The Name Game

Brenda Clifton of the Volunteer Center of the Pikes Peak Region offer this fun group exercise to enliven volunteer recruitment training. Participants are given one-half of a pair of job titles and have to find their matching half. The catch is that group 2 has traditional, ordinary titles (like painter, cat lover, nursery volunteer) while group 1 has politically-correct (“pc”), creative names (like colorist application expert, enamored felinist, cuddle buddy)!

This interactive exercise can be done with staff, volunteers or a mix of both. It is also helpful when trying to introduce new ways of thinking about volunteer positions within an organization that may have recruitmentitis stagnitis.... First and foremost, it gets people up and moving around. Learning objectives are:

1. To encourage creative thinking when looking to attract new volunteers or to revitalize or redesign volunteer positions.
2. To engage everyone in thinking differently about the way we describe the assignments we offer to volunteers.
3. To demonstrate that even “mundane” roles can be put into a new light when fresh terminology – and a little humor – are applied.
4. To begin the thought process of crafting recruitment messages with broader appeal.

This Training Design provides all the copier-ready templates and handout materials you need to run the Name Game and other recruitment training exercises successfully.