Membership, Retention and Recruitment: Let’s Boost Membership

By Tom Bock, Westchester County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Director

A lot gets written and discussed about recruitment and retention in the volunteer fire service. And yet, with everything that has been proffered, we continually hear that increasing the fire company or fire department’s ranks seems to be more elusive than locating the origin of a smell of smoke during a tornado.

Our country was founded on volunteerism. From the American Revolution with volunteer soldiers as well as the first firefighter brigades organized by Benjamin Franklin. Even as the tradition of excellence has continued throughout the years, societal changes have affected volunteerism. In fact, most kids are required to do community service in order to graduate. That alone tells you how important volunteering can be and the benefits it can reap.

Before there were any formal recruitment and retention efforts on a large scale, I knew a firefighter who chaired the Rockland County fire services Committee for Recruitment and Retention. Frank Hutton was a champion of the fire service and a one-man band for volunteer recruitment and retention for many years, long before it became a firematic lexicon. He always said that we should change the name to Retention and Recruitment and figure out a way to keep the people we have while looking for new people.

Frank felt that although most departments may have enough volunteers to get by, they all require more individual support. When the Rockland County program began, it had a total of about 2,500 fire volunteers. That’s up to about 3,000 now, but adding 500 more would mean “a pure gain of active members,” those who actually respond and fight fires. Frank spoke passionately with youths and parents about opportunities for young people to get involved. Some of the parents wanted to volunteer, too. (Sadly, Frank passed away in June of 2019, shortly after retiring. The fire service lost another good one.)

Rockland County had a $1 million, four-year grant from the Department of Homeland Security to help with recruitment and retention. Part of that paid for the county’s Fire and EMS Training Youth Academy, which graduates two classes each year. There’s also an Explorer Post at the Fire Training Center for those 14 to 18 years old. They get full firefighter training, but not state certification. Still, Hutton said, it gives them an edge when they actually join at a local department.

So, what can we do that hasn’t already been done? Or, similarly, what else could we do and equally important, what are we doing right? While this article contains both new and time-honored ideas with varying levels of success, maybe you’ll find one that you haven’t yet tried or one that needs to be restructured. I read an article that stated we have to make the fire service more fun and entertaining for its members. While that may have been easier to do years ago, too many other issues and time constraints tug at our lives and make that less practical in many ways. Yet, it doesn’t mean we stop trying.

Here are a few of my thoughts on growing your department. Some are easy and some will take a full-scale effort from everyone. All will need a “buy-in” at all levels to be successful:

Mentoring

I’ll be the first to admit mentoring takes a tremendous amount of time and effort and isn’t for everyone! The purpose of mentoring is to tap into the existing knowledge, skills and experience of senior or high-performing “employees” and transfer these skills to newer or less experienced ones in order to advance their careers. When a new member joins, assign them a mentor (or two if the time commitment is an issue). Let that person take the new member under their wing and impart knowledge about how the fire company and the fire department operate both during an alarm and at rest. Discuss training that is offered at the fire training centers and elsewhere. Encourage the new member to participate in functions such as weekly equipment checks, air pack maintenance, starting saws, etc. Always answer their questions and encourage their input. You should also try to shield them a bit from going overboard and diving into too much all at once and burning themselves out.

Modularize Firefighter 1 and 2 Classes

This one is big. One of the common complaints from prospective or new members is how long the Firefighter 1 (as well as Firefighter 2) training class takes to complete. And if you miss a class, you’re terminated from it. In fact, I’d venture to say the time commitment toward initial training and instruction is one of the largest obstacles facing a volunteer in the fire service today. Many remain split on how much training is inadequate, just right or too much. Then there are the numerous Statelevel classes that are broken down into three levels: awareness, operations and technician. By modularizing the course, a new member could reach particular milestones that allow them to do certain things on the fireground. For instance, after several weeks of classes, they achieve the first milestone which qualifies them as exterior firefighters. As they continue their training, they reach their next milestone and so on. This will help keep them interested and able to respond to calls and not force them to wait for months to be able to attend calls and actively participate at some level. The fire service needs to take a long and focused look at how it can adapt while maintaining quality and thorough instruction.

Junior Firefighters and Explorers

By now there is no shortage of departments with Explorer Posts (14- to 17-year-olds under the auspices of the Boy Scouts) and/or Junior firefighters who are able to join a department as a regular member at 16 or 17 years of age. My department had an Explorer Post that was doing well prior to COVID-19. We also changed our department by-laws to admit 16- and 17-year-old individuals as members. The best way to justify having younger members is that we’ll have them for however long they stay and we will utilize them in a number of ways while they’re here.

Inclusion of All

In the not-so-long-ago “olden days,” women and minority groups were not actively recruited to be members of fire companies and departments. They were told, for example, that there were restrictions due to by-laws, charters and that only so many members could be taken in, or there was a waiting list, or they were discouraged with various requirements, some legitimate and some not. It was not the fire service’s finest hour. You may or may not be aware that in order to be a member of a (New York State) fire department, you are required by law to be a member of a fire company.

I recall one of my fire company’s members submitting an application with the name M. Smith* back in the mid-1970s. Since M. Smith had the same last name as the current member and came from a large family, everyone assumed it was the member’s brother. Only after the investigating committee was to meet with the prospective volunteer was the truth discovered: it was his sister, not his brother. As you might imagine, a few eyebrows got raised. While it may have highlighted the feelings held by many members at the time, we’ve fortunately gotten past this way of thinking and now actively encourage everyone to become firematic and EMS members.

LOSAP

Length of Service Awards Programs (LOSAP) can wind up being an important recruitment and retention tool once a young member is vested into the program and contributes to it through their activity. Some profess to not be interested in it because retirement is too far away for them to comprehend. I always counter by suggesting they actively participate as they’re going to respond to calls anyway and you’re simply banking money for your future. It’s a no-brainer.

Bunk-In

In our area, there is a department that has embraced the bunkin program. Their circumstance is somewhat unique in that they have a college in their community. This enables them to staff themselves with college students who commit to a certain amount of responses and to be drivers in order to remain in the program and live at the firehouse for free! The live-in portion of the firehouse has been sectioned off exclusively for them to utilize. Non-bunking fire members not in the program are forbidden from going into the space unless invited. They are provided amenities on site like a washer and dryer, full kitchen and so on. According to the Chief, the program is very successful.

Rental Housing

Much has been said throughout New York State about young people not being able to afford to live in the area. Another variation on the bunk-in program is for a fire district, company, benevolent association or village to create a corporation to purchase properties to develop into small apartment buildings or to acquire one and two-family houses that could be rented out to members, especially younger ones. They would sign a lease that stipulates activity performance standards be met in order to continue living in the space. It could also be a tiered rental agreement that starts out with an established rent that drops depending on their level of activity. You could even have a stipulation that if you make a certain percentage of calls, training, cleanups, become a driver, etc., your rent is cut in half or eliminated!

Recruitment Events

Numerous years ago, FASNY created the annual RecruitNY program with all kinds of materials that can be utilized to get your message out to attract new members. I recognize that random recruitment can be a double-edged sword and attract people who may not be what you are looking for. Before you undertake any recruitment, a solid screening process must be in place prior to advertising for new members. This process should include an open and honest conversation with them as to what is expected of them, without overwhelming them with so much information that they leave shell-shocked.

You can also hold your own recruitment events throughout the year by visiting or being a guest speaker at schools, fraternal organizations, churches, business meetings such as the Chamber of Commerce, etc. You can even hand out flyers outside of local stores, supermarkets and big-box stores (with permission of course).

Incentivizing Members

There are many small things that can be done that, in total, add up to something substantial. Other firematic organizations, such as FASNY, offer members assistance with insurance discounts, school tuition and even a credit union. While these are great ideas, you must also be creative and make sure to adhere to New York State laws restricting fire districts and departments from giving incentives to members. You can work on discounts regarding local gym memberships, discounted meals at local restaurants, insurance discounts from a local insurance agent, cell phone plans and auto repairs.

If your fire company has an annual dues fee, have it waived if the member makes a certain percent-age of calls, cleanups, drills and the like. Do you have official company T-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball caps, water bottles, coffee mugs that can be given out when a member goes above and beyond? In fact, you may want to give some of these things out to new members as a welcoming gift. Just make sure that the others have gotten these as well. Be creative and you’ll probably come up with more ideas that will help. People remember the little things and the little things add up.

Show They’re Appreciated

One fire company I know gives a Special Recognition Award to firefighters who do something to help out another member(s), firematic or otherwise. It’s not big, but it’s nice to receive and has been scientifically proven to increase productivity. Your fire company can host a simple party or barbecue for your active members at your firehouse or take them to a local restaurant after COVID for a sit-down celebration meal or during COVID by doing a Door Dash delivery event.

Every year at our Legislative Conference, I pitch allowing volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel to purchase from State bid vendors at State bid pricing. Of course, there would need to be checks and balances, but it’s an idea worth exploring. Fire companies and departments already benefit from it, why not let the members do the same.

Finally, make the new members feel like they are part of the group. Sure, it will take some time for them to get to a point where they are relaxed and meshing well with the other members. Be aware of the impact of name-calling that arises when new members join. Calling them, “probie, rookie, new guy, grunt,” and the like might be done in good fun, but it will probably not be well perceived by some new members. As departments look toward the long-term payoff, we want to foster inclusion, unity and camaraderie. Your actions can help this happen more easily.

Offer Varied and Non-Firematic Training

There may be other events that your membership would enjoy participating in. Maybe there’s something they would like to do that includes spouses and significant others. Years ago, one of our Chiefs treated the line officers and wives to a comedy night and booked a section for just us. We all had a great time and walked away from the event and left in a positive mood. Obviously, something on this scale will require funds, but not everything we do has to cost a fortune. Perhaps a department bowling night or a family night at an amusement park “on the department,” or by splitting the cost with the member paying a portion and the department picking up the balance. Again, be creative.

Tax Breaks and Incentives

Many discussions about recruitment and retention wind up discussing tax breaks for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. In fact, not only does New York State offer a $200 tax credit per year to these same volunteers, there is a move to increase the amount to $400 per year. While increasing the amount to $400 is minuscule in relation to our overall tax bill, the benefit would represent an acknowledgment of our volunteerism. For those who say it would cost the state too much money, keep in mind that the volunteer fire service saves New York taxpayers over $5 billion a year in salaries and benefits alone. Some localities offer a discount to their volunteers on their property taxes. The downside is that it only works if you are a property holder. There must be other ways besides being a property owner for all volunteers to catch a break.

Benevolent Associations

Those already in the fire service are more than likely aware of benevolent associations and what they offer. While not every department has one, a benevolent association can offer its members quite a bit. Broadly speaking, a benevolent association is funded by receiving the Foreign Insurance 2% monies which could be used to assist its members in numerous ways as long as it includes all of its members in any action it undertakes. Say they decided to purchase jackets for its members, all members would have to get one. There are more things that a benevolent association can do and you should investigate if you think this might be an avenue for your department.

Send Me Your Ideas

I want to hear from you about what you think might work, what your organization does and what has been successful for you. Similarly, what hasn’t worked and do you know why? I wrote this article because I’m always looking for new ideas to try and to share to increase our membership. Please email me and let me know at tbock@elmsfordfd.com. Include your contact information, if you feel comfortable, to keep the conversation going. I guarantee your privacy.

Stay safe.