Your best new volunteer just saw the sign

“I won’t join your committee, but I will bring dish soap.”

When Idea Friendly says to give everyone a small but meaningful role, that means to make it easy for people to help, even a little. 

The sign at the animal shelter in Skowhegan, Maine, said “In need of dish soap.” You can drive past it, pull in at the store, grab a few bottles and drop them off on your way home. 

It’s like the idea of a “honey-do list” for your community. Give people a multiple-choice list of activities to choose from, like power washing picnic tables at the park, or adopting one flower box downtown. 

We’ve been looking for volunteers by focusing on the tasks that require the most motivation, the kind of motivation only a few people have. “We need someone to serve a three-year term on the shelter board.” We try to talk them into being more motivated. “Please sign up for our beautification committee and come to the monthly meetings.” 

The sign and the list help attract people to do things they’re already motivated enough to do, and it spreads positive ripples. Caring flows like water through your community. Remove some of the little dams standing in their way. 

With the Idea Friendly Way, we can create small but meaningful activities to entice people from the larger group of regular people. Just drop off a bottle of dish soap one time. And even those tiny contributions stack up. 

Being generous changes their identity. When someone generously buys and drops off a few bottles of dish soap, they feel great, and they see themselves as someone who helps in the community.