IFUW Blog » Volunteering http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog Empowering women & girls through lifelong education Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:52:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 How can IFUW attract new members? http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/2010/05/26/how-can-ifuw-attract-new-members/ http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/2010/05/26/how-can-ifuw-attract-new-members/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 11:19:44 +0000 Réka Fogarasi, IFUW Staff http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/?p=429 Continue reading →]]> Many non-profit organizations like IFUW are struggling to retain members. The ones that tend to be the most successful in recruiting new members are generally those which are highly visible to prospective members and which offer services or activities that meet their interests and needs. If IFUW and NFAs are to attract new members, we need to have successful marketing and public relations strategies. We need to know who our potential members are and what we can do to satisfy their needs and interests more effectively than other competing organizations. We also need to know how best to reach them with information about the organization, its objectives and activities.

As starting point, the IFUW Membership Committee would like to hear about your own experiences and to know what you think might attract other women graduates from your community to join IFUW today.

When sharing your experience you may wish to address one or more of the following questions:

  • When did you join and how did you hear about the organization? What strategies and media do you think would work best to attract new members in your community?
  • Why did you decide to become and remain a member? What are the activities that you find most attractive?
  • What do you think women graduates today expect from an organization like IFUW and what kinds of services and activities should we be offering at the international and national level to make our organization more attractive to women graduates of different age groups?
  • What future would you like to see for IFUW ten years from now? What do you think we need to do in order to attain it?
  • Are there any NGOs which you think have gained high visibility? What strategies and media did they use?
]]> http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/2010/05/26/how-can-ifuw-attract-new-members/feed/ 19 What is the future of volunteerism? http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/2010/01/13/what-is-the-future-of-volunteerism/ http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/2010/01/13/what-is-the-future-of-volunteerism/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:17:36 +0000 Réka Fogarasi, IFUW Staff http://www.ifuw-forums.org/blog/?p=248 Continue reading →]]> Attracting volunteers in the 21st century is a challenge. While some research shows that volunteering has remained steady over recent years, IFUW and other women’s organizations have seen their membership figures slowly decreasing. It is therefore important to understand what kind of organizations and activities are still attracting volunteers.

Apart from the economic and social benefits to the state and community-building, individual benefits seem to be an important aspect of volunteering. On Wikipedia one can read: “volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to improve human quality of life, …but people also volunteer for their own skill development, …to meet others …and to have fun”.

What do volunteers look for today? What kind of organizations and activities interest them? Are the individual benefits of volunteering becoming more important? Does IFUW need to change to better meet the needs of the new volunteers?

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