The following article tells of a small city that is threatening to stop collecting a voluntary public donation that has brought thousands and thousands of dollars in mission-critical equipment to their combination (paid/volunteer) fire department. 

Apparently, the threat is in response to a dwindling number of volunteer firefighters in their department, between 5 and 10, as the article points out. Without a lot of volunteers, they apparently don’t feel it’s appropriate to collect a donation on behalf of the volunteer side of their fire department. This situation seems to be causing quite a riff in the department. 

Is it just me, or does any one else smell opportunity?

Share on Facebook

From www.FireRECRUITER.com:

In honor of EMS Week-2010, I thought I’d promote the (dare I say) sexiest video I’ve ever seen come to volunteer recruitment and retention.

“Roll With It!” is a part music video, part movie trailer — full-on high energy – high impact web site for the recruitment of fire and EMS personnel.

Celebrate EMS Week in style: “Roll With It!”

Share on Facebook

The Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the IAFC recently released a new and long overdue guideline focusing on the proper and safe operation of fire department youth programs.

It holds something for everyone including chief officers, youth leaders, fire department administration, parents, support liaisons and the youth themselves.

Read more at FireRecruiter.com>>>

Share on Facebook

DHS has revisited the existing policy on supplanting for the 2009 SAFER funding cycle.  The Secretary has decided that DHS will consider petitions for waivers on supplanting from 2009 grantees on a case-by-case basis and under certain conditions.

In order for all potential applicants to have sufficient time to consider this revised policy guidance, DHS will extend the 2009 SAFER application period.  The new application deadline will be 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Friday, January 15, 2010.

Share on Facebook

Patience is some times not one of my better virtues. I’ve been kicking around the idea of creating an online clearinghouse of recruitment and retention resources for quite some time.

Needless to say, it’s an area of the fire service that I’m quite absorbed in but I’ve always waited for someone else to create such a thing. Sure, there’s the National Volunteer Fire Council and VolunteerFD.org, which does a more than formidable job of compiling resources for the volunteer fire service, but I still felt there was something lacking. I needed more. We need more.

I identified a gap, an opportunity to create a single source for everything related to how we market to, recruit, indoctrinate, treat and retain the single most important resource in the fire service: our people.

Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. I registered and published: FireRECRUITER.com – a single site dedicated to ensuring the survival and success of the volunteer fire service across our nation.

Building the framework was the easy part. Creating, compiling and organizing the content to achieve this lofty goal is not something I can do alone. I need your help.

I’ve been conducting a (very) soft roll out of FireRECRUITER.com over the past few days, adding content as I go, but there’s obviously room for plenty more. That’s where you come in.

With your input and feedback we can build a comprehensive clearinghouse for all the topics that influence and affect the human side of the business of delivering emergency services. With your help, we can share information that ensures we have the appropriate quantity and quality of people to continue our common goal of serving our communities.

Visit FireRECRUITER.com and let me know what you need this resource to be to better serve you.

PS – Don’t worry, TigerSchmittendorf.com isn’t going anywhere. While it’s primary focus is more indepth blogs and professional services, FireRECRUITER.com will offer a broader platform to include my blogs and those from other appropriate sources, along with toolkits, related news, documents and other resources. Stay tuned as this develops.

Share on Facebook

This article is one in a series of toolkits focusing on recruitment, retention, fire service marketing and leadership.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Are you SAFER than you were last year?

That is, did you submit a grant application under the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response” program for recruitment and retention?

If you didn’t, you missed out on a great opportunity to better your fire department, or in our case, the entire volunteer fire service in our region.

Here’s the good news. You get another chance. DHS just announced that the application period for the 2009 SAFER grants opens November 16, 2009.

The deadline for filing completed applications will be December 18, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. EST.  As in previous years, the automated applications will be accessible from the Web site for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program at www.firegrantsupport.com/safer.

BIG MONEY – NO WHAMMIES!

The FY2009 SAFER program has approximately $210 million available for grants and the program guidance will hopefully be posted in the near future on the program’s Web site.

Last year I helped secure almost $1 million dollars in SAFER grants for local fire departments including a whopping $498,800 to fund recruitment efforts for our county chiefs association over the next two years.

The goal of our grant was to create the tools and resources necessary to make our fire departments successful in the fight for the volunteer fire service to survive and succeed.

It’s our estimation that there are two kinds of fire departments in our county: those who are experiencing an R&R problem – and those who are about to.

Thus, it only makes sense that a SAFER grant application be submitted that has a regional impact rather than multiple individual grants that create the environment for duplication and redundancy and inconsistent messaging. A county-based recruitment program promotes a unified front to the public, government, and the business community.

TRAVEL GUIDE:

If this year’s guidance is anything like last year’s, as you navigate the SAFER guidance document it clearly identified volunteer memberships with high turnover rates and high call volumes and populations served as grant priorities.

Having a recruitment plan that includes a coordinator and a solid marketing program; and projects that offer continuity and sustainability have a better chance of being successful. Projects that have a regional impact in lieu of a one dog–one bone like application improve your odds of winning.

The greatest thing about the SAFER grant is the flexibility in the allowable expenditures, which have included: Reimbursement for attending required basic training; marketing costs for recruiting; physical examinations; explorer and/or mentoring programs; staffing needs assessment; disability insurance; tuition assistance; length of service awards and other retirement benefits; and costs for administering the grant program respectively.

The guidance also spells out what’s not allowable. Historically cash awards for participation in activities other than those directly linked to operational services (responding to incidents, attending training, providing operational stand-by services) are not allowed.

It’s my belief that retention benefits = recruitment benefits. Inasmuch as different people join for different reasons, they stay committed for different reasons too.

Just as all emergencies start and end locally; so do the specific recruitment and retention challenges and applicable solutions of any given volunteer fire department. They need to be addressed accordingly.

SUSTAINABILITY:

One big challenge lies in the fact that the performance period for this grant is just four years.

Ultimately, SAFER Grants should be used as “seed funding” to reach the level of success that will serve as the justification for local funding in the years following the end of the grant performance period.

SHAKING THE DICE – MAYBE NEXT YEAR KID:

If you don’t apply this year, don’t worry. Providing the federal government sticks to its promise to fund the program – there’s always next year.

Personally, I’m not a betting man but given our current economic climate, I wouldn’t wait. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this “free money” program to perpetuate the volunteer fire service in America.

I’ll ask again: Are you SAFER? If you file an application this year or have done so in the past, I’d love to hear about it. Maybe we can feature your fire department in a future success story. If not, will you be SAFER next year? Start planning now for tomorrow’s success.

For a comprehensive offering of R&R resources, visit my blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com. Click or call if you’re looking for ideas or want to volunteer your own. I’d love to hear your experiences.

Let me know how I can help.

Until next time… “Stay safe. Train often.”

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Note: Recruitment slogans, programs or themes described herein may be the copyrighted intellectual property of the author or other parties. Please contact the author before reprinting or using such content.

Share on Facebook

I recently had the opportunity to tape a radio show titled: “Sound Magazine” with Carl Russo of 97Rock.

The segment focused on the recruitment of volunteer firefighters and will air on several Citadel Broadcasting affiliates in the Buffalo area.

Carl is a long-standing afternoon jock on 97Rock and is also a volunteer firefighter with the East Seneca Volunteer Fire Company in West Seneca NY. Carl isn’t just a firefighter, he’s also president of the fire company and a commissioner in the fire district.

It offered me the opportunity to talk about being a kid who “ran to the curb” whenever I heard a fire siren and all of the great things that come with being a volunteer firefighter.

This was the second installment of “Sound Magazine” that focused on volunteer recruitment and more are planned for the future.

Click here to listen to “Sound Magazine” VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER RECRUITMENTSept 09

Let me know what you think.

Share on Facebook

As I travel around the country talking with other firefighters, a commonly recurring theme of our chat is the future of the volunteer fire service.

The conversation always comes around to the topic of today’s firefighters and the next generation of firefighters. Some “more experienced” firefighters (notice I didn’t use the term older) share that they don’t understand the “kids” coming into the fire service today.

The veterans don’t think today’s recruits share the same values as those who are currently leading us. And they certainly don’t have the same appreciation for the traditions and discipline of the fire service. Community service is not in their blood as it is in ours. Or at least that’s their complaint.

The first question I ask is: Whose fault is that? Have we failed as parents, role models and mentors?

My second question is a more important challenge: Who better? Who better to re-instill the values of the fire service that have made it and America great? Who better to bring back the principles our communities need?

I then ask you: If not us, who?

“Reality Check: Understand them or not, like them or not – they are the future of the fire service. The reality is that there is no other generation from a parallel universe about to swoop down and save the volunteer fire service. They are it. Get over it. Get on with it.”

The fire service was built on the values of pride, honor, loyalty, trustworthiness, integrity and community service. Last time I checked, that’s exactly why the American public trusts nobody, no other profession more than they trust firefighters – nobody.

When I talk about the target audience for new recruits, I typically break it down like this:

1. 14-18 years olds: Explorers and Junior Firefighters – the future of the volunteer fire service. Figure out how to win and keep them and you will keep them forever.
2. 18-25 year olds: Let’s face it; the bull work of what we do is a young person’s job. This demographic has always been and will always be the backbone of the fire service.
3. 25-40 Years old: The lost years. Think about what traditionally happens during this period in a person’s life: marriage, careers, families, home ownership, etc. However, if we can snag them early enough, we just might be able to keep them clinging on as contributing members during this personal and professional growth phase.
4. 40+: This demo includes settled homeowners; their kids are growing to an age of independence; focused on giving back; perhaps even looking for an outlet – or just an excuse to get out of the house.

Depending on what or who you read, it’s estimated that the current generation, Generation Y, is at this moment between 14 and 27 years old.

Call them Gen Y; Millenials; WebGens; NextGens; Generation Whine; Baby Busters; Nexters; Echo Boomers or whatever you like.

Understand them or not, like them or not – they are the future of the fire service. The reality is that there is no other generation from a parallel universe about to swoop down and save the volunteer fire service. They are it. Get over it. Get on with it.

According to Dr. Renee Downey-Hart’s matrix of generation gaps, never before have four generations been in the workplace at the same time. From traditionalists born after the turn of the century, to Baby Boomers and Generation X, and now Gen Y – these four generations create both challenges and opportunities for organizations looking to recruit and retain them.

Dr. Downey-Hart’s presentation emphasizes the importance of building “bench strength” as many Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, and even some Gen Xers are about to step out of the workplace.

Some could argue that their pending retirements are an opportunity for them to get involved in volunteering. Realistically though, they’re probably not going to be the interior firefighters we need to adequately staff our apparatus. That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty for them to do on and behind the scene.

Thus, we need to embrace Gen Yers as our future. To understand them we need to get to know them better. To know them, we need to surround ourselves with them.

Here’s what I understand of them from my limited research with people a lot smarter than I am (which doesn’t take much.)

They are often characterized as a self-entitled bunch of slackers who don’t want to pay their dues – not exactly the model we’ve promoted in the fire service for the last couple of hundred years.

I refer to them as the I-Generation or the Jackass Generation. “I” is for Individual because they often ask “What’s in it for me.” But they’re also independent thinkers who have been taught to collaborate and work in teams (Hey, maybe we could learn something from these punks.)

I use the term Jackass Generation only because of the TV show they watch with the title of the same name. Their risk-taker mentality is proliferated by modern media. We just need to figure out how to harness their youthful energy and teach them the living benefits of calculated risk management – and the “death benefits” associated with miscalculating those risks.

They are also an untapped powerhouse of potential. They are future oriented, tech savvy, multi-tasking young adults who are ready to contribute NOW! Their apparent restlessness is tempered with their ability to remain optimistic in difficult times, a trait that could come in handy given our current financial climate.

They are the most socially engaged generation since the 1960s. Don’t think so? Did you happen to pay attention to how President Obama got elected? Still don’t think so? Count up all the friends you have and then ask a GenYer how many friends they have on Facebook or MySpace. Forget it, save yourself the trouble and embarassment.

What troubles those of us who used to be card-carrying members of the 18-25 year old demographic (my card expired) is that they don’t engage with society the way we do. We do it face-to-face, by calling on the phone or by “popping in” on each other.

They engage themselves on-line. They can tap out a message on their cell phones faster than you can change the station with your TV remote.

Looking for the fountain of youth for your fire department? Try Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. That’s where you’ll find today’s recruits. They know more about what their friends are doing than two cops on an overnight stake-out. They are always in touch, always communicating — just not the way we’re accustomed to or comfortable with. Nonetheless, if they’re not coming to us, we need to go to where they are to get their attention.

I’m reading a book titled “Managing Generation Y” by Dr. Carolyn A. Martin and Bruce Tulgan. The book was written eight years ago but its observations still ring true today. They refer to GenYers as the most education focused generation in history, leading a new wave of volunteerism.

Does anyone else smell opportunity? They embrace socio-economic, environmental and community problems. Our challenge is to help them understand why ours is a cause worth taking up.

So how do we get them away from the X-Box long enough to respond to the box alarm? Lucky for us, Dr. Downey-Hart states that they highly value meaningful development opportunities and they’re full of fresh insight on how best to reach their peers. This might be tough to swallow, but they have the answers. Ask them how to best recruit each other and their friends.

I’m experimenting with that concept right now as part of a $500k SAFER grant project to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. Acknowledging very early on that “we’re too old” and the need to surround ourselves with GenYers, we’ve created a team of 20 people under the age of 30 to help chart the future of the fire service in our county. This focus group of firefighters will provide us with the insight we need to choose the right messaging, media and mediums to reach their peers. They’re in charge and we’re putting our trust and faith in them.

Dr. Downey-Hart tells us the good news is that they trust people over 30 and welcome the chance to partner with older, more experienced colleagues and bosses (mentors) and intergenerational teamwork carries particular promise in tough times. Combining the tech savvy and fresh insight of Generation Y with the experience and perspective of the older generations can be especially fruitful.

They are ripe for the picking. Behind their “I don’t appear to care” attitude, they are actually starved for strong leadership, mentors and role models. A recent study by Deloitte Consultants suggests that we redesign our rewards systems to encourage the rapid development of GenY talent and at the same time create new incentives for seasoned veterans to act as mentors to these young adults.

Frankly, I don’t claim to fully understand them. And honestly, there are days when I’m not sure I want to, despite “owning” two of them myself. (Kathleen is 20 and Alex is 16). But even I can figure out that we need to embrace them as the future of the fire service.

I’ve said before that the survival and success of the volunteer fire service depends on our ability to create more opportunities – for more people – to volunteer less time.

GenYers have lots of time on their hands if we offer them the right opportunities to quench their thirst for satisfying training and teamwork. What we don’t have is a lot of time for us to figure out what makes them tick.

We know what the challenge is. The only remaining question is: What are you going to do about it?

Here’s a couple of videos to help you figure them out:

A vision of K-12 Students today

A vision of students today

And this one, especially for instructors:  Pay Attention!

Seems this is a popular topic. Here’s a link to a similar article written by Brian Ward: Talkin’ bout my generation

Download the Reprint of: From X-Box to the Box Alarm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For a comprehensive offering of R&R resources, visit my blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com. Click or call if you’re looking for ideas or want to volunteer your own. I’d love to hear your experiences.

Let me know how I can help.

Until next time… “Stay safe. Train often.”

Editor’s Note: Recruitment slogans, programs or themes described herein may be the copyrighted intellectual property of the author or other parties. Please contact the author before reprinting or using such content.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tiger Schmittendorf is chairman of FASNY’s Recruitment and Retention Committee and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980. Visit his blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com.

Tiger Schmittendorf will join Ret. Phoenix Chief Alan Brunacini and J. Gordon Routely in a fire service roundtable discussion at the FASNY Convention in Niagara Falls, NY on Thursday-August 20, 2009.

Share on Facebook

This article is one in a series of toolkits focusing on recruitment, retention, fire service marketing and leadership.

Earlier in our discussion of the clearinghouse approach to recruitment and retention, I outlined my theory that there are three levels of recruitment activities I’ve identified as “The Clearinghouse”; “T&E: Training and Education”; and lastly the “Trench Work.”

In discussing the clearinghouse concept, I stated my feelings that the role and responsibility of building awareness as to the need for volunteers falls on regional, state and federal fire service organizations or government itself.

So far we’ve discussed Pennsylvania’s revolutionary tactic to recruit new volunteers with www.rollwithit.com – their in-your-face movie trailer/music video targeting the next generation of first responders; and Erie County’s innovative efforts to ensure the survival and success of their 94 volunteer fire companies.

We’ve discussed some very creative approaches to addressing the recruitment and retention challenges of the volunteer fire service and what better way to continue this talk than to introduce you to Rockland County’s “Creative Approach to the Volunteer Fire Service” Committee.

Part 3 – Samples of Success: ROCKLAND COUNTY NY

Rockland has demonstrated the value of attacking the R&R challenge at the highest level – the clearinghouse.

Started in 1996, this committee is a true collaboration of the county’s 26 volunteer fire departments, 14 volunteer ambulance squads, county government and their local business community.

The effort was spurred by a situation that arose in the Village of Ryebrook in neighboring Westchester County, just over the Hudson River from Rockland. The Village elected to convert from an all-volunteer fire department to a career department, and contracted with Rural Metro Corporation. Career manpower was reportedly limited and supplemented by paid-on-call firefighters. Subsequently, that highly contested system was disbanded and the village reverted back to a volunteer fire department a year or so later.

Rockland’s fire service recognized the need to address sustaining manpower several years ago and is committed to that same effort today, and every day. Their consortium is comprised of every fire service association and fire department in their county – note the emphasis on the word: every.

What a model for success? Every fire department and association coming together towards a common goal with a common vision and speaking in a single voice! Imagine the possibilities if we all worked together. [Crazy talk, I know.]

The committee created the county’s first PIO-Public Information Officer course and worked on a project to reduce the ISO ratings of every fire district in the county, and they succeeded.

They went to their County Executive Scott Vanderhoef and asked him for seed money to get their committee going. Instead of just handing out a financial grant to support the efforts, he instead suggested they partner with the business community. His influence proved to be the tipping point in the organization’s long and prosperous history.

They targeted the county’s largest businesses with 250 or more employees and invited them to a breakfast meeting. With the county executive’s insight, they demonstrated the value of volunteers in Rockland County and the related costs of what would be unaffordable alternative delivery models.

The meeting resulted in a combined contribution of $25,000 from the business partners present and a marketing campaign sponsored by Orange and Rockland Utilities that highlighted the teamwork between public utility workers and first responders. The campaign had an estimated street value of $75,000. The business coalition made a wise and important investment in their future.

Their committee has since evolved into a 501c3 non-profit corporation appropriately named: The Committee to Promote Volunteerism in Rockland County Emergency Services, Inc. [Just rolls right off your tongue, doesn’t it? Note to Self: Don’t let lawyer-types do the marketing part.]

Setting up the not-for-profit corporation sets the stage for corporate sponsors to get involved and for the sponsors to reap the benefits of tax deductible donations to the cause. As a result, several sponsors have jumped on board, from mom-and-pop type establishments to major corporations headquartered in Rockland County. Their committee wisely got buy-in from the business community early and often by involving the Rockland Business Association in the planning process right from the get-go.

They stay connected to the business community by participating in the association’s monthly membership meetings, career fairs and business expos throughout the county. Their business community has responded with a VIP-Volunteer Incentive Program where volunteers are offered discounts on banking, mortgages, auto repair and a comprehensive list of other products and services.

One RBA member, Liberty Mutual, offers deep discounts on home, life and auto insurance to Rockland’s volunteers. Liberty Mutual’s regional manager and his son have since fallen in love with the fire service. The son is an active firefighter, a college bunk-in and a frequent top responder.

The Creative Approach Committee is now a member of the Rockland Business Association with Chairman Frank Hutton as their representative.

Although generously supported by the county, their strong ties to the business association make the committee highly sustainable through government changes and they credit their county executive’s foresight with their success.

That’s Really Smart Business!

Frank Hutton shared that they’re working to educate four distinct but tightly integrated groups: the fire service, public, media and government.

They started by bringing together their entire fire service to make sure they’re all on the same page and understand why the R&R challenge exists and what to do about. That’s what I call the T&E: Training and Education phase of my three-tier model towards success.

They work smartly and continuously to educate politicians and government officials so they’re always thinking about how to help volunteer emergency services. This effort has paid big dividends. The Volunteerism Committee initiated non-profit town coalitions of firefighters, EMS providers and even auxiliary police to represent their volunteer first responders at town and village meetings. This effort resulted in several towns offering free recreation passes to each volunteer family, a $500 value.

Next, they partner with their media contacts to ensure they get positive press every week. All of this helps them remind the public that these value-added services are provided by volunteers and the opportunities that exist for them to participate. They host or participate in a ton of public events and even have recruitment kiosks set up in several malls. Outdoor advertising with dynamic messaging helps give their promotions top-of-mind status with the citizens in their community.

Several years ago, the publisher of a local newspaper participated in what is now the Firefighter 1 program and related first hand accounts of his experiences, complete with photos, every week in the newspaper as he progressed through the 13-week program. We’re talking several full pages of newspaper print area every week. That’s media attention you couldn’t otherwise afford if it weren’t free.

Rockland County’s Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren says they get so much media exposure it’s almost to the point of being “over-exposed,” but they’re not complaining. They even have a local weekly radio show titled “Who Wants to be a Volunteer?” that offers them the chance to highlight the positive virtues of the fire service while promoting available volunteering opportunities.

They enjoy great relationships with the local media outlets and in return reap the rewards of their efforts. The media frequently looks to the fire service as a resource for information and the fire coordinator or PIO often call the media right from the scene, offering up-to-the-minute status reports. Thus, people read, hear and see positive things about the fire service and are motivated to join. It’s no wonder they’re so successful.

These Folks are Serious!

Bordering New York City, you can imagine the cost of housing in Rockland County. Realizing that property tax breaks weren’t enough, the local coalitions have actually gone so far as to create public housing programs that offer discounted rent in return for volunteering.

They’ve bought up condos, townhouses and apartment buildings that allow young families and individuals the opportunity to move into or stay in the area following graduation. This helps prevent the brain-drain that so many other communities are experiencing because their younger members can’t afford to live where they grew up once they go to, or return from college.

Their town offered its coalition 12 houses for a $1-a year lease. No, that’s not a typo, there aren’t any zeros missing – that’s one dollar a year total for 12 homes. The coalition rents five (5) single family homes and seven (7) multi-family dwellings where several volunteers share a house in an almost boarding house style arrangement. [Imagine what that reality TV show would look like.]

Here’s the real beauty of the program: the renters only pay operating costs – no mortgage and no taxes. The rent for a multi-family house is then divided among the occupants and might be around $250 a month, compared to the average $900-$1,100 for a typical single bedroom apartment in Rockland County.

These types of programs have been extremely successful in Rockland since they started about six years ago. One volunteer resident started out in a coalition subsidized group setting, got married and moved into a sponsored single family unit with his new wife. There they had a child and saved enough money to buy their own home outside the housing program. He’s now a chief in a local volunteer fire department and she is a captain in the volunteer ambulance corps. How’s that for a success story?

Other town coalitions sell condos and townhouses to volunteer firefighters for a significant discount off current market value. Some people save as much as $50,000 on the cost of their first home.

Here’s another bonus. They get to sell the units at a profit based on the monetary equity they’ve earned and the sweat-equity they’ve invested in improving the home. The kicker is that they’re contractually bound to sell the home only to the next volunteer firefighter on the waiting list, and never above the price they paid plus their equity – still well below current market prices. It’s a self-perpetuating win-win for everyone.

That brain-drain I mentioned earlier creates a downward spiral and can crush a community as the economy weakens. I think we’re seeing a lot of that in New York State, which makes affordable living a great solution to the graduation-degradation dilemma. Rockland County has certainly mastered the formula for success.

Speaking of graduation, their current efforts are focusing on the ultimate recruitment and retention tool: building today’s and tomorrow’s leaders through education and experience. Some departments have experienced great success with recruitment and retention while others flounder. Why? Almost without exception, leadership is the reason or contributing factor.

Their committee has sponsored training by some of the fire service’s most well known and respected leaders including FDNY Battalion Chief (and Volunteer Battalion Chief) John Salka, but they didn’t stop there. They worked directly with the publisher and bought Salka’s book “First In. Last Out.” at a discounted rate. Their county fire chiefs sponsored the presentation and hosted a book-signing event following his talk.

Presenters have included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and well known author and presenter Kim Alyn of FirePresentations.com, amongst others. A corporate sponsor made a bulk purchase of Mayor Giuliani’s book titled: Leadership for every attendee of the seminar. [I have the book and CD – it’s a must read and listen.]

Coordinator Wren points out that, “Good leaders make for strong organizations.” Rockland County is clearly on the right track to create better leaders and stronger fire departments, and they’re doing it together. [Light goes on inside head, brain suddenly realizes: Hey… we could learn a lot from them.]

The proof is in the pudding!

Frank Hutton’s statistics show they’re training from 150 to 225 new recruits a year in Firefighter 1 classes and Gordon Wren reports that some fire departments have taken in as many as 30 new members in the last two years. On an estimated population of 3,000 volunteer firefighters – those numbers equate to significant success.

To say they’re on top of their game is an understatement. These are just a few of the initiatives they have in place or in the works to ensure the survival and success of their volunteer fire service.

Effective leadership is critical but Gordon cautions us that, “The fun factor should not be underestimated – it is a big one!!  We have been doing quite well countywide for the last several years but we must be relentless in working at the effort.”

Personally, I’m just glad to see someone is finally paying attention to my crazy banter. Gordon even admits: “PS – We continue to steal ideas from you guys [Erie County.]” For the record, I see that their web site ‘borrowed’ our recruitment theme, “If You’re Tough Enough, If You’re Smart Enough, If You Care Enough to Volunteer…”

To find out more about how they do it on the Big Apple’s border, check out Rockland’s web site at: http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/Fire/default.html.

They’ve also got a great recruitment video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsW786u2mFU.

Now there’s a novel idea. Where does our target 18-25 demographic hang out? Oh yeah, on YouTube. [Strike forehead with palm of hand… now.]

This isn’t rocket science folks. If it were, I’d never get any thing off the ground.

Effective recruitment and retention just takes some imagination, a lot of hard work, a commitment to succeed and… a creative approach.

Get-R&R-Quick Scheme:

I promised you last month that we’d discuss SAFER-Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants from the Department of Homeland Security and how you can get the federal funding to be a major player in the recruitment and retention arena.

Well, it appears that opportunity is about to knock as the application period for SAFER grants typically opens in July. If this year’s info isn’t out yet, you can review last year’s guidance documentation and start to formulate your narrative at www.firegrantsupport.com. This is definitely a grant program that you should be going for.

I’m pleased to announce that a local fire company I assisted received a $275,000 SAFER award to enhance their recruitment and retention efforts. That’s a bell ringer if I’ve ever heard one.

In addition to some fired-up marketing ideas, they’re offering a comprehensive list of incentives to reward new and existing firefighters for their training achievements and state and national certifications. Those incentives will go a long way towards recruitment and retention.

Congrats to Doyle 1 Hose Company in Cheektowaga NY. With their permission, I’ll fill you in on the details of their plan in a future article.

For a comprehensive offering of R&R resources, visit my blog at www.firefighternation.com/profile/tiger5.

Click or call if you’re looking for ideas or want to volunteer your own. I’d love to hear your experiences.

Let me know how I can help.

Until next time… “Stay safe. Train often.”

Editor’s Note: Recruitment slogans, programs or themes described herein may be the copyrighted intellectual property of the author or other parties. Please contact the author before reprinting or using such content.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tiger Schmittendorf is a proud FASNY member and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980.

Share on Facebook

This article is one in a series of toolkits focusing on recruitment, retention, fire service marketing and leadership.

In Part 1 of our discussion of the clearinghouse approach to recruitment and retention, I outlined my theory that there are three levels of recruitment activities, three distinct angles of attack, if you will. I identified them as “The Clearinghouse”; “T&E: Training and Education”; and lastly the “Trench Work.”

In discussing the clearinghouse concept, I stated my feelings that the role and responsibility of building awareness as to the need for volunteers falls on regional, state and federal fire service organizations or government itself.

I introduced you to a revolutionary approach to recruiting new volunteers with www.rollwithit.com – the State of Pennsylvania’s high-tech, in-your-face movie trailer/music video targeting the next generation of EMS providers and first responders.

Here, I’ll introduce you to a few other successful campaigns in an effort to further demonstrate the value of attacking the R&R challenge at the highest level – the clearinghouse.

Part 2 – Samples of Success:

ERIE COUNTY NY:

We might as well get my county out of the way early. I haven’t told you much about myself so I guess this is an appropriate moment.

My entrance into the R&R arena started 18 years ago when our Fire Chief John Latimore asked me to attend a meeting about a proposed county-wide recruitment campaign and come back with a few ideas.

I attended the meeting and drafted a 15-page field action plan of how we were going to recruit 5 new members that year and bring 5 inactive members back to active status.

Well, unbeknownst to me, he sent my plan to our county commissioner of emergency services. When I attended the next recruitment meeting there were about 125 people in the room and they all had my plan sitting in front of them. Imagine my surprise!

Needless to say, that catapulted me to the forefront of the local fire service. That was the spring of 1990. That year we doubled our fire company’s membership from 45 to 90 members – in four months time.

For all intents and purposes – they were knocking down our door.

We brought them in 10 and 15 at a time. They wanted to be Firefighters, EMTs, Fire Police and our new form of membership: Corporate members.

Yes. That’s right. We doubled our membership from 45 to 90 members in four months.  I don’t recommend it to anyone, but that’s a story for another day. For the record, we were not the only fire department in our county to breed such success from this campaign.

County-wide, the campaign recruited 525 new volunteers for our fire service. Our ranks were up. We were on a high.

NOW WHAT?

Our county administration then turned the tables on the fire service and challenged them by asking what they were going to do for themselves? Jim Guy, who was deputy fire coordinator at the time, conceived the idea for a county-wide newspaper to promote the volunteer fire service to the public.

He convened a group of fire service leaders [and I was invited too] to discuss the possibilities and logistics of such a venture. I was quite skeptical at first, telling him that we didn’t have the know-how, the funding, the manpower, the experience nor the ability to pull off such a huge undertaking.

Just to prove me wrong, they named me managing editor of the Erie County Volunteer Fire Fighter Newspaper four months later and I served in that capacity for seven years. The paper (www.firefighternewspaper.com) was an instant hit and is still in print today with a distribution of 15,000 copies of each quarterly edition. Uniquely, it remains the only sustaining fire service publication whose target audience is the public – not the fire service.

So, as is human nature, with everything going so well we sat back and didn’t really do much maintenance. Why should we? Our rosters were fat and happy.

Quite predictably, our recruitment and retention problem reared its ugly head once again.

As the answer to this recurring situation, the Erie County Department of Emergency Services created a new position in the Division of Fire Safety to specifically address our looming recruitment crisis.

Chosen from a field of ten candidates, I was hired nine years ago for the purpose of coordinating the roll out of a new state training initiative as well as the recruitment efforts of our county’s 94 volunteer fire departments. In return for what started as a part-time gig, I gave up a lucrative 15 year career in engineering, sales and marketing management to market the product I love: the fire service.

To the best of our knowledge, I was the first dedicated county-based volunteer firefighter recruiter in the nation. I count my blessings every day that I was chosen for this opportunity and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.

IF YOU’RE TOUGH ENOUGH:

As part of my duties, I developed a large-scale recruitment campaign based around the theme: “If You’re Tough Enough; If You’re Smart Enough; If You Care Enough to Volunteer – VOLUNTEER TODAY. Make Friends for Life.”

The program leveraged a grant from our county legislature with free and discounted advertising to effect a campaign with a street value of $160,000 that has netted us 500+ new volunteers a year ever since. That’s a 10% influx of new recruits into an estimated population of 5,000 volunteer firefighters in Erie County every year.

We track our recruitment statistics by the number of volunteer firefighter arson background investigations completed by our County Sheriffs Department each year. (All prospective volunteer firefighters in New York State must have their records checked for an arson conviction, the presence of which precludes them from becoming a firefighter.) We can tell department-by-department how many new firefighters are joining our ranks.

The three-pronged “If you’re… enough” slogan elicits the physical, intellectual and compassion qualities needed to be a volunteer firefighter today.

While different people join for different reasons, spiking their adrenaline rush is still a proven means of getting many people off the couch and into the fire station.

We need to take advantage of the fact that the fire service offers many people an alternative to “driving a desk by day” – by giving them an opportunity to drive a fire truck at night.

The campaign effectively used outdoor advertising, scripted radio commercials and collateral print materials to get the message out. We’re still using much of those same materials today although I readily admit that our efforts need refreshing. [Inner monologue: “If only we had a budget for that…”]

The marketing effort promoted a second theme as well: “Firefighting isn’t for everyone – but volunteering can be.” As I like to say, there’s plenty to do on and behind the scene.

As I’ve stated in previous articles, not everyone has to be the person running into the burning building as all the sane people are running out. For those who can’t or don’t care to perform emergency duties, there’s FireCorps, a program that my fire company has used for more than 15 years under a different name: corporate or associate members.

FireCorps [www.firecorps.org] is a program that has the potential to double the effectiveness of the volunteer fire service while cutting the average volunteer’s time commitment in half.

I’ve shared with you before that the key to survival for the volunteer fire service is our ability to create more opportunities… for more people… to volunteer less time.

That means allowing people to specialize, to be good at a few things instead of poor at a lot. That means creating flexible memberships. That means thinking outside the box.

Managed properly, the same or better job gets done in the end. FireCorps is a means to that end.

Like the 1-800-FIRELINE program I described in the first part of this series, FIRECorps needs a lot more buy-in from the emergency services community despite having the potential to be a tremendous resource if adopted and directed effectively.

IF YOU’RE SMART ENOUGH:

We put our money where our mouth was with the “If you’re smart enough…” theme when in 2000 we created Project: V-FIRE – the Volunteer Firefighter Incentive for Recruitment and Education.

This tuition reimbursement program traded college scholarships for long-term fire service commitments. Underwriting the cost of completing a four-semester associate degree program at our local Erie Community College gave us a 4-7 year return on our investment in terms of years of service from the recipient.

Each candidate first needed to join a volunteer fire company to become eligible to apply for the scholarship. Thus, many more people joined than received scholarships – so that put us “in the black” right off the bat. Our legislature donated about $50,000 a year towards the program which allowed us to award 15-20 scholarships annually.

Each semester, we reimbursed the student-firefighter’s cost of tuition in return for the recipients meeting both their academic and fire department obligations during the semester. Each semester reimbursed equated to one year of service – which started after they were done going to school.

However, we had to tread cautiously for fear that we were potentially creating a system for failure instead of a system for success. V-FIRE combined the rigorous study requirements of a student and the time consuming duties of being a volunteer firefighter. If not managed properly, we were creating a losing combination that could ruin the academic standing and/or fire department status of the student, or worse.

To address this issue, we insisted that the scholarship recipients, their parents and a chief officer attend a mandatory orientation and that all parties sign a V-FIRE commitment form. The form clearly outlined the student’s obligations to the program and the fire department’s commitment to ensuring the student achieved success by balancing their priorities of family, school, work, play and the fire service appropriately.

The program garnered great acclaim and has been modeled in several other counties around the state and country. Unfortunately, the county’s budget crunch of 2005 ended that streak of success. The program yielded more than 60 new firefighters and over 300 years of fire service commitment as a positive return on our investment.

Naturally, other terms and conditions applied. Visit my FirefighterNation blog to download a sample administrative guide and review the details of the program.

Although it was not the first scholarship for volunteer firefighters, Project: V-FIRE was certainly one of the largest and most comprehensive programs in the nation. The goal of our clearinghouse has always been to create solutions to the challenges of our largely volunteer fire service.

IF YOU CARE ENOUGH:

“Nothing breeds success like success itself.” I always hated it when my old boss used that line every day, but now it sounds so much better coming from my lips. [Thanks Tom Woodside!]

That’s what my fire company did back in 1990 and continues to do so today. We simply leveraged the awareness created by our county-wide recruitment campaign with our own local efforts to create success.

We held press conferences, bought inexpensive print ads in our local penny saver, held open houses and publicly announced and promoted our new members. It’s psychological peer pressure. We made people think, “If all those folks are joining, then that must be an organization I want to belong to as well.”

Recruitment and retention, like any other business, requires an organized team approach. Partner with your town, county or state fire service and government leaders to build a bigger, better team. Leverage the opportunities they offer for your success. Get off the day-room couch and do it today.

I start out my R&R conversations with telling the audience that, “The difference between those who are successful at recruitment and retention – and those who are not – is simply those who make a conscious decision and continuous commitment to do something about the problem.”

As with any recruitment efforts, the clearinghouse is just one tactic, one component of what needs to be a systematic approach to addressing the challenges we face.

I don’t know if the father of the fire service had the fire service in mind when he said this, but Benjamin Franklin’s definition of insanity is: “Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”

If the fire service doesn’t embrace the ideas and efforts of the organizations at the top level, they shouldn’t expect to see any different results at their level.

Your county or state firefighter organizations can generate as many sales leads as you need, but if you don’t close the deal by following through to on those prospective members to get them in the door and keep them there, theirs are wasted efforts.

Visit rollwithit.com, www.erie.gov/fire or Google “volunteer firefighter recruitment campaigns” to see what others are doing about it.

VOLUNTEER TODAY:

Next time we’ll discuss SAFER Grants from the Department of Homeland Security and how you can get the federal funding to be a major player in the recruitment and retention arena.

For a comprehensive offering of R&R resources, visit my blog at www.firefighternation.com/profile/tiger5. Click or call if you’re looking for ideas or want to volunteer your own. I’d love to hear your experiences.

Until next time… “Stay safe. Train often.”

Editor’s Note: Recruitment slogans, programs or themes described herein may be the copyrighted intellectual property of the author or other parties. Please contact the author before reprinting or using such content.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tiger Schmittendorf is a proud FASNY member and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980.

He suffers from an extremely dry sense of humor and routinely makes an ass of himself, often in public.

Share on Facebook