Recruiting - Good Ideas/Not so good ideas...?

[jimmydeanno]

hope this is the right area....

After talking to my 'people' I've found out that the average size CAP squadron is approximately 15-22 people, some may call this perfect.  However, this often leaves the squadron in a tight spot should any number of those people go on to other things.

So, what I wanted to throw out there is an opportunity for those of you who have great success in recruiting and large squadrons to share some of the things you do to a) bring in new members and b) keep them.

I'd prefer if people didn't argue over whether or not one method works or doesn't, but rather share the things that have worked for them.

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Here are some of the things we/I've done:

1: Airshows
     By far, I would consider this my most successful arena for CAP exposure with the general public.  This is for many reasons; there is already an interest in aerospace with the crowd, there is a good mix of people - youth, professionals, pilots, parents, educators, etc., and they're already in a mindset to stop at booths and find out information about the things they're interested in.

     My previous squadron as well as the one I'm in now have both taken advantage of airshows with tremendous results.  During those airshows this is what we did.

    We made sure to have at least one (1) CAP aircraft.  The last airshow (2 weeks ago) we had a 182 with the G-1000 and the GA-8 w/ archer, CAP van and CAP 4X4 with mobile repeater.  We had aircrew members with the aircraft at all times to talk to the pilot types that came over to see the fancy equipment and let the little kiddies sit in the front seats.  We had a 10X10 easy up tent with tables and a display.  We also made sure to have BEAUCOUP recruiting materials all with pre-printed labels with our units contact information.  As a topper, we acquired a multitude of CAP goodies to hand out from DDR (the balsa wood airplanes, stress balls, water bottles, etc.) 

     For people that were really interested we collected their contact information right then for further contact at a later time and handed out "OPEN HOUSE" fliers at the same time (see below).

    Over the weekend we handed out approximately 3,000 brochures about CAP.

    To top off the airshow events, I like to follow it up with a squadron open house within a short period of time from the airshow. (1 or 2 weeks).  This keeps CAP fresh in people's minds. 

2: Open House
     Our open house was last night.  I must say, it was a huge success.  We had a short opening followed by a brief cadet awards ceremony (just so people can see immediately that the members actually accomplish something) followed by a brief overview of CAP (what we did then, what we do now).  Following the overview, we had 3 separate 10 minute presentations about CP, ES and senior program.  All this took about 50 minutes.  We then took a 5 minute break so everyone could refresh their beverages and snacks (we put them out immediately so people felt more comfortable and could pick them up as they came in).  After the break we did "break out groups" for some of the more specific things. 

     The Wing Stan/Eval guy came down to talk to the CFIs + IIs and other pilots who showed up to discuss what they need to do to become CAP pilots (pilots apparently like checklists and specifics so the Stan/Eval guy was a good choice). 

     We had another person talk to those who were specifically interested in "non-pilot" aircrew opportunities.

     Then for the cadets and parents they stayed in the main room and gazed at our numerous displays and interacted with the many CAP officers that were in the room to answer questions and get a feel for who would be teaching their children.

     Many of us talked to the other adults about other opportunities in CAP and tried to stress that we'd like people to develop not only operational qualifications but be an active member in the unit frequently by filling in another 'administrative' type role.  All seemed more than willing to live up to that should they decide to join. (this was stressed to all people there, not just the "non-pilots")

      We had 65 chairs in the room we were in, all were full and there were at least 30 more people standing in the back during the presentations.  We definitely underestimated the response we'd get from the airshow.

      For materials available we provided 'cadet' and 'officer' packets that had information about each program, fees, applications, etc.  we had 25 of each and ran out...   We also put together 'pilot checklists' that had specific information just for pilots that they could take home and see if they met the criteria, we put together 15 of those and only had to take home 2.

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Yeah, this post is long, probably my longest, but I don't think that the organization does enough in terms of recruiting and I just want to put out there that it is possible if you set up the right environments to do it in.

I would really enjoy hearing about a) your success stories b) what plans you have for recruiting c) failures in recruiting d) anything you learned while recruiting volunteers.

Enjoy

[JC004]

Five things that were really successful for us:

1.  Mail letters to pilots from the FAA database (I got a 1 in 4 response on the letters I did).  You can also mail out postcards to these folks before your open house.

2.  Participate in community events - we have what they call "Super Sunday" twice a year, which is basically a local merchant day on the main street, with tables from non-profits, local businesses, crafts people, etc.  We used to have a table and we did free raffles and Fatal Vision to get attention.  Both were VERY popular and well worth the effort.  Parades and all are good too.

3.  Article every once in a while in the local paper (especially the free community weekly papers) with pictures about o-flights and stuff.  HUGE response on o-flight articles.

4.  Hook up with local community coalitions and groups, especially those associated with America's Promise and/or The Search Institute

5. List on sites like volunteermatch.org and volunteersolutions.org

[NEBoom]

<bump>

<snip>
2: Open House
     Our open house was last night.  I must say, it was a huge success.  We had a short opening followed by a brief cadet awards ceremony (just so people can see immediately that the members actually accomplish something) followed by a brief overview of CAP (what we did then, what we do now).  Following the overview, we had 3 separate 10 minute presentations about CP, ES and senior program.  All this took about 50 minutes.  We then took a 5 minute break so everyone could refresh their beverages and snacks (we put them out immediately so people felt more comfortable and could pick them up as they came in).  After the break we did "break out groups" for some of the more specific things. 

     The Wing Stan/Eval guy came down to talk to the CFIs + IIs and other pilots who showed up to discuss what they need to do to become CAP pilots (pilots apparently like checklists and specifics so the Stan/Eval guy was a good choice). 

     We had another person talk to those who were specifically interested in "non-pilot" aircrew opportunities.

     Then for the cadets and parents they stayed in the main room and gazed at our numerous displays and interacted with the many CAP officers that were in the room to answer questions and get a feel for who would be teaching their children.

     Many of us talked to the other adults about other opportunities in CAP and tried to stress that we'd like people to develop not only operational qualifications but be an active member in the unit frequently by filling in another 'administrative' type role.  All seemed more than willing to live up to that should they decide to join. (this was stressed to all people there, not just the "non-pilots")

      We had 65 chairs in the room we were in, all were full and there were at least 30 more people standing in the back during the presentations.  We definitely underestimated the response we'd get from the airshow.

      For materials available we provided 'cadet' and 'officer' packets that had information about each program, fees, applications, etc.  we had 25 of each and ran out...   We also put together 'pilot checklists' that had specific information just for pilots that they could take home and see if they met the criteria, we put together 15 of those and only had to take home 2.

Yes, I highly recommend the whole "open house" concept.  I was happy to see National embrace it as well.  When I was at my old Squadron, we ran two of these a year, one in the late May/early June timeframe and the other in the late September/early October timeframe.  Had good attendance and good results on both (you can't just do one of these and call it good).  The only thing I would add is to be sure to aggressively promote the event well ahead of time.  We sent info packets out to all Middle Schools/Jr. High Schools in our area, did press releases, the whole nine yards.  Also did appearances on two local radio talk shows (that was fun, by the way).  It takes a lot of effort do do correctly, but the results are worth it, and it gets easier the more you do.

[Nomex Maximus]

How about specifically targeting ATC people at your local tower? Have your squadron arrange a pilot's control tower tour and make a point to talk to the ATC folks about joining up with CAP?

[NEBoom]

How about specifically targeting ATC people at your local tower? Have your squadron arrange a pilot's control tower tour and make a point to talk to the ATC folks about joining up with CAP?

We actually had a controller (and his son) in my old squadron.  His shift work (or I should say his constantly changing shift) made it difficult for him to be very active.  Eventually he was transferred to Alaska (I think it was) and we lost both of them.

Just curious, why would you specifically target ATC controllers?  Where would you look to fit them in to CAP?  Not arguing mind you, just asking.

[RiverAux]

Seems like an ATC guy would fit in pretty well running air operations and/or communications during a mission. 

[SarDragon]

Possibly true, based on the skill set. But why might someone in a high stress job wish to spend his "free" time doing a similar job?

[genejackson]

One of my most successful recruiting ventures was to hold open houses where seniors bring a covered dish, cadets bring a friend.   Having 3 teenagers myself, I understand the "Noah's Ark" concept I call it with teenagers.   They almost never go anywhere solo, always need a friend.   I actually had to buy an Excursion just so my wife and I could also take our 3 teenagers places (with the required friends).

Back to my successes,  cadets will only come if things are fun so make trips a common item.  Museums, Air Shows, etc.   Advertise these things in your local papers.  Almost every paper seems to have a local "Weekly Column".

Next,  get those kid's parents to sign as a Cadet Sponsor Member when their child comes aboard.   This strategy took my Squadron from 7 when I signed up to 87 when I passed the flag.

You'll find that around 1/2 or so of the Cadet Sponsor members will upgrade to full SM in 6 months or so as they see how much fun CAP can be.

[Nomex Maximus]

How about specifically targeting ATC people at your local tower? Have your squadron arrange a pilot's control tower tour and make a point to talk to the ATC folks about joining up with CAP?

. . .

Just curious, why would you specifically target ATC controllers?  Where would you look to fit them in to CAP?  Not arguing mind you, just asking.

At least some of them are pilots already, so there you go. Those that aren't still have a strong aviation background and would  make excellent observers. Or, in the cadet realm, they would be excellent choices for AE and such.