One of the biggest challenges when managing volunteers is setting the right expectations – on both sides of the fence.  What is the volunteer expecting to get out of the organization — and — what is the organization expecting from the volunteer?  This is particularly challenging in an organization like the Civil Air Patrol because of the nature of the work that we do.  One of the questions I get on a regular basis from potential new members is:

“How much free flying will I get to do?” and “When can I start?”

As a squadron commander and essentially the primary manager for the members of my unit, I try to set this expectation early — usually before the person even joins the CAP.  I generally address these questions this way:

“There are a lot of opportunities to fly in CAP, all of them require you to invest a lot of time and some money to get started.  Once you’re in the pipeline and have some experience, there will be ways for you to fly on the Air Force’s dime.”

and

“You can begin your training as soon as you’re a member.  How quickly you can get involved in any of the missions we do depends on how much time you’re willing to invest to get your training.”

I tell all of my staff to remember this phraise when recruiting potential members:

Under promise, over deliver.

Basically what I mean by that is, set realistic expectations that encourage the potential new member to want to get involved, but don’t oversell with phraises like “You can fly for free all the time!”.  Statements like that are the surest way to recruit a member who will likely not renew.