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Blog - The Trouble With Temporary

November 30, 2009

It’s no secret that the trend in volunteerism is shifting toward episodic volunteerism. People are far more willing these days to give a few hours on a weekend or an evening and seemingly unwilling to make a regular commitment for a longer term. This trend is great for some organizations and not so great for others. There are many implications of this trend but I’m just going to pick on one.

Allow me to get on a soap box for a minute. I’m not, for a minute, convinced that “I don’t have enough time” is a reasonable excuse for not volunteering on a regular basis. I have 24 hours in my day just like everyone else. The issue is how I choose to invest those 24 hours. I see volunteerism as a priority. I don’t see “Dancing With the Stars” as a priority. Ok ok WHOA!! Stop throwing your remotes at me! All I’m saying is that it’s a question of priorities. I get that Thursday nights are great for TV. But I digress.

One of the things I’ve heard is that this is a great opportunity for people to get a taste of volunteerism. Come in. Try it on. If you like it, have some more! This has its advantages. But there are some serious concerns that go along with this.

Think about the role that many episodic volunteers take on. Most of those roles are doing fundraising, right? Is this the message we want to put out there? So many fantastic volunteer opportunities are geared toward providing direct service as opposed to raising money. Is “fundraising” the best way to profile some of these amazing other roles. I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong, some people love the fundraising thing. (Now the fundraisers are throwing their remotes at me.) It’s not necessarily my cup of tea.

We also need to be thinking about how well we’re engaging these volunteers. Are they sitting at a table in a quiet mall on a Tuesday night trying to sell raffle tickets? Are they handing out water to runners at a water station with 8 other people and maybe… just maybe… this runner will grab my cup? Are we letting them be bored? Will they come back if they were bored? Maybe.

And what about how well they were recognized? Did they feel appreciated? Or did they get a certificate and a letter that said ‘see you next year’? Maybe they got a t-shirt. But is that what they wanted?

And maybe more importantly, what are the organizations who have long-term opportunities doing to support the ones that have these short-term ones? Is there an obligation to support them? Should we be looking at partnerships? Are we all in this together?

Volunteerism looks different than it did 5 years ago. Or even 3 years ago. What are we doing to make sure it changes for the better?

Posted by: Scott | In: IVC

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