For our first challenge of the 2024-2025 program year, we collaborated with Black Leaders Detroit (BLD), a nonprofit that provides no-interest loans and grants for Black-led businesses and organizations located in Detroit. Five teams of Fellows created recommendations and tangible work products to support the volunteer recruitment, volunteer engagement, in-person rider recruitment, “ride-your-own-way” recruitment and membership recruitment for the 2025 Ride for Equity, a five-week fundraiser taking place late May to early July. The teams worked with the amazing BLD team – Dwan Dandridge, Sharea Ayers, Tiana London-Harris, Carrie Smith, Jarod Pratt and Larenz Studavent. Learn more about the project from the Fellow perspective!
Volunteer Recruitment team on presentation day (L to R: Jessica Aho, Kaden Yates, Kaleeyse Martinez, Nia Goins, Lynne Abelgas)
Volunteer Recruitment
As the Volunteer Recruitment team, we were tasked with answering the question of “How might we increase the number of volunteers and design volunteer roles that will be useful for the 2025 Ride for Equity?” Working with Black Leaders Detroit (BLD) staff and members has allowed our team to gain knowledge about the inner workings of nonprofit community organizations. For the first few days of working on the project, we interviewed different stakeholders that corresponded to our design focus. Early in this process it was clear that “BLD doesn’t look at the paper, they look at the person,” (Sharea Ayers, COO of BLD). Throughout our interviewing process we became very familiar with the love that is felt by both BLD members and volunteers and quickly found that the commitment, loyalty, and devotion shown through BLD’s volunteer base is remarkable. We are more than grateful to have been a part of an astounding project that is the 2025 Ride for Equity (R4E).
During our stakeholder interviews we were able to meet and discuss with people affiliated with Black Leaders Detroit, ranging from R4E Riders, official members, and returning volunteers. Some notable quotes from these individuals include:
“Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it” -Shamenia Stewart-Adams
“It’s a part of history… Don’t you want to be a part of history?” – Rev. Cheryl Clark
“[It’s] so rewarding to [come] to the table with people who have different values… different perspectives, different walks of life” – Steve Cato
Our focus was to streamline and simplify the volunteer process for BLD so they could maximize the number of volunteers recruited for the 2025 Ride for Equity. We started from organizing a list of organizations along the route to contact, and then created tools for mass communication to these groups. We then created an informational presentation and run-of-show for BLD to give to prospective volunteers. We then fully fleshed out the volunteer sign-up form, including a quiz for prospective volunteers to find the right volunteer role for them. We outlined 16 volunteer roles and created a graphic pdf describing each role. Finally, we created posters and swag that can be used to attract volunteers.
Recruiting volunteers is a vital part of the ride and our materials will help make the recruitment process simple and effective.
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