Empathy
One of the first thing for getting new contributors is empathy. Existing members should be kind enough to answer all kinds of basic questions. The new comer might be new to the overall ecosystem and trying the tool for the first time.
Appreciation
We all like being appreciated. A thank you note, congratulation message helps for making first contribution. It can be small as fixing a spelling mistake in documentation. It boosts the mindset of newcomer and the feeling of I am all alone here goes away. This makes contributor more comfortable.
Feedback
Open Source is more than dumping code on Github repository. Having an open channel with contributors on adding new features, removing unwanted features etc helps.
Background: Motivation for this post came from Stormy’s Tweet .