How can you engage volunteers to promote economic development in your community?

Engaging volunteers to contribute to the development of a community should start with a coherent project plan implemented by a specific local administration. In the past, I contributed to the development of public engagement and civil society consultation processes within the local and national administrations. The first step definitely should be identifying the goals and achievements a community needs to reach in a specific timeline, as well as pointing out all the necessary activities to execute and complete a certain collaborative project. As the main resource for involving volunteers in the decision-making process, I would invest in an online platform that ensures regular alignment and discussions with the volunteers.

Taking into consideration the nature or specifics of your goals, as a next step, I would develop an analysis of the potential volunteers, groups, and associations that might adhere to your projects, based on their former involvement and expertise. By using the platform provided by a national or local authority or choosing an online platform that is already operational in the market, I would use any technological feature that can help me narrow down the target group of volunteers, interested in my cause. Using the technological tools available to analyze and engage with them, I would proceed a step further by setting up a webinar or online meeting where I present to the allocated target group the community project.

Once we managed to identify our target group of volunteers, I would perform firstly an analysis based on their competencies and capabilities to support a community cause. After this accurate analysis, I would be able to develop an action plan that includes everyone's responsibilities, ownership, tasks to perform, and final objectives to achieve. I would be also keen in adding biweekly training sessions where we can explain properly our objectives, answer all the information, but also keep an open and clean track of our progress. Besides these direct communication sessions, I would also provide an online tracker of the project in discussion so we can monitor our progress and achievements.

Sometimes the volunteering process can seem endless and in developing contexts highly qualified people volunteer for months on end in the hope of getting employment. Creating opportunities and pathways with other project and organisations who can take on these volunteers into paid roles to develop a career is useful to: 1. Motivate them to give their best 2. Encourage other people in the community to volunteer in the project and other project because they see a path for progress beyond the volunteer role 3. Create a sense of ownership of the project

As a strong believer in motivation and appreciation towards the people who choose to allocate their time freely for the development of their community, one of my priorities is to make sure their efforts and dedication it's noticed and valued by their community. Being a volunteer myself, I believe the strongest appreciation doesn't come from remuneration, but from the acknowledgment and appreciation of your involvement and the results/ benefits you brought to your community. When you make a difference within your community, your presence and involvement won't go unnoticed. As such, we will develop a system of recognition and appreciation for a volunteer's involvement that can help him in his future career.

Analyzing the economic development strategies I developed in collaboration with NGOs and local authorities, I understand the need and also the desire to retain volunteers for future projects or institutional collaborations. But at the same time, I understand the practical need to allocate a proper budget for their analysis and involvement. Because appreciation can only be a theory until you invest in it. Then it becomes a reality and responsibility that makes you a reliable partner in front of every volunteer. I think that to retain specialists, and experts within the volunteer's targeted group, an institutional partner should also take into account a budgetary investment for the groups or individuals who are dedicating their time.