How does a an event get volunteers?

taylor185 said:
I think it's helpful to spell out in detail what you're looking for people to do and the time commitment required. Also, make the time commitment realistic so one's not required to be there all day.

I thought NICA did this really well last year. I don't recall the race, but they outlined specific roles needed and time requirements. made it easy to determine how you could plug in.

I'm the PTA President for my son's elementary school and we rely heavily on volunteer labor. The above works really well and we use Sign Up Genius to publish the roles, times, etc and manage communication between volunteers and event leaders. We also advertise like crazy. We push hard on all of our comms channels so people know we need help.

We also partner with our districts middle and high school to recruit student volunteers. We have a Key Club chapter which requires volunteer hours so they're typically eager to help. Look for something similar in your area. It's a good labor pool when matched with the right responsibilities.
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THIS
 
taylor185 said:
I think it's helpful to spell out in detail what you're looking for people to do and the time commitment required. Also, make the time commitment realistic so one's not required to be there all day.
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I'm thinking about this for sure. I know I can put volunteer spots on bikereg and list hours and work detail to make it clear and promote the workload which wouldn't be much.
 
pooriggy said:
Get a bigger team.

As part of a team that hosts races, it can be tough to get folks to volunteer. We have a large team but on any given wknd a lot of folks on the team have other commitments.

I volunteer for Nica races and Jorba TM at Chimney Rock. IMO these two organization's warrent me giving time to, I feel good about doing it and am not looking for any reward for doing so (although I do get points in the H2H). Schedules for these events are posted well in advance which allows me to plan out when I can help.

To be honest Ryan, the reason a lot of promoters stop hosting races is because it's a lot of work. The number$ don't work, not enough folks show up for the amount of labor it takes to host. It's a dark time for local racing, hopefully things improve. @taylor185 had some good ideas about making it easy for folks to sign up in advance. Good luck.
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Getting a bigger team is easier said than done. We will NEVER have a big team. That's just too much of a shop liability. Expanding a few more members may happen but that's not up to me. I realize that races die because of workload and volunteers. We're in it to give back to the local racers/riders and have a good time. There is no $$$ in racing. We just want to put on some good events and keep the fun alive, especially if we can open some people's eyes to the amaing trails around us. That's why I want to try and get some help now and see what happens. Maybe our events will only run for a few years but I feel like we add a lot of local value for the time that we are around. Who knows.
 
Patrick said:
Engage a group that may be interested in helping. Perhaps the HB D road riders might give you a day? Maybe go outside the bike community, just find general outdoor meet-up groups? And yeah, they get food, a shirt/sticker or something. If it is a long day, have two shifts as mentioned

If you had a cause, like the food bank, you could engage them for volunteers.

The weather might have something to do with last minute cancellations.

They should also be part of the experience of the day - understanding where they should be and what they are doing - setting their expectations.

I get paid for many of the races I work (large triathlons, 5k events) but they have 100s of entries, and it is in the budget - and i actually have to make decisions. Others I do for the cause, or the team - but the team is large, and not everyone is "in training" for target events (it costs $900+ to enter an ironman.)
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We have asked the HB cycle club MANY times for volunteers and its a disappointing response. Maybe this year will be different. I know people are busy but we are trying new tactics for this year. Expectations definitely benefit those helping. I would want to know what I'm in for if I'm volunteering.
 
Integrate into the Club. The MTB Team has completely alienated itself from the shop and the thousand + Club Members. They show up and Volunteer in droves at any and all HB Sponsored Events. I know it's super cool for the 3 of you to post secret Team Ride Only things but you're missing out on a huge opportunity.
 
jimvreeland said:
Integrate into the Club. The MTB Team has completely alienated itself from the shop and the thousand + Club Members. They show up and Volunteer in droves at any and all HB Sponsored Events. I know it's super cool for the 3 of you to post secret Team Ride Only things but you're missing out on a huge opportunity.
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I still like my plan bettter...
 
jimvreeland said:
Integrate into the Club. The MTB Team has completely alienated itself from the shop and the thousand + Club Members. They show up and Volunteer in droves at any and all HB Sponsored Events. I know it's super cool for the 3 of you to post secret Team Ride Only things but you're missing out on a huge opportunity.
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What's the best way to integrate into the club? We are reaching out to become ride leaders. In the past we have reached out to get club members on rides, we have participated in club rides, and yes we are our own separate entity. We do play well with others. I have heard the exact opposite about the amount of the volunteers at HB events. We have been openly posting a bunch of rides for people to jump in on. Most of the team rides that we have gone on are the open rides that @terrabike01 has been organizing. If you can help guide a way for us to do this better please let me know. I'm open to suggestions.
 
xc62701 said:
What's the best way to integrate into the club? We are reaching out to become ride leaders. In the past we have reached out to get club members on rides, we have participated in club rides, and yes we are our own separate entity. We do play well with others. I have heard the exact opposite about the amount of the volunteers at HB events. We have been openly posting a bunch of rides for people to jump in on. Most of the team rides that we have gone on are the open rides that @terrabike01 has been organizing. If you can help guide a way for us to do this better please let me know. I'm open to suggestions.
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Contact Lauren F. Make her the volunteer coordinator. Do not tell her i told you to do this.
you must also teach her to ride a mtb and cx. She lives near you, so piece of pie.
 
xc62701 said:
What's the best way to integrate into the club? We are reaching out to become ride leaders. In the past we have reached out to get club members on rides, we have participated in club rides, and yes we are our own separate entity. We do play well with others. I have heard the exact opposite about the amount of the volunteers at HB events. We have been openly posting a bunch of rides for people to jump in on. Most of the team rides that we have gone on are the open rides that @terrabike01 has been organizing. If you can help guide a way for us to do this better please let me know. I'm open to suggestions.
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Frank's Gravel Ride is a great start. Those folks that come out to that will get to know you all and be a lot more invested in your future ventures. Get it put on the Calendar on the Club Site so more people see it than just a random FB Post. Also, start posting about these Events now, and do it often.
 
I feel like @terrabike01's gravel ride is just his normal morning ride and a hundred people just saw it and were like "that's epic."
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Mountain Bike Mike said:
Market the possibility of doing a kids specific class / race and state the only way to make happen is by getting parents to pitch in..

Ya Know.. cause it is for the kids

Then offer a kid racer : parent racer combo price deal. You could also speak to your local NICA coaches about Teen trail corps opportunities / partnerships.

https://www.nationalmtb.org/teen-trail-corps/
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Thats great if we were putting on a NICA event, but there’s plenty of those. The missing discipline in this area are true endurance events. We have kids races for our CX event but not for the endurance races. Those are meant to be a harder more brutal type of event for a reason. If kids are interested/capable then they are more than welcome to sign up! I can see being able to rope in some more volunteers that way but that’s not the direction we are going.

I’m working on some numbers now but it looks as though we could put on our events with 10-12 people. We just need to get a few volunteers and we will be ok. It’s not like we need dozens of people to run a grassroots event. If it gets big then that’s another story.
 
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