#10 How we attract and keep better F2F fundraisers – Pt.5 The final hurdle

I arrived at the carpark on time as requested by my trainer from the previous day, and am met by Tom, a fellow fundraiser who started a few months before me. We chat for a while whilst waiting for our Team Leader, Mo, who was running a few minutes late in the office making an ID badge and fetching my t-shirt and clipboard. Ten minutes pass, and Mo comes running towards us, cigarette hanging from his bottom lip, and drags us towards the bus stop as we’re about to miss our ride to site.

I had a bad feeling about this.

As it turns out, Mo was inspirational, if not organised. He took the rough lump of clay that was me and moulded it into a Fundraiser, and eventually a Team Leader by asking great questions, working me hard and making sure that I knew how much he cared about what we did. Quoting Theodore Roosevelt, “you won’t care how much I know, until you know how much I care” – a line that stuck with me my entire career, courtesy of Mo.

You’ve posted the right ads, controlled their expectations, set the interview space accordingly, opened their eyes to a new world in training and now to ensure that all you don’t fall at the final hurdle you need to ensure that your new starts have an experience that is as inspiring as mine, but more professional. To do this you must take a few precautions:

Prep your Team Leader (TL)

If you opt to send your new staff out with an existing team you will need to make sure your team leader is prepared for the day. Check their location logistics, training materials and shift plan. Only put the new fundraisers out with successful and high-performing leaders, as any other TLs will cast a shadow of failure onto them and lower their standards.

Training & Development Form

Get the new-starts expectations right by walking them through the training and development plan for week one. For the best results, you should bring their TL into the conversation too so that both fully understand the requirements for the first shifts.

Listen to their issues

Listening to them is not the same as letting them run-riot over you. Some people have a hundred questions before making their first stop or knocking their first door. This is not always a stalling technique, but an attempt to get a full understanding of what is expected of the upcoming interaction. Questions should be encouraged not feared.

Trial by fire burns your team

I know we always say that there are no bad sites, just bad fundraising, but take them to one of your Team Leader’s highest performing locations so that they hear positive responses on day-one. A trial by fire is a good way to burn your team on their first shift, and although it can separate the wheat from the chaff, it can also lead to an early exit for new fundraisers.

Don’t be a stranger

Give them a call after the shift to find out their thoughts. Treat it like a welcome call for a new donor by showing warmth and reducing the buyer’s remorse. You can get positive feedback about their day from the TL and recite back to them along with suggestions for growth and reasserting the expectation for tomorrow.