Religion at courthouses is controversial subject

Presenting the group properly

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Religion at courthouses is controversial subject

Religion at courthouses is controversial subject

Emotions run high whenever religion is mixed with things in our daily lives, particularly if that mixing is controversial or seemingly in conflict with the U. S. Constitution! When religion mixes with Constitutional rights, emotions run white hot for many Americans.

 

When you ask someone to join your group, do you think they are really just thinking of the group? You are the one asking so the first thing they think of is their perceptions of you. Their body language tells the story. If you seem credible, then the group may be the next thought, unless the group’s message is full of controversy, such as the example above.

In past posts I have mentioned that when a person considers a request or a purchase, their emotions are always very involved no matter what their head requests in the form of facts and data. In the end, the purchase or their joining will be determined by how the transaction will make them feel.

To go further with this, feelings are mirrored by our body language. Many large and rigorous studies have practically proven that body language is very accurate translator, when read correctly regarding how the person really feels about your request. You should learn to “listen” to the body language and govern your proposal accordingly.

Leil Lowndes in the book, How to Be a People Magnet wrote about how she learned from a friend she knew who used a study from the Journal of Genetic Psychology to teach her children to detect emotions in other children. The friend’s children also learned to be more empathetic as well as detecting when other children were lying. The point is that the skill can be taught to anyone and many professional sales people develop the skill to a very high level. Body language need not be a huge mystery, even children can learn to understand the language.

Some people now teach the skill of reading body language to executives and law enforcement.  In his book, Louder Than Words author Joe Navarro, a retired FBI Special Agent talks about the importance of emotions at work and that “emotions always override logic”. He goes on to say, “A negative stimulus, sufficiently powerful, will overwhelm logic…”

If your group has any negative emotions or perceptions from recent news releases or any other background that detracts from your message, be ready to deal with it and when you do, you must use your passion and your body language to be totally convincing. This means you can’t have mixed feelings because your body language will more than likely give that away.

During the First Gulf War many military recruiters were subjected to physical assaults by people throwing red paint on them to symbolize blood as a protest. Now this was daring of them to hide behind the courts and laws when they did this to the Marine Recruiters, to be honest. Marines are not usually tolerant of being assaulted, actually they have a well-earned reputation of responding to assaults with one of their own!

Fortunately for these misguided people, all military recruiters were told in no uncertain terms ahead of this event and others like it to not retaliate with force. Even when emotions ran high, the military men and women were to stay under control when attacked by the civilian citizens.

My point is that if someone responds to your request to help them join with any kind of emotional blasting towards you, be prepared ahead of time and do not become outwardly emotional. If they call you names, devil worshiper, sons of Satan, commie, or any other negative name just disengage or whatever you need to do, but do not become emotional at their level. The best you can do is to let them go without further confrontation. Very few times can anyone in this situation change the other person’s mind. Emotions at this kind of passionate level are not subject to a logical review for the topic at hand.

Emotions rule a very ancient part of our brain, with the fight or flight response. Only later will you likely be able to review things and suddenly come up with many great responses that you wish you had said. That’s the power of emotions, they clog up your logical thinking and subvert your reasoning!

To review, your body language unless you are very well trained nearly always tells others your true state of mind, if you are truthful and how dedicated you are to the message. Emotionally negative responses to your message should be handled with great empathy, retreat when necessary, but you need to avoid emotional conflict if at all possible.

A real life example of this kind of thing would be if your group helped people who were sight impaired and this person’s family member had an accident, went to your group for help, was reportedly turned down and subsequently got hurt because they could not see dangerous machinery at their work place. The family members are vague on the details but they all agree that your group let them down. How would you handle this as an empowered volunteer?

You should express the proper sympathy for their loss and retreat, if at all possible. Perhaps later you can contact them and attempt to resolve the issue, but don’t do it when emotions are running high.

Keep in mind, everyone can benefit from joining volunteer groups, as we have addressed in previous posts, rich and poor and men and women, everyone. You should very seldom encounter this kind of situation. But the passionate empowered volunteer must be ready for anything. That is what being a professional is all about.

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Food or weeds?

Empowered Volunteer Habits

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In the captions below, is this a source of food or a weed? What’s your gut say? If you were hungry would you look it up since it is over six foot tall and in abundance just in case? Hunger cues your reasoning to challenge your habits. That is how cues work.

DSCN1144 DSCN1141 Weed, over 6 foot tall

Habits are very powerful ideas which can be a huge help to you or a monumental missed opportunity. Everyone has habits, from tipping service help to gesture responses to loved ones to preferences for how you talk or address people of different perceived social class. Habits free us up to pay attention to other things by taking predictable circumstances and allowing us to apply predictable strategies.

Habits, studies reveal have several components. One of them is the cue. In “The Power of Habit, Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business”, author Charles Duhigg makes a really great case for cues and their uses. In advertising today cues and rewards are used to sell and market nearly everything.

If you do this (the cue) you will get this (reward), which they hope evolves into a habit.

Cues trigger habits, and for many consumables marketers want you to feel the need to purchase their product to solve your need and get your reward, on a sustained basis.

How does all of this apply to the empowered volunteer? First off, salesmen or salesladies all have cues and habitual responses, which can lead to rewards. Trained sales people are always asking closing questions if the time seems right after taking the temperature of the client or prospect. If the question gets a positive response or answer, ask a closing question out of habit, that is go on automatic. The cue generates a question which also when positive cues a habitual closing question. A negative response also cues a habitual response, but that is another process.

The question must be presented as fluid and natural, thus the habit. If not, it will seem contrived and be less effective as a closing question. So the cues drive the responses to the questions on taking you up on the offer. The reward is obviously the purchase or joining the group.

Have you developed the habits of success? Practice in person until you do starting with the cues.

In his new book, The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World, bestselling author Harvey Mackay, in chapter 85 says that in the Army the rule of thumb is to never volunteer. He disagrees.

Only victims volunteer was the message from the Army. I learned in the Navy, that Navy stands for “Never Again Volunteer Yourself”. I did not follow that motto either in my personal life. Mackay also says in his book that volunteers vault ahead and that those old images learned in the military are not how he believes.

Volunteers, pay attention to cues from your prospects, create good habits regarding engaging them and see the rewards from your volunteer activities when the people join your group.

He goes on to reflect on how valuable volunteers are and how much volunteers get back in experience, in his opinion far more than they put in. Habits of success are built on practice and experience. In volunteering you are getting the experience and developing the habits you will be able to use throughout a life time.

To successful people, a cue is often no more than a challenge. The reward is the success in bringing in the challenge under budget or over the required fundraising level or whatever they set out to do. Usually they had to expend energy and often personal capital to get the job done. Once you have successfully managed to meet your goals as an empowered volunteer and the new members are enjoying the group, look for other potential challenges to help out with. Find new rewards to chase and create new cues for new habits!

Fundraising is one skill that is often difficult and yet rewarding. If you could find new members, could you also take those lessons and raise money?

The difference between asking someone to join your group or to donate their money is mostly mental on your part, it is still a commitment on their part and you still have to ask them for either one.

Hopefully during your time as the empowered volunteer you scouted out other opportunities such as places to ask for donations of goods perhaps for the next silent auction or other needs of your group?

You should create the habit of always keeping an eye out for new opportunities for you and the needs for your group. This habit alone is worthy, sometimes you only need to let the appropriate person know of the opportunity and they will be better able to engage the business and gain the help or service needed, due to their private network. You don’t always have to be the only person making things happen. The more you are valued, the more valuable you are in other areas.

Mentally create cues for your habits, practice them until they are natural and then set out to engage the real people of life and reinforce that habit until it either works or you refine it to work. Then reinforce the habit by repeating it and reaping the rewards, every time you are cued to do so.

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Green Bay Packers

Social Rank in American Sports

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Throw blanket, Packers

 

American’s are not a classless society as we often think we are. This was observed by Michael Marmot in his book, The Status Syndrome, How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity. In this book he mentions that in their sports affiliations Americans break along class lines according to the size of the balls used in the games, with the smaller balls indicative of the  higher status or class of society. So golf, tennis, baseball, football (American, not soccer) and then basketball designating the status of the fans. This is not true for other parts of the world, China or India or even in Europe.

This is interesting in understanding sports in America. Now polo is not mentioned, but rest assured it is so exclusive and expensive to participate in that it is also high status and very high class. The rest of the major sports played with a ball follow the pattern in the United States.

Canada’s issues in national pride, obstructed in unity by two languages seems to unite around their hockey teams. Soccer is the dominant sport in the rest of the world, bar local sports which are not world wide. Ever see a soccer fan without passion? Just as in America Green Bay Packer fans are avid, so are soccer fans around the world.

So how does this affect the empowered volunteer? Understanding the society which you are prospecting in is always a good idea. So how do you use this in your prospecting? Hopefully it was addressed in your SWOT analysis, but if not let’s try and help you out now.

When you are prospecting for members, some are going to have issues with regular times or even where the meetings or campaigns for the charity are held or some other thing. It happens with busy people and it happens with regular people too. They could be working some kind of swing shift or even working for themselves or as sales people who respond on a moments notice to help with the sale. Tons of American’s have varying schedules and that hurts your efforts.

In your SWOT analysis hopefully your group(s) put provisions for contacting community members who have influence to help your cause. The members may be friends of some of your membership and if so hopefully that person takes on the task of asking for joining your cause, whatever the capacity they can provide even if it is not joining and attending all of the functions. These include but are not limited to Mayors, city officials, county officials, members of other charities that in any way associate with your cause, and whoever else made the list.

Do not forget friendly faith groups, school officials and teachers, community colleges, universities near by, technical schools for adults, hospitals officials, and any other groups who are community minded and not in conflict with your message or cause.

Bottom line, all members of society can volunteer, some volunteer their money when they can’t volunteer their time. Both types are helpful to the cause, but the volunteer who gives of their time gains the connections and the social interactions which help their health. Use both types of volunteers to the best of your ability.

 

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Shriners

Passionate smiling volunteers unite

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Shriners helping kids

If you want an example of passion, you will find it in waves with the Shriner’s who help crippled and burned children get to the various Shriner’s Hospitals all over the country, and in other countries too. They often drive all day, deliver the kids and often parents supporting the children, then return the next day. All the time by the drivers is volunteered. I have seen waiting lines in my days in Va Beach (see hat image above) as a Shriner to drive the kids. That is passionate care, which is very hard to fake!

For the empowered volunteer who is out passing out cards and approaching people to present them with an opportunity to volunteer for his or her volunteer group, attitude is everything. I have already mentioned passion in a previous post, which is something we all need in our lives.

I want to touch on the abundant science behind the attitude in this post. Many studies have made sense of the human emotions and associated body language. However, we are now seeing much deeper into what makes us human and how we really operate between each other.

Barbara L. Fredrickson, PH. D. in her new book, Love 2.0 reports on how being positive can help open up the brain, which in certain negative modes acts as a “reducing valve” and “by-pass”.

She reports on that despite previous authors writing on this concept of using drugs to open the mind, it has now been confirmed that without drugs or hypnosis even people can become much more open in their perception, which newer studies by brain imaging experiments have now confirmed.

The studies show sometimes all it takes is what Dr. Fredrickson calls, “positivity”.

Negative emotions narrowed people’s perceptions while positive emotions opened them up.  This brings us to an important point for any person who is in the position where they need to persuade others to their way of thinking, which involves many more of us than are usually credited with so called selling jobs. Nearly all humans engage in selling, in one form or another.

People who fake a smile do themselves a disservice, studies show. They are I suspect meaning well, but they are not getting the message across in most cases. Here again science weighs in with evidence from studies.

Dr. Fredrickson writes in Love 2.O, “Feigned positivity resonance creates a toxic insincerity that is damaging perhaps most severely to the person who initiates it. To be loving rather that to seem loving is an aspiration truly worthy of your time and energy”.

The challenge for anyone presenting a product or service is to know in their heart that what they provide is not only worthy of the time and effort they are presenting to the candidate, they also must know that it is a positive aspect of that persons future.

The saying, fake it until you make it uses the idea that if you adopt the body language associated with an emotion that emotion will become real. Method actors use this mental exercise, mentally contemplating some image or emotion in their head in order to get their body to live that experience in the presentation for their audience, a way to bring a more genuine performance to their acting.

When presenting, never fake it. Mentally prepare yourself every time to present to your prospect with all of the  positive energy you can bring to a passionate message, one which you not only believe in but which you are in the right frame of mind to convey at the time you reveal their new opportunity to them in person.

Get the offer right for them the first time! You may not have another chance to make the necessary first impression they need to see the value of your offer.

In short, it is not just your delivery but your real life positive belief in the group which you must convey, with real meaningful passion but also with sincerity.

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Judging a book by its cover

Do you judge a book (person) by the cover?

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When we see a book or even a person, we automatically evaluate many things from what data we have, mostly visual. This is natural and fine. But the cover can be a poor representation of the person or the book, depending on many factors.

The empowered volunteer must always approach someone who could be a candidate for their group with an open mind.

The person before you could be very wealthy and just not displaying their high status at the time you meet them, if they ever display such status. In your SWOT analysis you should have addressed this subject so you already know what to do.

If favors are what you need, ask for it directly but politely. If you are looking for positive actions, make sure you are specific. Remember, wealthy people are very passionate people already. They made their wealth through that passion if they are self-made, so show yours for your cause and they will more than likely respect that part of your presentation. Stay optimistic even if they are multitasking as you are making your presentation. Keep the faith in knowing that what you offer can help them every bit as much as a lower status person. Rich or poor, everyone sees health benefits from volunteering.

Treat every person as important and worthy no matter how they speak, look, or act. Obviously don’t solicit memberships from locked up criminals or other parts of society where the person may have challenges that prevent them from participating fully in your group. But otherwise, be open minded to everyone.

Poems from 1721

Consider in the caption above the leather bound book of poems from 1721. For a book in the hands of one who doesn’t own fancy books in glass cases and special atmospheres, this may look out of place in a normal home. Most people who are not wealthy don’t own such old books.

However, the cover is the best part of this old book. Once you open it, a page is torn, writing from when it was transferred between owners is reflected in the inside cover, in short it is not worthy of a collector’s attention even if it is old. It has no collector value at all. It is neat to hold a book that was printed before Ben Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence but neat is pretty much the value of this book, beyond family memories or other intrinsic values it could have.

Bill Walton, of Wal-Mart fame was well known for driving an old pickup long after he became very wealthy.  If you did not know it, his dress and car did not give away his status or wealth on many occasions if you met him on a weekend somewhere.

Never prejudge a person by any outward appearances. They may be rich or they may be drowning in debt while looking and driving really fancy cars and owning a great home in a high status neighborhood. You don’t know and if they are willing and capable of volunteering, you really don’t care. Either way your offer helps them in many ways, so be proud and offer them the opportunity to volunteer.

You should also understand that to a high degree, those that are wealthy are also involved in raising funds for charity.

In his fascinating book in 2000 The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley, PH. D. noted, “that nearly 2/3 of the millionaires (64%) engaged in this activity in the past twelve months, and there was a very positive correlation between their activity and net worth”. The take away is, as an empowered volunteer you may be setting yourself up with many who have had or are on their way towards real monetary success. Successful people are drawn to noble pursuits in many cases.

Dr. Stanley further writes, “Financially successful people and the next generation of economically productive people volunteer”.

He expounds on the notion that most of those who attain high wealth were volunteering long before they attained their status or wealth. Bill Clinton, former President of the United States wrote a book written in 2007, Giving, How Each of US Can Change the World, which told of his life long history of volunteering. I doubt you will run into Bill Clinton in your empowered volunteer prospecting, but a young up and coming person could be sitting at the next place you stop!

To drive this point home just a bit further we will dip into Thomas J. Stanley’s 2004 next book, The Millionaire Women Next Door which details the difference between men and women of high wealth and status. He writes, “Women are more likely, however, to be involved in community or civic volunteer work (77 percent versus 67 percent). Overall, within the same age groups and income cohorts, businesswomen are less likely than their male counterparts to demonstrate patronage habits that advertise their status”.

The Rifleman's Rifle 1982

The Rifleman’s Rifle 1982

Now consider the above caption, a book leather bound, pulled from next to a series of Time Life books on The Old West, with covers that resemble this book when casually handled. This book might fool you in its worth, it is fairly rare and is valued, depending on who is publishing the review at over two thousand dollars! Yet it doesn’t look to be much more than the Time Life books of the same size! The topic is narrow and for many people not particularly interesting.

Never judge a book by its cover, just as you should not judge a person!

Why does this matter? Everyone is the same when it comes to volunteering from the empowered volunteer point of view, right? Wrong on all fronts is that line of thinking. Wealthy people can be of huge help to your cause if you are open minded, with their high social capital and robust networks. Remember in earlier posts the rule to always ask for referrals? Wealthy people usually have networks as worthy as their status. Now think about that. If their status is high, they often can provide insight for you to people who are open to your message even if they are not.

People who can also engage their networks effectively are a unique brand and they are also unique for your offering! Taylor your offer accordingly. Ask for their help if their time can’t be given.

I am not saying target wealthy people. I am saying that they operate on different wavelengths and as an empowered volunteer you need to adjust your message for them. If they can’t help by directly being involved perhaps they can make some calls to suggest referrals who are up and coming as they once were?

These referrals are often as valuable as gold because the wealthy often know who can and will do things. They tend not to waste time on wild goose chases so they provide solid referrals. Treasure these if you manage to get some from a high status person.

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step stool, 1902

What is their passion?

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referrals

Passion comes in many forms and even many unusual aspects. In today’s political climate guns are associated with men. However, quiet but very passionate groups of ladies are forming around their likes and needs relating to their use of firearms. So follow the passion, not the herd of public consciousness when it comes to your search for the prospects likes and dislikes.

 

Passion for a cause sells, it drives volunteers like no other thing can.

Sometimes it is not obvious, but if you look around and observe the expressions as they are showing their home to you, even if it is not formerly shown, you usually can get an idea. Keep in mind everyone wins the more you help people engage in volunteering for their passionate causes! Even if it is not your group, the candidate wins. Keep their best interest first and you can’t go wrong.

Why is this important about the home? In some groups a formal visit by an investigating committee is conducted unless the candidate is well known by a respected member. For the Freemasons, the investigating committee is a requirement in nearly all areas of the world, particularly in America. The idea is to ensure that the spouse is not against the idea since the guy would have to take time away from the home and sometimes this doesn’t set well with the spouse when they find out the time restrictions. It also allows the pair, if the man is wedded to be sure they understand the group’s purpose and requirements. Never help bring tension between a married couple due to your group. It is not in the best interest of the candidate to join and have issues because of the membership.

They start by using a step stool which is from their great grandmothers side of the family, dating to the late 1890′s you are told. Then they show you a book of poems from 1721 which another aunt had when she passed, leather bound and well worn.

referrals

This is their family history, and it is with respect you now take an interest in helping them.

referrals

A person’s home tells you a lot about things. What do they collect, if they do any collecting at all. I have seen everything from fancy movie posters framed and all over every part of the walls of the main room, to collections of watches, dolls, books, and all kinds of nick-knacks.

However, you as the empowered volunteer are looking a bit deeper for clues to passions that go beyond a collection of things. You are looking for passions related to joining groups which you may be able to guide them to, even if it is not yours. Even with volunteer opportunities, always think of the best interest of the person you are trying to help, even if you can’t help them yourself. They will remember you kindly if you put them in a position for success.

One of the strengths of being an empowered volunteer is that you can scout for other groups and they can scout for you.

If you run across someone who likes or has interests aligned with another group you know to be worthy, help both the group and the individual if you can’t help them with your offer. Keep in mind, volunteer opportunities always benefit the volunteer the most and the charity after that if they are passionate!

Let’s say you are in the home and the person has a large collection of old books! They tell you that the books are from several passed family members and they are a great treasure of memories! This is very good to know. Your scan of the books reveals diverse subjects with no real theme. Fiction, non-fiction from the early 1900’s with authors you don’t recognize. You don’t have time to do any investigating. What do you do?

One good thing to do to unearth the passion you suspect is lurking in the collection is to ask, “What in the collection of many books appeals to you”? Get the potential candidate to tell you what their passion is!

Usually folks love to talk about their passions, such as the foot stool and book of poetry mentioned earlier. They will smile broadly and start to talk excitedly. If the candidate presents anything positive, listen and listen intently. Let them run with the dialog until they slow down or run out of things to say. If you listen, you will get a real good idea of what they like and if you can help them, or not. Keep in mind, you can’t help those who don’t show the passion for your cause or don’t know what they want.

So pretend that the conversation turned up the following information, books ranging from bird watching to coin collecting, race car history, lawyer books with tons of Latin language titles, tons of fiction on historical biographies, and throw in a bunch of Christian teaching books from the 1800’s from a great grandfather. How does this help you help the candidate?

What subject did they talk the most about, and how passionately? Did they align with the subject or was it simply ticking off the list of what they had in the collection? What about the subject did they stress? How did they say it related to their life today? The more the empowered volunteer practices this kind of listening skill the better you will be at it.

Remember, you are not in any kind of stressful situation if this presentation doesn’t happen or goes nowhere. If you can’t help the person or the group, let the idea die and enjoy the visit. Make a friend and prospect later.

For this discussion, let’s pretend the candidate is a man and they stressed morals and religious convictions that align with several fraternal groups which often require a belief in God to join. But they don’t seem interested in any charities, let alone a specific one. What do you do now?

Sometimes being with like minded people is more important than the charities are to a volunteer.

Birds of a feather flock together so to speak. Keep in mind what you already know about social connections and how improving them helps your candidate health wise if nothing else.

Go ahead and give them your card and tell them that you are a member and watch their reaction. Present it in a very friendly way, with no drama or any restraint, but with the passion you feel when you are doing the charity work. Tell them when the group meets and how friendly they are. Give a short introduction and then let the matter drop unless they pursue it. Not all people make instant decisions. Some people ponder things and check the facts before they even give the matter due consideration. Others will ask a ton of questions and make a much faster decision.

For professional salesmen, when you make the presentation it is always a rule to close the sale then. Very few sales are made later in the real world. Sometimes it happens, but as a rule if the prospect walks away they stay away.

I am going to suggest that in this type of prospecting you don’t take that tact. If the prospect wants to walk, let them and don’t worry about it.

You are in the very enviable position of knowing for a fact that your offer would have helped them a bunch if they had accepted, something most salesmen wish they could say. If the prospect walks, they were not ready or well positioned right now to take you up on the offer. If possible get their contact information and follow up in a few months.

If you on the other hand have any positive responses from the prospect, do this. Here is where you let them tell you what they want, if anything. Tell them if they are open to listening that you are trying to rebuild the group membership and how the efforts you are looking for will help the charity your group supports.

Make sure you tell them how the volunteering you do makes you feel, emotionally detailing the feelings if they show any interest.

That is what most people are looking for, the feelings from being involved and helping.

That’s why most people join volunteer groups, for that good feeling that goes with helping others. For many, it is nearly as powerful as the famous, “runners high” that long distance runners get from their physical efforts.

Lastly, always no matter what ask them for referrals.

Two things all empowered volunteers should take away from this post.

Always be prospecting for good people and always keep the candidate’s best interests first. Pass out your cards, be passionate in your presentations to prospects, and be very upfront that you are helping them in this offer. Second, be ready to list the potential benefits for them, not just for you or your group. Always keep the focus on their interests and benefits and let the good people tell other good people about you if they decline your offer.

With enough people thinking kindly of you even if they decline you, at some point you will find the people you have presented to and who declined calling you to tell you about potential candidates. This takes time and it will take effort on your part, but it works in other businesses and it will work for you if you do your part well.

Enjoy the search and find some good members for your charity by following the candidates passions!

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fadedflag

Empowered Volunteer unsupported by SWOT or leadership

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When the empowered volunteer starts prospecting, it needs to be his or her support staff ensuring that all inquires and requests for information are followed up with capable people who will close the sale or sell the prospect on joining. Very few solo empowered volunteer efforts will succeed on any kind of large scale.

How to start being an empowered volunteer or where to volunteer? First off, get empowerment. The steering committee preferably has authorized you to have business cards printed and in other ways set you up for prospecting for new members to volunteer.

Business cards can at the time of this page writing be ordered for free from more than one company. Vista Print has made this free business card offer since 2007 that I know of. I have ordered them myself. A search on google showed other companies that do it as well. Usually the postage fee is needed though. Ask most business men or women, business cards for free is a sweat deal.

http://www.vistaprint.com/free-business-cards.aspx?&GP=4%2f8%2f2013+7%3a06%3a19+PM&GPS=2800999868&GNF=1

If an empowered volunteer is forced to venture out and sell his or her group without the support of their group leadership, first off they should be very motivated, or passionate when the present their volunteer opportunities. This is by far the hardest way to go about enlarging the groups membership, unsupported. Consider joining another group that wants to support such and effort rather swimming upstream in a fashion. The group that doesn’t support this effort may not be worthy of your efforts!

If you say that it will be worth the effort, fine. Know that the potential for losing many prospects over the lack of support is very real and can be disheartening. Unless you are already a proven sales professional used to prospecting and other sales functions all at the same time you are likely to see some frustration during your efforts.

If you feel up to it, conduct a SWOT analysis on your own and follow it for directing your efforts. This will have limitations but it is worthy of some effort. As before, if you are a proven sales professional with the talent to wing it, go for it. Some sales professionals just don’t need structure, they have an instinct for where the sales or prospects are. If you are one of those very few, have fun and drive some prospects who will not fly at the first issue they see into the group. Then take them under your wing and set them on to the path that your group uses for new members and their volunteer work.

If you are not a sales professional, don’t be discouraged. If you are passionate, believe it or not you can still make prospecting effective. But you must steel yourself for rejection. There is no sales professional in the world who don’t see rejection when they make presentations and ask closing questions. Everyone who sells get rejected to some degree. Just like in baseball statistics if your averages are even remotely positive your are a qualified success. Practice until your prospecting gets to where you have a feel for who to ask to join and who to ask for referrals.

In sales, every person you can talk to is either a prospect or a referral to a prospect. This is really about attitude. Get tough and don’t worry about hearing no. When someone says they are not interested, usually accompanied by some excuse, get their information so that they are not contacted again if possible and then ask in your most polite voice for a person you should be talking to. The key is to keep prospecting. It is a numbers game, the more you ask the more you will have a chance of success.

Another aspect to selling volunteer groups is to target “joiners”. These are folks who have over time  joined other groups. If someone was in several youth groups then they already have a history of joining. They are a better prospect than someone who has never joined a volunteer group. Find out why they joined other groups and look for the emotion they felt when they were in those other groups. Every sale at it’s basic level is an emotional purchase, despite all of the data points and other features that most folks haggle over. In the end, it is about how the purchase or joining will make the buyer feel.

If anyone says anything but a firm “no” to your initial request to join, tell them about the health benefits listed in earlier posts on this site. Figure out which health benefits you like to talk about and can relate to and then make the prospect aware of this knowledge. Be prepared to provide the evidence. Show that you have something for them rather than just being a taker, you are providing a service to them that they will find worthy of their time. These features may settle into their memory and make them return for more information later on.

Passion for your group must over flow from every presentation you make to the prospect. They need to feel the passion you have, without any phoniness to it. You must serve the prospect so much energy that they are wanting to see the group just to see what has so inspired  you. Passion sells, I promise you. It sells much better than anything else you can do.

Practice three or four different ways to approach prospects. For the newly minted empowered volunteer with little or no sales experience, that is plenty. Don’t over do your presentations. Keep them short and sweet. Something like, introduce yourself and your purpose, small bit about the group, and ask for the sale. The sale can be attending a presentation, a membership drive evening supper, or simply to sign the petition. Always be closing, what ever your closing is. Ask everyone and anyone of age to either join or to refer you to someone you can help.

Note that once you ask a closing question (ask for the sale), SHUT UP! Closing questions are simple. Are you ready to sign up today, are your prepared to fill out the paperwork and sign up, are you willing to take the next step to help you live longer! Any question that leads the prospect to taking advantage of your offering in sales lingo is a closing question. NEVER say another thing once you ask the question, until your prospect answers the question that is. The person who talks first owns the product, or service. If you talk first, you keep the group and you don’t get to share it with a new member. Very simple stuff but this is one of the main truths in sales. I can not stress enough how strong this technique is.

The two things going for the “wing it” prospecting by an empowered volunteer listed here to have success is passion for the group and absolutely no fear of rejection.

Business cards should have the group logo on it if at all possible. This adds legitimacy to your prospecting. If the group logo is protected and you can’t get permission to put it on your business card, wear some kind of marketing propaganda from the group. Whatever you can do to make the prospect know you represent the group legitimately.

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Nazi Swastica

Symbols, like groups can be misunderstood

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The Hindu swastika means in rough translation, “I have value”. It is still found on Hindu Temples. This makes for some confusion for those who don’t know the history of the swastika.

Rudyard Kipling used this ancient Hindu symbol to emboss his books. A British author who had spent considerable time in India, he felt so strongly about this symbol he had it placed on the inside cover of his books with his signature under it and encased in a circle. It was kind of like his logo, before such things were popular.

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Kipling Swastika with signature

Kipling Swastika with signature

Then in the 20th century the Nazi party decided the symbol, slightly modified would be ideal for their new political party. This has forever tainted this fine Hindu symbol in the public eye to this day. Few even notice the slight differences that are distinctive only when someone is observant.

Kipling was a man of his times but in many ways way ahead of his times as well. At a time when many British abroad were of the high status society who did not involve themselves with the lesser cast, particularly in India where casts were well defined, joining a group which “met on the level” and implied equality between members was not always popular. Kipling was a Freemason.

What are Freemasons? They are a fraternal group, who volunteer for charities while holding each other to high moral standards. Kipling often found cleaver ways to put Masonic ideals and symbols into his many books. He enjoyed the membership greatly it is believed.

As a Freemason, he would have known more than most about the importance of symbols. So when I purchased a small set of his older books and saw the symbol I was very surprised to say the least. I as stunned that he would put his name under the symbol in his books. I was also relieved to find out how all the history of the symbol evolved and how he repudiated the use of his “logo” for any future productions of his work.

Freemason's Ben Franklin with author Rudyard Kipling books in background.

Freemason’s Ben Franklin with author Rudyard Kipling books in background.

 

The insert above shows the books I purchased and my first notice of the history of the swastika. The two books on the right, newer publications do not reflect the symbol. Both later books were gifts from my great grandmother in my youth. She felt that I should at 7 start reading better literature than Tarzan.

I am reviewing this history to reflect the public perception of a symbol which should not be shrouded in such negativity, when it was for centuries so positive. Sometimes good things or even groups can be mislabeled or even demonized. Not all of them deserve such historical memories.

This is true for groups as well. Some gain a reputation over time in the public eye that uninformed people blindly follow. Opus Dei has enjoyed both notoriety and ill public perception ever since Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code. For that matter, The Roman Catholic Church also suffered some stigma but eventually the public seems to have concluded that the book really was fiction, despite the sudden interest in all of the places the book referred to in the many locations for the main character, later played by Tom Hanks in the movie by the same name.

Freemasonry has over the years been subjected to harsh and deceptive treatment too. The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) forbid its members from joining for years. More than one Papal Bull was proclaimed with this message. Yet until the Knights of Columbus was created good RCC members joined as they wished and were welcomed.

This is the central point. Freemasonry has a history of not fighting back when confronted with public criticism. The usual path is to let the issue die. Time will heal all things, particularly when replies in public usually are manipulated into further lies. This was the usual pattern for Freemasonry for the first couple of hundred years, though upon reflection with some of the issues many today think this pattern should be discarded.

It seems that any group, even countries if they are around long enough find some peaks and some valleys in the eye of various observers. Sweden wasn’t always neutral for instance, but at one time put forth an army that tramped all over northern Europe.

The RCC has in its past many things which can be seen as both good and bad. The missionaries are seen by Catholics as good, while Native American’s don’t appreciate Columbus Day or the missionary impact on their culture. There is for some the image of Mother Teresa contrasted with the Holy Inquisition responsible for killing thousands and torturing many more! Few things made by man that have any length of history behind them are without this contrast. So it is with volunteer groups and nonprofit groups as well, but on a lesser scale.

Author Allen E. Roberts writes in his book, House Undivided that Freemasons on both sides of the American Civil War fought and died. On some occasions after the day’s battle was done the two sides would gather to conduct a Masonic funeral. This was done on more than one occasion.

Also related in Robert’s book was the well known story about the Grand Master of Iowa Freemasons, Thomas   H. Benton, JR. When Benton found himself as the occupation commander of Little Rock, Arkansas during the American Civil War he is said to have placed a guard of Union troops about the home of Albert Pike, a Confederate general, so that the general’s well known Masonic library would not be destroyed. Albert Pike later became famous for Morals and Dogma, a lengthy and somewhat scholarly book on Masonic rituals in the Southern branch of the Scottish Rite.

This is the same book from which many anti-Masonic crusaders have lifted out of context sentences and portions of content for the purpose of misrepresenting Freemasons into some kind of “new world order”. To blunt, it is simply not true that a bunch of volunteers in a group based on the Bible story of King Solomon are trying to take over the world.

Freemasonry, like other human institutions before and likely after has had her moments of ungentlemanly conduct, or at least some of its members have. The famous member of the American Revolution, Benedict Arnold in betraying his Masonic brother George Washington to the British and then fighting with them has forever been remembered poorly by Americans.

Masons are very careful as a group not to be the one to, “Cast the first stone”. The charge of ever Mason is to make himself a better man. The rituals of the three degrees, which are for the uninitiated easy to find in this information age guide and trust that a man will find himself worthy of study and reflection and be a friend to neighbor and society. Freemasons are as the saying goes today, into coexistence and social harmony.

I personally find that a group which makes as its central theme that all good men who believe in a Supreme Being should congregate and assemble in common with one another without any regard for politics or religion a very good and worthy function which I am very proud to associate with. Joining this fraternity was one of the best decision of my life.

 

 

 

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Civic Engagement & Social Capital in Action

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Moses volunteering
Moses volunteering

 

I would ask you to consider the following quotes about human interactions and networking, called civic engagement and social capital by educators. We will then evaluate these concepts and how they apply to volunteering and the health of those who participate.

Joining and participating in one group cuts your odds of dying over the next year in half. Joining two groups cuts it by three quarters.

We’re not experiencing a Springtime of volunteering, but an Indian Summer, propped up by our nation’s seniors — who have been more civic throughout their lives.

Each 10 minutes of additional commuting time cuts all forms of social capital by 10 percent–10 percent less church-going, 10 percent fewer club meetings, 10 percent fewer evenings with friends, etc.

Civic engagement and volunteering is the new hybrid health club for the 21st century that’s free to join and miraculously improves both your health and the community’s through the work performed and the social ties built.

These factoids are quoted from The Saguaro Seminar, Civic Engagement in America, Harvard/Kennedy School.

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/socialcapitalprimer.htm

Social Capital is what is gained when people exercise their human network or as we used to call it, use “hook ups” to get either others to help with a project or locate something of value needed for an objective. Many military individuals were sent out to locate a “hook up” to get a much needed part, promising to return the favor in the future if he could, thus allowing a machine repair when the needed part was located through the network when the proper military channels were either inadequate or money was not available. Social capital is not confined to reciprocation of mutual aid or favors, but this is certainly one area where it thrives.

For historical perspective, this situation mentioned above happened way too often when we were building a 600 ship Navy during the cold war. Mechanics and electricians were frequently forced into “out of the box” part recovery efforts when money and parts were unavailable, yet the command structure wanted to get underway, no matter what. Without hook ups, many Navy ships would not have set sail on time in the 1980′s. Barter was common, with the most valuable trade good being a 5 pound can of coffee for many parts or services which were otherwise unsupported by the regular supply system.

Elaborate  systems and networks were formed which often spanned entire careers as enlisted sailors were promoted and transferred. The term social capital was not universal back then, but it was in use all the same. Connections with people who could provide services or parts were a necessary part of being a senior enlisted worker on both surface ships and submarines in my experience. Social connections could produce effects which the regular system could not or would not.

The person who could get the hook up through his network would now be considered to have high social capital and a raised status among his peers and his superiors. Their status raised as they were able to help their group function in an often defective world where money was not available and hook ups were the only commodity in use.

To be clear, social capital has been around for eons but the term social capital as it apples to civic engagement studies is relatively new. It took more than just showing up with coffee to get things in many cases, you had to know someone. You needed a network. Social capital is easier to evaluate in the civilian community today but it has had many uses in all of aspects of society, where ever their was a need.

Social Capital as it applied to civic engagement and volunteer groups was a central premise of the book, “Bowling Alone”, by Robert D. Putnam, a Harvard Professor. He showed through data analysis that many volunteer groups which had thrived after the WWII years were in sharp decline in members, which resulted in declines for the help and aid given to the charities that relied on the volunteer groups for so much support. Groups like the Freemasons, Elks, Moose, Lions, and many others were part of his over all studies in declining memberships.

The secondary value of this concept of networking and social capital with regard to volunteering on an individual basis is not only the ability to get things done but also the health benefits to those involved. The bottom line is that many studies have verified that their is strong evidence for the positive health benefits for those individuals who exercise passion in their networks and their volunteering. Even expanding your social network has beneficial health benefits some studies have shown.

Another positive aspect of social capital is the ability of social scientists to measure it. The Saguaro Seminar has bench marked survey results from 2000 and again from 2006 on the same communities, with demonstrated changes and trends shown in the final evaluation. This kind of data analysis demonstrates the impact that social capital and civic engagement can have on individuals and communities.

Volunteering produces many health benefits for the individual but also produces, when practiced by a passionate volunteer a much larger effect than most people would believe. This win-win benefit between the individual and the group seeing the volunteering can’t be ignored.

This is the ideal of the empowered volunteer. When an empowered volunteer embraces the passion for the group and shares the news with the world, many from that previously uninformed world will want to participate. Thus all involved benefit and everybody wins.

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Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

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SWOT

SWOT

For the purposes of the Empowered Volunteer, SWOT analysis is NOT going to require someone with an MBA or other high level training. Good people who want to improve their group are all that are needed for success.

From Wikipedia we can get an idea of what SWOT is:

SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT Matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.

Volunteer groups Strengths can be assessed. What makes this group attractive? Be sure to include all things in the initial list or information gathering. Include perspectives from all stakeholders!

Volunteer groups Weaknesses can also be assessed. A weakness can be relative, that is for some it may be less a weakness than for others. Ensure you do all sides and all stakeholders.

Volunteer groups Opportunities can be assessed as well. This is likely to be a running list that is continually updated. It can tax some people’s creativity to come up with opportunities. Others can rattle off a list. Get the list created before worrying about an analysis or if the individual entries are worthy. List reduction can be done later, after initial conception. Also, never lose the initial list. Future empowered volunteers or group leaders who usually rotate yearly may be able to work an opportunity that the previously engaged volunteers could not.

Volunteer groups Threats are usually the easiest to list. Simply ask those who don’t want to join your group “why”? The value of listing threats for volunteer groups is only as good as the data gathered. It will become apparent when you start the list that there are some threats which hold more merit than others. In other words, some threats are a bigger issue than others or they apply to more potential volunteers than others. List them all, sort  later.

If you do a search for SWOT you will find many templates and help, some for free. If you find one that is to your liking, it can be used in most cases. Just keep in mind that a business SWOT is much more in-depth that the one you will be creating.

For this part of the Empowered Volunteer recruiting effort employing SWOT, you will need to be a bit more creative than just setting up target populations and prospecting times. If you have someone in your group who has a business degree or even an MBA or MSM (Masters of Science in Management) they will very likely be potential help in the gathering of data and its analysis. However, most of the data gathering is common sense and the analysis is mostly a matter of sorting and tabulating the individual groupings in a meaningful way. Simply count the various groupings and line them up, more or less.

Using college classes to complete a SWOT. If you have ready access to a professors class who is able and willing to take this project from start to finish and provide an analysis, I would suggest you engage them. They gain the experience and you get an outside view with potentially less internal contamination from the internal members. If they have the ability and are willing to do other types of assessments it would not hurt. The more relative data the better.

When I was doing my graduate studies in management we often had to search far and wide for businesses who would let us study them. Each class required another business for our study and even though we were often in groups of 5 or so, that added up to a bunch of competition in the area for businesses friendly to being studied. Many business leaders did not see the value from their side while being very careful what business data they would be willing to provide. But for graduate studies in management, real businesses were required. You had to get into a group who found a business willing to be studied to pass the class. Thus some nearby college classes may be looking for a group to study.

It you decide to work the data gathering internally consider gaining a broader perspective by expanding your potential population. For instance, if you are a Masonic lodge and you want to get some data through interviews and from follow ups for instance, consider expanding your data collection to more than one physical lodge. Perhaps several lodges in an area, called a district in many states. Keep track of the groups sources in case a trend develops in one group but not the others, naturally.

In most instances the bigger your population combined with the more focused your questions will provide the most accurate path for action. You are looking for valid data rather than a small sampling of the senior leadership and supporting group, for instance. If the whole population is polled in some way, even online then a small sample will have less chance of skewing the results.

Beware of the often found die hard past leaders who will profess in loud and passionate terms all the possible paths to increasing memberships or other corrections have been tried before and found to be insufficient to the task. These negative elements seems to be found in most groups and they are more often than not very vocal. If they can lead your team of information gatherers down a destructive path they will. It seems to be their nature. It is best if the volunteer group leader deal with such individuals rather than the empowered volunteer.

It is necessary for this part of the process to just gather the facts and data. Don’t try too much analysis until the complete study is gathered. Initial trends by the members who attend frequently nearly always will diverge somewhat from those that attend the functions more sporadically.

Gather the data anonymously from your group members if at all possible, so that honesty is more likely. Segregate the information into large population groups only, and be very careful to keep those who view the raw data analysis to a small select  and trusted group. This is in case some unlikely negative trend emerges that indicates an issue which is potentially divisive. Have a care that what you unearth in the data can be disseminated indiscriminately if and when the leadership decides to do so.

An example would be the discovery in one of the groups in the area where the population data was gathered shows an individual who’s nature has turned off many prospective volunteers as well as recent members who have backed off their attendance, through the offenders heavy handed ways let’s say. This is not the kind of data you want the entire group to automatically view! It is something that leadership within the individual section should address. It certainly should not be passed around the entire district or other population areas! Praise in public, reproach in private. This is elementary leadership for most junior members of a group, yet often senior leadership completely ignores this maxim.

Unintended consequences often can be detected during this part of the process. Perhaps a particular church actively discourages its members from joining your group. Your group has no political or religious interests and simply supports fund raising. In well directed questions you learn that one of your main fund raising activities involves Halloween hay rides and other themed activities on this particular time of the year. It turns out that the local Christian church doesn’t support that holiday, something many Christians of other denominations fail to realize. So it’s members don’t volunteer rather than face conflict on Sundays by joining. This would be very good information for your group to know.

Freemasons

Freemasons

Keep in mind  as well you are searching for reliable and accurate data for each of the SWOT areas. This becomes a bit more confusing when some individual characteristics of a group might be viewed by some in the study positively while others see the very same thing as negative. An example that is currently being addressed by Freemasons world wide is the value of the initiation ritual requiring the new member to memorize the groups rules through Bible stories, in a very formal manner usually entailing the new member to recite the rules in front of the rest of the assembled membership. This public speaking often is seen as a scary thing for new members. Older members place value on the fact that if the member is not committed then they should join a group where only money is required for membership! This is seen by many Masons as a kind of quality control or at the least a way of gauging the new members seriousness. Opponents see it as a huge time constraint holding good and proper prospects from even attempting to petition for membership.

Most groups will find they have some issues that can be viewed by more than one section of SWOT. This is common when a SWOT analysis is done on a business as well, where this type of analysis was first created and used. Each aspect of an issue should be collected and then evaluate from each angle for merit and application to the group. For instance some churches direct their membership to avoid some volunteer groups based on their individual perceptions of that group. Seldom would this be a positive aspect for an empowered volunteer, but it would be very good information to know! If you are one of the groups involved and the church which holds this position for your group is one of the main churches in your small town, you really have a major issue rather than the lesser issue if this were in a large metropolitan area.

The purpose of the data gathering is to sort things into a SWOT analysis that can focus the empowered volunteer and his supporting leadership in a direction which positions them for increased membership. If other issues arise out of a SWOT analysis they can be directed to a committee appointed for deeper investigation and action if needed. If too many issues are detected then the empowered volunteer should hold off on most of his or her efforts until the group is better positioned to receive new members.

 

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