The BIG Recruit. Big Success!
March 7, 2023, Katie Huynh
“New year, new goals!” – that’s how we announced The BIG Recruit on January 1, 2023, a campaign aimed to recruit 140 new volunteers in 60 days. With more than 300 Twin Cities youth waiting for mentors, the urgency to recruit more volunteers was clear. “Of course, we’re always recruiting,” said Deidre Hoppe, our Manager of Volunteer Recruitment. “But, how do we make this recruitment campaign different? How can we motivate people to join our cause?”
The answer? With help from supporters like you. We witnessed the power of being Bigger Together when we broadcasted our message through radio and news channels, community partners, and social media.
“It was remarkable seeing the surge of support. Even if people weren’t able to volunteer themselves, they wanted to help us get more kids off the waiting list,” said Katie Huynh, our Marketing & Communications Coordinator. “We saw our supporters promoting the campaign on social media, bringing interested friends to our Big Social event, and helping spread the word in creative ways.”
“This was our chance to start the new year off by trying new things to better serve community needs,” added Sandi Richmond, our Director of Community Engagement & Recruitment. “We hosted listening sessions from community members, reached out to BIPOC communities, and revamped our volunteer website page to make the process more transparent. The key to our successful campaign was greater intentionality.”
And it worked! Thanks to our collective efforts, we were able to recruit 194 new volunteers by the end of February – surpassing our goal of 140. But, it’s not over yet – let’s keep the success going! There are still many kids waiting for mentors. Sign up to volunteer today!
(L-R) Senior Community Engagement Coordinator Mario Bradshaw, Manager of Recruitment & Community Engagement Deidre Hoppe, and Marketing & Communications Coordinator Katie Huynh at our Big Social event recruiting prospective volunteers.
