... But then life happened

When we last met here, it was apparently April (!! Where did the time go?!?), and I was explaining my strategies and projects for keeping volunteers engaged, even during our COVID-19 closure.

Then my computer died, and I had none of my drafts backed up anywhere.

Then it was announced that our museum would be closing.

It's been a rough month and a half.

But I promised I was going to start writing here regularly again, so I'm back. Again. Or at least trying, again. So, where were we?

In March, I focused on keeping our volunteers connected to the museum, to our mission, and to each other.

• I was reminding leadership that our volunteers should be informed of changes -- closures, potential reopening, precautions being taken to prepare for a potential reopening -- before the public, both because they keep us running, and as a sign of our appreciation for them. "We appreciate everything you do for us, and your dedication, so we're going to tell you before we tell everyone else." 
• I also started a weekly "Reading & Viewing Recommendations" list: volunteers could send me anything relevant to the museum, its themes, its artifacts, or general updates about what they were doing while we were closed, and I would send them out to all of the volunteers once a week. This was a success: as with any group, you have your vocal members and your silent members. Our vocal volunteers were VERY vocal, and sent me a lot of stuff relevant to our museum, including articles they read online, books they were reading, videos online and YouTube channels, pictures they took at other similar museums, research they were doing... there was so much good stuff. I also tried to change it up a bit with conversation starters, like including a game of "Would You Rather?" one week, and asking how/where they were getting their sports fixes with no sports being played another week. Again, the vocal ones were vocal and responded to my silly conversation questions, some with some HYSTERICAL answers that completely lightened the mood of still-stuck-at-home gloom. 

But here's the thing: even a good number of the silent members spoke up. They didn't send articles to share or their answers to "Would You Rather?", but they wrote to me and thanked me for the updates and weekly lists. When you can get even the passive or quiet ones involved, even just a note that shows they didn't automatically delete the e-mail, you know you're doing something okay.  (*pat self on back*)

So now the COVID-19 timeline is in April, and our museum is still closed. What's a volunteer coordinator to do? You don't want to lose your volunteers due to boredom and inactivity, and you know that THEY want to be helping, too. How do you keep them engaged even when you're in your second month of no contact? Join me next time for my answers 😊