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Region IV MRC Update - April 2006

In this issue:

• Welcome New MRC Units
• MRC National Leadership Conference
• Tips on Competitive Marketing for Recruiting Volunteers: Cutting Through the Clutter
• Region IV ESF8 Listserv
• Upcoming Events of Interest
• National Volunteer Week
• Helpful Online Resources
• Upcoming Health Observances
• Regional Coordinator Contact Information

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Welcome New MRC Units

Please welcome our newest units:

Lowndes County MRC, Mobile MRC, and Fayette County MRC are new additions to the Alabama family of MRC units. This is especially exciting since at the beginning of 2005, Alabama did not have any MRC units.

Mecklenburg County MRC (NC), is a partnership between the Public Health Department and the Mecklenburg County Medical Society to identify both medical and non-medical volunteers to support Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in an emergency.

Coastal Georgia MRC will serve eight coastal Georgia counties. It is based in the Coastal Georgia Public Health District.

This brings us to 63 registered units within our eight-state region (407 across the United States). If you know of a community that would like to start its own MRC unit, please have them contact the Regional Coordinator, Elizabeth Fitch at (404) 562-4276 or elizabeth.fitch@hhs.gov. Units may apply for registration through the MRC Web site. Your support for these new units as they develop is very much appreciated.

MRC National Leadership Conference

Registration Open for 2006 National Leadership Conference

Online registration will close on April 4 for the 2006 MRC National Leadership Conference, to be held in Dallas, TX, April 18–21. Highlights of this year’s conference will include:

• Volunteer Management Training
• Keynote presentation on Pandemic Influenza
• Concurrent session presentations
• Region IV Breakout Session
• Networking sessions for sharing best practices and ideas

Please join us in Dallas for what will be an informative and inspiring conference.

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Tips on Competitive Marketing for Recruiting Volunteers: Cutting Through the Clutter

From Charlotte King of Snowden and King Marketing Communications

At the Spring Training Workshop of Atlanta’s Council of Volunteer Administrators, marketing expert Charlotte King provided some helpful instruction on rethinking your approach to marketing for volunteer recruitment. With her permission, some key tips from her presentation include:

• Periodically, review what's working and what's not in your marketing—this "diagnostic" can help you better plan your marketing initiatives and maximize your limited communications budget.
• The average American adult receives over 1,500 marketing messages a day—that’s 1,500 competitors for a potential volunteer’s attention.
• Focus on benefits, not features—think about benefits to the volunteer like learning a new skill and tangible benefits to the community. 
• Focus on what makes your volunteer program unique. 
• Understand who you are marketing to and find out what will appeal to them. 
• The more narrowly defined your audience, the better your chances for success. 
• Keep your main message short, easy to remember, and jargon-free (try testing your message with some people who don’t work in public health or emergency management). 
• Generally, people need to see your message an average of seven times before they will act on it—99% of all brochures/direct mail end up in the trash, so look for lots of ways to multiply your message (word of mouth, PSAs, Fact sheets, signage, etc.).

Ask yourself: 

• Why do you need volunteers? 
• Who do you recruit? 
• Where do you recruit? 
• How do you recruit (what tools, resources, messages)? 
• When do you recruit (is it seasonal)? 
• How do you value diversity (does your volunteer group represent the demographics of the area they serve)? 
• What is your impact?

One exercise that Ms. King used in her presentation was to have each person stand up and give their 15 second “elevator speech” about what they do—she then pointed out that most of us focus on the features of our organizations (i.e., what programs we have, how many people we serve) rather than the benefits (i.e., the impact our organization has on the community). Focusing on the benefits helps your message to “cut through the clutter” of other messages coming at your potential volunteers on a daily basis.

Region IV ESF8 Listserv

Interested in getting regular updates on issues related to Health and Medical Response? Join the Region IV ESF8 Listserv.

Upcoming Events of Interest

• NACCHO’s NIMS Training: April 6, 2006; 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Memphis, TN
• Mass Antibiotic Dispensing: Collecting POD Exercise Data: April 6, 2006; 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
• 2006 Medical Reserve Corps National Leadership Conference: April 18–21, 2006; Dallas, TX
• Public Health Leadership Institute: April 30, 2006; Denver, CO

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National Volunteer Week

April 23–29 is National Volunteer Week—Tips for Recognizing Volunteers

Too often, managers of volunteer programs feel that they have to hold a yearly “recognition event” for their volunteers to feel appreciated. Is a once-a-year banquet really the best way to thank your volunteers? Probably not, and there are many other ways to use these resources. Here are a few ideas for year-round and special occasion volunteer recognition:

• A simple “thank you,” be it said or written, mailed or e-mailed. You can’t say it enough. 
• Take out an advertisement in the newspaper thanking your volunteers, or retreive articles written about them in local papers and newsletters—include pictures! 
• Send your volunteers’ employers a letter praising their service. 
• Nominate your volunteers for local or national service awards. 
• Send a Free National Volunteer Week E-card.

More ideas here:

• Points of Light Foundation Volunteer Recognition Ideas.
• Energize Inc.'s Recognition Ideas.
• Special low-cost gifts for volunteers.

Helpful Online Resources

Just a reminder: There is a collection of Web sites available that may be useful to MRC Unit Coordinators. The easiest way to look at these links is by topic—if you go to the archive page, click on the drop-down box next to “filter by topic” (at the top of the page), and you will see the topics available. Pick a topic, such as Risk Management/Liability, click the “search” button, and you will see the Web resources I’ve collected under that topic, along with a brief clipping from the page and possibly a note from me about the link. Recent additions include: How to Write an Effective Position Description, UC Berkley Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness, Free National Volunteer Week E-Cards, and Direct Mail Publications and Research. Happy Surfing!

Upcoming Health Observances

April 3–9 is National Public Health Week

April 23–29 is National Volunteer Week

May is Mental Health Month

May is Trauma Awareness Month

May is the 50th Anniversary of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

May 6–12 is National Nurses Week

May 14–20 is National Women’s Health Week

May 14–20 is National Emergency Medical Services Week

May 21 is the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial

May 21–27 is National Hurricane Preparedness Week

June is Home Safety Month

June 12–18 is National Men’s Health Week

Regional Coordinator Contact Information

Elizabeth H. Fitch, M.P.A.
Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center	(404) 562-4276 (Office)
61 Forsyth Street, SW	(404) 562-7899 (Fax)
Suite 5B95	elizabeth.fitch@hhs.gov
Atlanta, GA 30303

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Last Updated on 8/14/2006