July 25, 2008
Selling Volunteerism to Young People
Advocates of increased civic involvement by young people would do well to expand the definition of the word “volunteer,” writes Janis Foster of Grassroots Grantmakers, in a posting on her
Big Thinking on Small Grants blog.
Ms. Foster, writing in response to a post by Robert Thalhimer on the blog PhilanthroMedia, comments that “the word ‘volunteer’ has become somewhat of a trigger for me.”
Volunteering, she says, has come to be laden with feelings of guilt (“that I’m not volunteering enough or I’m not willing to volunteer whenever I’m asked or that I have not enjoyed some volunteering that I have done) and has become synonymous with the concept of work without pay.
“To men, volunteering also suggests a selfless quality; when you are volunteering, you are working without pay and without personal benefit or gain except the good feeling that comes with doing good,” she writes. “You are selflessly working for someone else — to advance some one’s agenda or to help someone else in need.”
But volunteering for the betterment of one’s own neighborhood, Ms. Foster writes, should more accurately be described as “citizenship.” “ I was involved because it was my responsibility to be involved and because there were consequences if I didn’t fulfill these responsibilities,” she writes. “I was not being selfless; I was working from self-interest.”
An “expanded vocabulary” to describe such involvement, she writes, might be useful to people :who want to engage young people in civic engagement — making it easier for us to let young people know that it’s okay for self-interest to enter the picture. That working from self-interest may be where they find the passion that propels them forward.”
Does the nonprofit world need to do a better job of talking about volunteerism, and connect it more closely to citizenship and self-interest? Click on the “comments” link below to offer your thoughts.
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“Volunteer” does not necessarily mean – “No Pay”, that fundamental fact is being ignored by huge segments of the non-profit sector, who ought to know better. “To Volunteer” means to take on a task that you are not required to do, and in many cases you will not be paid, (e.g. PTA board member, helping at a soup kitchen, being a an adult scout leader, etc. that lists goes on and on.
There are other times however, especially in the workplace, where one “volunteers” to take on a particular task, which the organization believes important, but it is not a direct responsibility of your job. This is also volunteering, and one huge example of this that does help the non-profit sector, are the men and women who volunteer to run the workplace giving campaigns in their respective organizations,whether for-profit or public. Each year in the Combined Federal Campaign has more than 250,000 volunteers across the country helping to raise $277 million for local, national and international charities.
Other examples of “paid volunteerism” include organizations that allow, and actually encourage their employees to go to local public schools for several hours a month to help there. They are not paid extra, but they are allowed the time away from their normal job duties. They are encouraged to do this for their personal and professional development.
The non-profit sector spends way too much time dickering about terminology issues – e.g. does “non-profit have a hyphen in it or not?” To be a “Pure Volunteer” they can’t be Paid) (Can they be reimbursed for gas expenses? Or is that being “paid’?
With 1.4 million non-profits, there is no one right answer as to whether or not that non-profit needs volunteers, but the idea that “volunteer is synomous for “no pay” is wrong.
Regards.
Bill Huddleston, CFC Expert
www.cfcfundraising.com
— Bill Huddleston Jul 25, 03:39 PM #
I was a young person when I first became a volunteer almost 35 years ago. Now I’m on the other end, recruiting people to volunteer. It’s the journey that changed my role, and grew my passion. My goal is to help others take that journey.
Volunteerism is a three-way benefit. It helps the client who is served. It enriches the life and experiences of the volunteer. And it expands the network of leaders and donors who support the mission of the non profit.
I focus on volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs, and each fall am encouraging people to become involved in tutoring/mentoring programs throughout the Chicago region.
While I share information that teaches non profits to recruit and retain volunteers, my vision is to change the way businesses, churches, hospitals, media, build awareness of volunteer, service and citizen opportunities on an on-going basis, so more people will “shop” the many web sites that show where and how and why they should get involved. I use my blog as a example and a connecting point in this process.
Dan Bassill
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
— Dan Bassill Jul 27, 01:16 PM #