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Transcript

Greetings, my fellow Catholics! Today, we are going to be talking about how to work with volunteers when you are fundraising. How to get them involved the best way possible when it comes to fundraising. That is our key topic. 

My name is Brice Sokolowski, founder of CatholicFundraiser.net, an apostolate serving other apostolates. So, if you’re a Catholic apostolate that is looking to fundraise and looking for a little direction, you’re just starting out, or you’re simply looking for a few new ways to approach fundraising, you are in the right spot. Because our topic today, for the next few minutes, is going to have (I think) some pretty good advice. 

I’ve got three pieces of advice to share with you but before I do, please make sure that you download, for free, my 10 Commandments to Catholic Fundraising. That is the guide that I have developed over the years and thanks to fellow Catholics, has been downloaded over 10,000 times and has earned a lot of good feedback from other fundraisers for consolidating the ‘best of the best’ in fundraising advice. So, between what you’re going to get out of the next few minutes today and my guide, I think you are going to be in a very, very good position to address your fundraising. 

Let’s take a look at what to do with volunteers. I’m going to be referring to my notes, which you’ll be able to find on CatholicFundraiser.net, plus lots of other resources related to getting more and better donations.

Point number one is, if someone is scared to ask for money then my recommendation is, don’t use them for fundraising. It’s as simple as that. 

You can’t get people to overcome the fear themselves. You can try to assist them with it but if they don’t have that internal urge to say, look, I’m just going to push through it, especially as a volunteer, then just find something else for them to do to show their support. I think that’s the best way to go. Because otherwise, it’s like pulling teeth, and you are not a dentist. (Unless you might be a dentist, then, have them be part of your practice). But otherwise, it’s really important to accept this fact. Those who are intimidated by asking for money are not the best fundraisers.  I’ve seen it too many times. It’s hard – too hard – to try and make somebody be able to do this, especially as a volunteer. 

Point number two, if someone is slow with making their “asks,” and doesn’t follow up with you with updates, then don’t use them with the fundraising. If you are having to call them up and ask, ‘Hey, did you speak to so-and-so? Or, hey, did you do this or do that? If they’re either slow or non-existent with a response,  or they keep saying they’re going to get to it, along with every excuse under the sun, don’t use them. 

I get it, life happens. And more than likely, it’s going to continue to happen. So just don’t use them as a fundraising volunteer. It’s as simple as that. 

I know. Your list of volunteers is getting very, very short. 

This brings me to point number three. The best way to use volunteers is to have them collect contacts, the names, details, etc., of the people that you ask for donations. Because it really will end up being you who is making the asks. I know that you probably already have tons on your plate. But if you ever really want to get fundraising going (and you’re obviously watching this video or listening to this podcast) then you are already thinking about making that commitment. Not a lot of people make the commitment to say, ‘I need to learn how to do this better.’ And, if you’re learning how to do it, more likely than not, you can do it. 

So instead of heaping human resources skills on top of learning how to fundraise better, just get rid of one of the challenges of managing volunteers and use them, not as askers, but as organizers helping to collect for you the names of the people that you really need to speak to about a donation. 

It really is as simple as that. If a volunteer is scared or uncomfortable about asking for support, just don’t use them in that capacity. If they’re impossible to get a hold of, or slow to follow up, and you find yourself trying to pretty much manage them, just don’t use them if they’re uncomfortable. Such volunteers are better at tasks like collecting names and contact information. Then you don’t have to manage them like a hawk and have more time to get out there yourself and start asking. And, you can go to CatholicFundraiser.net to learn how to do it. It’s not complicated. I think the time that you put into learning how to ask for support yourself is going to save you a lot of time and frustration. 

So that’s pretty much it for me on how to fundraise with volunteers. I hope that you found this helpful. Please visit CatholicFundraiser.net if you have any questions, and please share today’s advice with another Catholic apostolate that you think might benefit from it. Until next time, God loves you, and thank you so much.