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Recruiting and Retention
Well, I know this is a hot topic among many departments. We are a smaller combination department and getting and keeping volunteers is diffecult in this day and age. We are hurting bad now, of about 20, only 3-5 show up on regular basis. I know the attitudes of volunteerism has changed over the years, but there has to be a way to get new blood in and keep them active. Any suggestions on if your department has problems or is it working at its peak. We offer a small pay incentive per call and offer paid insurance for our volunteers now. Still no help.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Terry Lambert on
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I have the benifite of running with two volunteer FD's, so I have seen recruiting and retention on both sides. The biggest thing I have seen that works, unfortuntly depends on the number of calls you run. If you are running alote of calls, people seem to want to stay longer. If you only run a few calls a month, it makes it harder to keep people. If you are not running that many calls, then you need to find other ways to keep their interest. Like training drills, or what ever you can think of.
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Permalink Reply by Tony Marchitelli on
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I am from PA i can relate to this problem in our deparment there is only 12 of us on the roster and about 4 reliable quilifed firefighters everyone else as bad as it sounds is older and is losing interest! However we are unable to offer any pay incentives 100% volunteer with only about 40-45 calls per year. A neighboring department has a 15 min. responce time meaning anyone within the area can join up and be an active Firefighter!
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Permalink Reply by Bob McCartney on
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I wish I haad a answer for this 20 some guys on the roster 8 or 9 depending on the time of day you can count on hell we only have 3 guys active right now with any real fire experence ( not the joke that the PA fire academy now calls structure burn class) we train them and they move on cause department xyz has new trucks or they just bought everybody new gear we have tried a couple things to keep the new guys around and active but have'nt found the thing that will make em stay we run around 130 calls per year but 60% of those are medical we are pretty lucky age wise i'm the oldest guy at 42 and we do have a pretty good group of JRs we just try to make drills and work session as much fun as we can but still be serious about what we are trying to do at drill we have talked about a point system for calls and drills where at the end of the year you would get gift certificares and such but have'nt found a way to pay for it in our budget
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I know the new department I just joind has a point system. So many points for runs, drills. We also have bingo, and you get points for doing that. Also, the profites from bingo go to the department.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Milton on
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We have 12 stations and about 125 vols 25 to 30 real active. Daytime calls are where we need the most help, most ff work out of town or can't drop everything and run. Most of our guys are 45+ in age, can't get younger people envolved. We are triing to get a JR program started to see if we can get some intrest up before they get out of school and move away. Any ideas would sure help we have got to do something.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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Well does the community know that their local fire department is volunteer? How about starting a marketing campaign? Basically get out into the community during events like PTA meetings, HOA meetings, arranging a talk at the local high school. Maybe even put an ad in the local paper might help. Just some suggestions.
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Permalink Reply by Amy on
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I think that most volunteer depts. now are having memship issues. There always seems to be one time of day when you can get a full crew and one time of day when you can't get anyone. More and more I think it's mainly because alot of kids growing up today think they should be reimbursed monitarily for anything and everything they do. They don't know what it is to volunteer and do something without being paid for it. And if they know they're just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts and won't get anything in return they want nothing to do with it. Unless they were brought up around the station they don't really understand what it's about.
An idea for anyone who has carnivals, block parties, etc. for faundraisers... or even if you just advertise a little bit and set it up for a day at the station along with training... have a membership drive. Set up a table with a few people staffing it, let people check out the apparatus, answer their questions, and give them an application to fill out on the spot. I know it's probably been done before, but just because it doesn't work for one doesn't mean it won't work for you.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Coffey on
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Amy and Bill I agree with both, Our department is doing just that but in the meantime we still answer a call volume of 3000 to include EMS we are a department with 12 paid staff and 50 volunteers. We have a residency program and a paid per call program. But what really needs to happen is people need to be involved, how you make that happen let me know. With the way funding is now for us the FD and you the people I dont see anything but regression. With the current administration it will be a wonder for any Fire/EMS/Rescue organization that is not the size of FDNY or Chicago to have a chance. God bless all that are working to do the right thing!
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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David, it is always a big issue for us all. You just have to find ways to keep them busy and active. We have over 40 volunteers and it is a constant battle to keep the interests peeked and alive. Active training and involvement of the members is a key. We get quiet a few people come through the door wanting to volunteer. We may see them a few weeks and then they are gone. As long as our core group of 30-40 are active we will do well. Of course there are certain times of the day when we are short but thats just the way it is. Just keep working hard with who you have and let them know how important they are to your community.
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Permalink Reply by Cassie on
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Build the community. Have a BBQ at the station every now and then. Call people who haven't been showing up and find out why. Maybe they're having problems at work, home, etc. Show you care.
My department trains once a week and members are required to attend a certain amount or get excused. And we serve dinner every training night. Gives us time to bond over food.
The stronger the community in the dept the more dedication I think you'll get.
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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thats a great idea i think im gonna see if we can get that implimented
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