She had me at "Hey Ann, how's it going?" I was attending an event for the Toronto Fringe in January, a full 6 months after I had volunteered a few shifts for the Toronto Fringe. And the volunteer coordinator, who must have had 400 volunteers that summer, remembered my name 6 months later.

Here is why my Fringe volunteer experience was worth studying.

It's more than the t-shirt

Don't get me wrong. There is some status associated with wearing a volunteer t-shirt at a Fringe event. The loudest audience applause is for the volunteers, people walk up off the street to thank you for volunteering. That is really special. And that happens pretty much anywhere you volunteer.

With the Fringe, the volunteer coordinator made sure we got more than a t-shirt for thanks. We got a volunteer party with games. Which sounds silly but was actually fun. Fringe is also a member of  VAACT which is a consortium of arts and culture groups who have baked together to give awards to super volunteers - those who volunteer for 4 or more organizations in a year.

Creating community

It's hard to create community with a group of volunteers who are only together for a short time one season a year. Wow does the Fringe ever excel in this. As a volunteer, there are 3 times you need to show up outside of your shifts - training, t-shirt pickup, and volunteer party. On the surface that seems like a lot of time (and it is), but part of what it does is connect the volunteers to each other.

Furthermore, each of those times was well planned out to ensure that not only were we well prepared but that we mixed and mingled. In the emails leading up to the volunteer events, our volunteer coordinator reminded us that part of the fun was getting to know new people. She also required us to stay off our phones on shift and suggested we get to know our volunteer colleagues. In an era where people complain of increasing isolation, she created community.

It's human

In our goal to be professional, we charity professionals can be a bit bland. We are so careful to be cheerful and enthusiastic we can bury the parts of us that are quirky and fun. Not so at the Fringe. Every volunteer email was funny. I mean laugh out loud funny.

Not only were the emails funny, even the volunteer candy was fun. All volunteer coordinators have thank you candy and chips for volunteers but the Fringe had a candy wheel you had to spin to determine which candy you got. Even the pop in the cooler had a theme.

There are clear rules and clear expectations

The Fringe has a set of clear, explicit rules. Don't be late, show up, don't use your phone on shift. Even though volunteers are, well, volunteering, the Fringe volunteer coordinator makes it clear there are expectations and that you have to meet them. This means volunteers rise to the challenge when given higher expectations.

There's a space for all Toronto

Fringe volunteers are one of the most diverse groups I have ever met. If you want to volunteer and have a visible, or invisible, disability, the Fringe will find a way to make this work in a way that works for you. The Fringe has the broadest age span of any group I have seen and the most diverse. In other words, Fringe volunteers look a lot more like the diversity of Toronto than other places I have volunteered.

Coming back for more

Thanks to great volunteer coordination, Fringe volunteers keep coming back. And back. And some, like me, have increased our involvement. Because when you are respected, appreciated and offered a good time, who doesn't want to volunteer?

Ann Rosenfield is an enthusiastic Toronto Fringe volunteer and editor of Hilborn Charity eNews. 

To volunteer for the Fringe, click here

To find out how to volunteer for a Fringe festival near you, click here.

To learn more about VACCT: Volunteer Awards for Arts & Culture Toronto, click here.