1. Make a Plan of Action
Create an action plan, this is a plan describes the steps and work the fire company will take to recruit new members. The action plan starts from where the fire company currently is with membership numbers to where they want to be.
The plan also describes the community outreach strategy the fire company will take to communicate to the community its recruitment message.
The strategy contains the recruitment events the company will hold as well as events held by others where the company will attend. This strategy also contains the outreach materials the fire company will use to communicate to the community.
2. Set Goals and Mile Markers
Create a series of attainable recruitment goals (or mile markers) that will describe the recruitment progress.
Develop a calendar and chart to log your recruitment act ivies and results.
3. Know Your Community
It may sound very obvious but you need to know who lives in your community. You need to understand who your potential volunteer firefighters they are:
What they do for a living?
What is their education level?
What they do for entertainment?
What is their visual language?
What are the demographics (age, sex, income, marital status and race)?
4. Clearly State Your Message
Your recruitment campaign message needs to inform your potential firefighters of the benefits of volunteering to either themselves or their community. Remember you are offering individuals in your community an opportunity “volunteering as a firefighter” that has great value to them, their family and their community. Remember that your message represents your fire company. Also remember along with your message use strong images that convey excitement and relate to the people you want to attract.
5. Choose An Effective Media
Having a website or Facebook page alone won’t cut it for recruiting new volunteer firefighters. You have to take your message to your community. TV & Radio advertising (if you can afford it) can be great, however print advertising still remains an important communication channel for dispersing local community information. Recruitment media such as brochures, flyers and posters makes sense because your community has lots of free locations that can help spread your message. Local businesses, restaurants, churches, schools, libraries have lots of foot traffic that can see your message. However just because people are walking by your flyers or posters it doesn’t mean they are paying attention to them. That’s why you need clearly state your message and have thoughtful design.
Well designed volunteer firefighter recruitment materials should communicate a positive image of your fire company and the image of volunteer firefighters to your community.
6. Follow Up On All Leads
First collect and keep the data on all interactions with potential new recruits. Keeping an up-to-date recruitment prospect list is a great way to maximize your recruitment campaigns.
Second follow up with all your potential new recruits.
