Dear PFLAG Supporter,

It is with a heavy and hopeful heart that I’m writing today: I am leaving PFLAG National at the end of April to spend more time with my one year old, Birdie. Within the context of today’s sociopolitical climate, I’m making this decision to focus on my family and community. 

PFLAG’s Southern Region is full of powerhouses and superheroes—it’s the Southern fire in us. It’s truly been an honor to build relationships with all of you, and watch the beauty of each of your individual chapters as they moved with the tides. Thank you for sharing your successes, challenges, ideas, and stories with me over the years! YOU are the reason I do what I do!

My last day at PFLAG National is Friday, May 1. Please don’t hesitate to reach out before then if you need anything!! Y’all know I’m always happy to hear from you. If I don’t, please know that you are truly making a meaningful impact on your communities—whether you have one monthly meeting attendee or 20—and you’ve inspired me daily!

In this edition of Leadership Learnings you’ll find: 

• Recruiting and Engaging Volunteers

• Pride Pack Restocks

• Urban Think Tank Alert!

• ICYMI Reminders

• Regional Roundup: Intentional Community-Building with Volunteers

Recruiting and Engaging Volunteers

April is National Volunteer Month and earlier this month, the Rural Think Tank focused on recruiting and engaging volunteers for rural chapters. There were some excellent takeaways that could be helpful for chapters in all types of communities, so thanks to the Rural Think Tank attendees for sharing what has worked for their chapters! Some key themes were:

• People volunteer with PFLAG both because they see a need and because they are looking for community. 

• They feel confident and successful in their roles when they feel part of the community and see that they are meeting that need and thus feel valued (e.g. they are thanked by the board, people tell them how important PFLAG is when tabling, etc.).

• Volunteers are more likely to engage and keep coming back if they are doing the work they are interested in rather than just filling a gap that the chapter needs– many chapters named that they start their conversations with potential volunteers by asking about their interests and strengths.

• It is not uncommon for people to volunteer once and never come back (and I know you probably see this for meeting attendees as well!). It has worked for some chapters to reach out to people who don’t re-engage and ask if the experience was what they expected and how PFLAG can better meet their needs.

• Making small, specific asks of people can make volunteering feel accessible! Some of the examples Rural Think Tank attendees mentioned include: 

  • Picking up mail at a PO box

  • Photographing an upcoming event

  • Designing flyers

  • Decorating the parade entry

  • Taking 5-6 hours per month to post on social media

  • Driving to the Capital and testifying on a specific bill

  • Greeting people who attend the table at an event

If you want to see the entirety of the April Rural Think Tank—recording, transcript, and resources shared—feel free to retroactively register, and you will be able to check out the content!

Pride Pack Restocks

We wanted to share some good news about Pride Packs and the Chapter Swag store. We know Pride prep is in full swing for many chapters, which means using your $100 discount code to order supplies. (Remember: you only have until June 30th to spend that $100 credit. Once July 1st hits, the credit will no longer be available.)

Popular items like church fans, Pride flags, and stickers are out of stock. They have been reordered and you can now place pre-orders with those items included in your order. Your order will be held until they’re back in stock and everything you order will ship together. 

If you haven’t used your chapter’s $100 discount code, please review this recent email for all the details on how to do so. Have questions? Reach out to our branding team at [email protected].

Urban Think Tank Alert!

Register now for the May Urban Think Tank on Monday, May 11th at 5pm-6:30pm PT / 8pm-9:30pm ET. This Urban Think Tank will be focused on communications tools, tips, and tricks. 

Urban PFLAG chapters may be trying to reach broad and diverse audiences with communications. This can look like a newsletter, social media, newspaper inclusions, snail mail, flyering...the list goes on. Who are your audiences? What tools and tactics reach which audiences? What is most effective? How can your chapter best wield each tool to make it engage the most people?

In addition to giving and receiving advice and feedback through discussion, during this Urban Think Tank you'll have the opportunity to learn from fellow urban chapter leaders in a more thorough and structured manner. Robert and Nate from PFLAG San Francisco will share some of their chapter's communications practices and successes in a short presentation, which will be followed by a discussion for the whole group facilitated by PFLAG National staff.

In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)

• Check out our board recruitment tips to see what other chapter leaders around the country had to say about board recruitment best practices!

• Check out the on-demand recording and additional resources from our Leading With Joy PFLAG Academy Online session. Consider this as inspiration for you or your board, or as a topic for a support meeting.

Regional Roundup

PFLAG Benton/Franklin (WA) has significantly grown their volunteer program over the past year. One of the best ways they’ve been able to keep volunteers engaged is by having a regular community-focused volunteer meetups. This allows volunteers to socialize outside of the context of their volunteer roles or PFLAG support meetings and really build internal community. The chapter also works hard to have a diversity of volunteer roles and really find out where people’s interests lie so that they can plug into an opportunity that they will find exciting. As a result of this intentional work, PFLAG Benton/Franklin has a consistently engaged and growing volunteer base that has allowed them to grow their programming– they’re in the process of planning drop-in hours for the community using their volunteer power!

Stay safe,