Definitely.
But what are we doing to attract them?
To jumpstart the conversation, here’s what six Junior Leagues have done:
- The Junior League of New Orleans – As a result of Hurricane Katrina and losing many members who had moved away because of the storm’s devastation, JLNO relaxed new volunteer requirements and used its website as a recruiting tool.
- The Junior League of London – In an effort to counter declining recruitment and retention numbers, JLL developed a five-year strategic plan to change the League culture to a more volunteer member-focused organization. Policies regarding volunteer membership requirements were made more flexible to reflect the life-stage issues faced by individual members or prospective members.
- The Junior League of Orange County – JLOC’s Rapid Transition Provisional Program addressed the needs of both current and prospective members for “efficient and flexible training” while integrating Provisionals (what Junior Leagues call volunteers-in-training) more quickly into the Junior League by introducing earlier volunteer placements and done-in-a-day opportunities.
- The Junior League of Long Island – Aware that many potential volunteer members had low or no awareness of he Junior League and its importance in this high-population region outside of New York City, JLLI created an awareness campaign about the Junior League that utilized both traditional and social media to attract potential members.
- The Junior League of Baton Rouge – JLBR created a Diversity and Cultural Inclusion Committee to build cultural competency leadership traits to impact volunteer member recruitment as well as community programs and overall League functioning.
- The Junior League of Dallas – JLD created a Diversity Task Force to make members aware of diversity issues and to make the Junior League as welcoming as possible, including the development of new member diversity recruitment strategies.
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