Length of Service Award Programs

Gary emailed me to ask about LOSAP programs, their funding, disbursement options and their overall effect on volunteering. (His email can be found here: http://www.volunteerfd.org/phorum/read.php?f=20&i=146&t=146 ) Gary’s goal is to "incite members to stay on the force." I will go one further step. Gary’s real goal is not only to keep members on the force, but active within the organization.

Currently his department offers a retirement plan that pays $25/month after 20 years and age 55. The department has decided to try to raise the plan up to $100/month. He goes on to explain that his department does quite a bit of mutual aid, and there is very little funding from outside towns. The question is, can funds be raised from the outside, and if so, how should they be invested?

Let’s start with Gary’s specific questions, and then look at the overall issues of LOSAP plans. As far as asking for money from the towns they respond to, it is possible, but the question is, what is the mutual aid plan? Setting up a program to recoup costs from neighboring towns may work, but you also want to have them there when you need them. That being said, there are many departments that limit their mutual aid response, or have other requirements for their response.

I would start with a bit of data collection. You need to have an idea of the number of calls, men per call, and total man-hours. Then you can break down responses by location. If you see that a majority of your calls are mutual aid, then you may want to speak with your town management and have them work out a plan with your neighboring towns. The stats will also help you to understand if having a LOSAP plan has helped or will help your department.

It is normal for departments to have ups and downs when it comes to responses, but if you average it out over quarters or years, you should be able to determine a trend. Compare past years and quarters based upon number of calls, and average number of men per call. You can further factor in the total number of members, and the percentage of members who are responding to calls on a regular basis. (This week’s poll is actually about the average number of men per call.)

I think when most departments do their research; they will find interesting results and trends. There are very few departments where a LOSAP plan has helped to increase participation. In Gary’s case, their LOSAP program provides for $25/month. Nowadays $25 won’t even get you a good dinner in most places. Maybe McDonalds… Even $100/month may or may not make a difference to most members. Gary’s plan has his member waiting 20 years. What is $100 going to be worth in 20 years, a tank of gas?

The inherent problem with LOSAP plans is that it is hard for members to see the benefit in the short term. The other problem is that it is even harder to get our families to see the benefit in the short term. Family commitments often take precedence over firefighting and we need to balance our fire time with family time. Designing a program that our families understand will help to tip the balance in favor of the fire house.

So we need to design a program that members can readily understand the benefits of. For example, rather then doing $25/month, you might try doing $300/year. It is the same amount of money, but the program looks different. Especially if you time the payment in time to pay for Christmas bills or taxes, you can change the look and feel of the program. If you make a big show of the payments, like at your Christmas party, then the families will see the bonus also.

The goal is to maximize your plan funds. Here is another option: Pool the monies and then enter the members in a drawing for the entire fund. It sounds odd, but it can work. Everyone can get one entry, or you can reward those who give more time and give them multiple entries. Talk to your membership. You may find that your members would be willing to give up their $300/year for a chance at $10k.

Another option if you have limited funds is to do a raffle for a prize. If you someone wins $2k, they will pay bills. Therefore it isn’t as attractive as an all expense paid cruise, or a leas eon a nice car. It is the same amount of money, but the impact is greater. Top it off with big pictures of the Caribbean posted during the middle of winter, and you may see an increase in response. ? (Ten again, you could always send them to “Cruisin for Solutions”… The next date will be announced next week! Keep an eye on http://cruise.volunteerfd.org)

Another option is to take full advantage of state programs. Many states have started to offer LOSAP programs as an incentive for volunteer fire departments. The problem is, the programs are often under funded and in some cases, abused. If your state does not have a specific program it might be worth mentioning to your state representative.

One of the best programs I ever saw was the one suggested at the federal level. The concept was to allow volunteers to apply for low interest rate FHA loans. If you can go home to your family and explain that you are saving interest by volunteering, then you have a powerful argument. It may be possible to do a similar program at the local level. Contact your local lender and ask them if you can set up a system that benefits you both.

LOSAP programs can work, but they need to be funded appropriately and managed appropriately. You can enlist your local bank to manage the program and provide you with investing opportunities. Unless you have a financial wizard in your department, it probably does not make sense to manage it on your own. Managing retirement plans is often where unions come in and too often, where corruption comes in.

However you manage the plan, you need to make sure that the funds will be available and reliable for everyone’s retirement. A mismanaged program can turn into a disincentive easier then an incentive. When requirements are too high, members who are left out of the plan will grow to resent it. Requirements that are too low will defeat the purpose of the program. There is a balance that needs to be maintained and without good tracking you will never be able to determine if the balance is being maintained.

The next column will look at the LOSAP programs submitted to VolunteerFD.org. Each department does it slightly differently and there are things we can learn from each program. Submit your recruitment and retention plan at http://www.volunteerfd.org/profile.php .

Discuss this column at: http://www.volunteerfd.org/phorum/read.php?f=20&i=146&t=146