Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment & Retention Success Stories

and honest assessment of internal culture, communication and strategic directives that impact the goal of attracting new members. 

What methods have proven successful in recruiting new volunteers? 

We do it all—street signage, regular promotion of our work in print and online press, open houses, recruitment tables at town events and an annual fundraiser with Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day. In addition, we relaunched our Fire & EMS Cadet Program.

We also have begun to leverage the role of volunteerism as an enhancement to balancing lifestyle and career. There are very few other volunteer opportunities that offer the diverse skills training, unique leadership experiences, flexible hours and networking opportunities that are both transferable and valuable in any work environment that the fire and emergency medical services offer.

We found that it’s critical to continually assess what new recruits see when they walk in the door. We have embarked on a strategic planning process that will inform the work of the department for years to come. We also address issues that become apparent as a found opportunity. If this strategic directive—“We listen to our members and react accordingly”—is built into the fabric of the department, it becomes a tool for how we promote the department and treat fellow members. The most successful recruitment “tools” are happy, busy and proud members who feel appreciated and heard.

How does your department support the retention of volunteers? 

We found that our department’s dual fire/EMS service, where we encourage cross-training and communication between crews, enhances the member experience. The decrease in fire calls and increase in EMS calls created additional and more varied response opportunities for action-oriented firefighters.

We encourage our members to participate in town events. The opportunity to hear enthusiastic shouts of “Thank you for your service” as members march in a parade or to share their personal experiences while hosting a table at community events further solidifies why that member joined and why he/she stayed.

Families also are connected to the department through post-parade barbecues, an annual department awards banquet, summer picnics and “FriendsGiving” events during the holidays.

Kiowa, CO, Fire Protection District

Interview with Dustin Courter

Kiowa, CO, Fire Protection District is a combination department that has 25 active volunteers. 

What challenges has your department experienced in terms of recruiting new members? 

Currently, only three of our volunteers live in our district. The general public is under the impression that we’re a full-time paid department. Our biggest challenges include drive time, other volunteer fire department options and surrounding career departments hiring a lot of people.

What methods have proven successful in recruiting new volunteers? 

Social media (Facebook, YouTube and Instagram); college career days that are specific to EMT, paramedic, fire science, etc.; networking; high schools; news channels; area newspapers and websites; career development programs (we embrace that our fire department is a steppingstone); special events; cross promotion with local business.

How does your department support the retention of volunteers? 

The chief gives fuel cards and general gift cards when he can. Both fire chiefs sincerely appreciate the people who volunteer, and it shows; it’s not about the gift cards but rather taking care of your people. We offer in-house training programs as we help get people state-certified.

What tips or advice do you have for other departments? 

After having the responsibility of recruiting for two different fire departments, I have found that culture and good morale are imperative. Culture can be changed more quickly than you think. Morale is easy, but there can’t be toxic people on the department. Those people should be heard and helped or let go, if needed.

Put someone in the position to handle recruiting, someone who is passionate about your department and what you’re doing and who can be trusted with your social media accounts and talking to local media.

Think outside of the box with recruiting. A lot of our firefighters are looking to go career; we support them in their efforts but ask them to wear our fire department’s T-shirt when they go test (you’d be surprised how well this works). You can’t just do one thing. It takes visiting colleges, social media, websites and much more.

Continually share what you’re doing and how amazing your volunteers are. For instance, it doesn’t take a lot of time to pull your phone out and take a 30-second video of a training car fire that you then can post on social media. Let your people talk; this is good for morale and great for recruitment.

Just over a year ago, we had about eight people total on our fire department, and now we have 25 volunteers in addition to three full-time staff. It took trimming the toxic people, having fun and sharing what we do. Value your people, and it all will fall into place.

What challenges has your department experienced in terms of recruiting new members? 

Recruiting longer-term community members has been our biggest challenge. We have a lot of university/college students who are such a value to our agency but often leave the community after finishing their degree. If we recruit them when they are freshmen or sophomores, we get several years out of them before they graduate and leave the community.

What methods have proven successful in recruiting new volunteers? 

Training opportunities provided at a level to obtain career employment in the fire service; social media; student involvement fairs at local colleges; community outreach events, such as safety fairs and National Night Out; CPR and Stop the Bleed classes; affordable EMT class; city of Moscow website; and word of mouth. The local pre-med program sends a lot of volunteers our way—at least 10–15 of our active EMS volunteers are pre-med or biology students.

How does your department support the retention of volunteers? 

There has been more emphasis on peer support and mental health resources. We have a dedicated psychologist who we can connect volunteers with immediately if needed. We also provide training on PTSD, resiliency, CISM, QPR and mental health first aid.

We keep current members engaged by sponsoring out-of-area training opportunities and bringing training opportunities to Moscow. We set clear expectations early on and hold volunteers accountable for meeting training and call-volume requirements. We also provide resident housing and scholarship opportunities for student volunteer firefighters and have team-building and social gatherings, including laser tag and Escape Room.

What tips or advice do you have for other departments? 

Value volunteers’ time and make them feel appreciated. Ask for open and honest feedback and collect an exit survey from volunteers who leave. Politely and tactfully invite volunteers to resign if they can’t meet basic training and call-participation requirements. We have seen an increase in retention for our ambulance company by onboarding recruits in groups two or three times per year.

Brighton Fire Department, Rochester, NY

Interview with Vincent Nolan

The Brighton Fire Department in Rochester, NY, is a combination department that has 70 active volunteers. 

What challenges has your department experienced in terms of recruiting new members? 

We face the mix of challenges that are common among our peers, such as competing interests for free time and the increase in training requirements, specializations and call volumes. Other challenges include that we are based in high-cost-of-living areas compared to many of our neighboring communities, and that neighboring fire departments hire our volunteers for career positions.

What methods have proven successful in recruiting new volunteers? 

Having a plan and a consistent team to execute the plan over time and making thoughtful adjustments to the plan that are based on our experiences and changes. I also believe that people don’t join the fire department based on a Facebook post or a billboard; they join because of a personal connection. Remember that the money you spend on advertising is to get more people to make a personal connection with your organization—you need a good team of recruitment people to quickly and personally make that connection with those who express interest.

How does your department support the retention of volunteers? 

We created a “cafeteria plan” of participation models (on-duty POV response from home; on-duty flycar response from home; on-duty at the firehouse; bunker program for college students; off-duty POV response from home). We engaged with an executive coach from the business community (without fire service experience) to mentor our officers, to create and facilitate an advisory team to collect input on big issues and decisions from across the membership and to bring the key leadership team members together on “organizational culture improvement.” We also are creating more flexibility in membership requirements rather than the rigid structure of the past.

What tips or advice do you have for other departments? 

We often say that we aren’t in the fire business; we are in the people business—internally and externally. Focus on the people in your organization and the people in your community. Challenge your current practices. Learn from what isn’t going well. Find opportunities to try something innovative or even just new to you, and don’t be afraid of it not working well. You will “what-if” or “underfund” your recruitment/retention programs to death if you don’t have a plan and take some risks within it. You have many others to learn from, and a ton of resources already developed. Get to it!

What challenges has your department experienced in terms of recruiting new members? 

Florence is a retirement community that has a median age of 61 years old. Places to live within the means of service workers is at a premium. Increased training requirements have made meeting the requirements a challenge for some.

What methods have proven successful in recruiting new volunteers? 

Paid Facebook job postings have proven an effective way to bring new recruits in our door. Also, by utilizing our department’s Facebook page and regularly providing useful information, we not only are providing beneficial fire prevention ideas but allowing people to see what we do. Subscribers to our Facebook page doubled over the past year. Recruiting at the gym also has been a good resource. Additionally, spicing up our Reader Board with interesting recruitment ads delivers a bit of humor to their lives. We try to be part of the community.

How does your department support the retention of volunteers? 

Probably the biggest incentive is the EMR- and EMT-certified classes that we’ve had at the department. Monetary stipends for training, incidents and community events are paid to volunteers. Cellphone stipends are provided for all who use the apps that our department subscribes to relating to responding. Our awards banquet is very popular, and barbecues and annual picnics help.

What tips or advice do you have for other departments? 

Stress to your members that the best way to bring others in is for each member to promote and recruit. More families are strapped financially with little spare time available. Make training available to those who can’t meet obligated and set training times. We added an additional monthly Saturday morning training for those who miss out on regular Tuesday drills. Also, ensure training is fun and consistent.