A few weeks ago, I attended an interagency meeting where the term “STP” was used in reference to volunteering. I had not heard this term used before, so I was relieved when someone else asked if the acronym could be explained. As it turns out, STP refers to the “Same Ten People” who always volunteer their time and energy on different projects and events. Now you might be chuckling to yourself, as you probably know that handful of people, and chances are you might even be one of them. In our community, I immediately thought of a young couple who both work full time and volunteer tirelessly for their children’s sporting teams. This past winter, they coached and managed their son’s hockey team and then, in the spring, they stepped forward and did the same for lacrosse. They do not have more time than the rest of us, nor did they magically acquire the skills to coach and manage a team. So why do they do it?
There are many reasons why people volunteer: recognition and feedback, personal growth, giving something back, bringing about change, friendship, bonding and/or a feeling of belonging. When managing volunteers, we need to know which of these incentives will motivate our volunteers, either to recruit them to our organization, or to keep them coming back. While speaking at the Didsbury Museum, I was engaging the group on this very subject, and one of the participants explained to the group how once a month they recruit volunteers to DUST (yes dust!) the museum. She explained that they started at a convenient time and they provided pizza for everyone at the lunch break, but she said the biggest reason they had people coming back was that they made it fun! The same goes for the couple who volunteers with their son’s hockey team – I am sure it is not fun getting up at 6:00 am on a Sunday morning to freeze in a cold arena (come on, we live in Canada, we’re meant to be tough). However, it is fun to give back to your community and watch the kids as they develop new skills and grow individually and as a team. It is fun being a part of the bigger picture and belonging to a group, a society or a team.
So next time you hear the term “STP”, whether it be same two people, or same ten people, count yourself in as one of those extraordinary people who volunteers their time, for whatever fun reason is close to your heart!
Wondering what it is that motivates STPs? Book a session to break down the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating statistics into information you can use to recruit volunteers!
Diane Huston
Knowledge Exchange Coordinator (Central Region)