Knowing how best to engage your residents is one of the key skills a local government leader must possess. I recently wrote a blog post on one way to get citizens involved: customer experience.  In today’s post I want to cover another method of engaging citizens—namely, with volunteer programs. These three communities are doing it successfully:

1. Culpeper County, Virginia, worked with its chamber of commerce and local business leaders to engage students in volunteerism through its E Squared program.  Students selected to participate in the program will volunteer with local businesses to gain real-life professional experience and knowledge.
2. In Flint, Michigan, hundreds of teen volunteered to help clean up the community, and during the process these teens learned about the benefits of volunteering.
3. Carlsdad, California, understands the importance of volunteerism in a community and has established 21 ideas on how to show appreciation to your volunteers.

How do you reach out and engage citizens to volunteer in your community? Please share your initiatives below.

Douglas Shontz

Knowledge Network Intern