOTHER one?!” The viral video from the last General Election still stands relevant today only two years later. In a time where Brexit has had more dates than most of the British public, we’re back awaiting yet another General Election.
There have been six elections in my 20 years on this Earth and four of them have happened since 2010.
That’s four elections in nine years.
If we were sticking to how often elections were actually supposed to take place we’d be waiting for our second election since 2010 right now… I think it’s fair to say our current government is quite unstable.
Anyway, I digress. The real reason for this blog is to highlight how these election campaigns would be nothing without the hard work of volunteers. Work that is probably made even harder with the rate we’re having these elections at.
Campaign volunteers for all parties work tirelessly to traverse through neighbourhoods, talking to residents and giving out leaflets that will probably just end up in the bin. (If you do bin them at least recycle… Especially if it’s a Green leaflet you’re binning.)
Without the work of these volunteers, politicians from all parties would not be able to get their messages out as quickly and reach as many people across the country. In some places, volunteers even offer services to help people get to their polling station, giving everyone as much chance as possible to vote.
What can volunteer managers learn from political campaign volunteering?
Flexibility
The flexible nature of campaign volunteering could inspire the structure of other volunteering opportunities. For many people, volunteering is too time-consuming and structured to fit around their busy schedules. What campaign volunteering does well is it allows the volunteer to choose when they give their time, with no real commitments. This opens up the opportunities to a wider range of people who are willing to help out.
Another thing is the range of activities volunteers can choose from. A quick visit to any party’s website shows you that you can do a range of activities. From knocking on local residents’ doors to inputting data and answering phone calls in offices. Flexibility like this is likely to encourage more people to sign up and volunteer.
If volunteer recruitment is what you’re after, maybe look to campaign volunteering for some tips.
Use of Technology
Technology is used massively in elections. Especially in today’s society where we seem to go no longer than five minutes without our phones. In particular, parties make use of social media to both rally supporters and attack the opposition.
Hopefully, more general examples of volunteer management don’t involve attacking anyone online. We can still learn a thing or two from the use of social media platforms to communicate with volunteers and get them enthusiastic about opportunities.
Making information about opportunities more accessible, i.e. posting about them on social media, will encourage volunteers to sign up. Posting about experiences of other opportunities – perhaps with pictures/video from the day – can also help new volunteers feel more comfortable deciding to work with your organisation.
Take a look at this tweet from the Labour Party. Here, they recognise and show the work of their volunteers. This would certainly make me more comfortable with the idea of doing some campaign volunteering!
As millions went back to work yesterday, thousands of you hit streets and stations across the country to protest against #TheDailySqueeze
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) January 3, 2019
We want to say a massive thank you to our brilliant volunteers!
If you were out campaigning, see if you can spot yourself in our video 👇 pic.twitter.com/tPp5kDm7WS
How can TeamKinetic help?
We offer volunteer management software for organisations of all sizes. This includes tools to recruit, manage, and reward volunteers.
For more information on how we can help you, feel free to contact us on social media (Twitter/Facebook), visit our website, or give us a ring on 0161 914 5757.