In recent years, the Nebraska Chapter has experienced high annual volunteer turnover, especially among new board members who were less than one year into their term. In response to concerns around volunteer retention, the chapter designed and implemented a recruitment training for their board. The goal of this training was to enable board members to feel more confident in finding volunteers to serve on the board or in other chapter leadership positions. It also allowed the board time to share their motivation for volunteering, generate excitement for a return to in-person service, and standardize expectations around what it means to serve on the board and how to best prepare new board members for success. As a result of the new training process, the chapter has seen an almost 30% reduction in volunteer turnover and an increase in volunteer referrals from board members. The board even had to start a waitlist to join the board because of increased interested in volunteering.
