Author Archives: jcravens

About jcravens

Jayne Cravens is an internationally-recognized trainer, researcher and consultant. Her work is focused on communications, volunteer involvement, community engagement, and management for nonprofits, NGOs, and government initiatives. She is a pioneer regarding the research, promotion and practice of virtual volunteering, including virtual teams, microvolunteering and crowdsourcing, and she is a veteran manager of various local and international initiatives. Jayne became active online in 1993, and she created one of the first web sites focused on helping to build the capacity of nonprofits to use the Internet. She has been interviewed for and quoted in articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, as well as for reports by CNN, Deutsche Well, the BBC, and various local radio stations, TV stations and blogs. Resources from her web site, coyotecommunications.com, are frequently cited in reports and articles by a variety of organizations, online and in-print. Women's empowerment and women's full access to employment and education options remains a cross-cutting theme in all of her work. Jayne received her BA in Journalism from Western Kentucky University and her Master's degree in Development Management from Open University in the U.K. A native of Kentucky, she has worked for the United Nations, lived in Germany and Afghanistan, and visited more than 30 countries, many of them by motorcycle. She is currently based near Portland, Oregon in the USA.

Finally – a FUN, worthwhile volunteering experience!

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My name tag from my day of volunteering.

One of the things that differentiates me from other consultants and trainers regarding volunteer engagement is that I don’t just read and research and present: I also manage volunteers and I regularly volunteer myself. So much of my training advice, web pages and blogs have come from these first-hand volunteering experiences.

Every volunteer has a different “want” out of a volunteering gig, to make it worthwhile for them. For me, as a volunteer, it’s that:

  • I’m on-boarded quickly.
  • My time when I’m in training or actually volunteering is respected / isn’t wasted.
  • I feel like I’m actually doing something worthwhile as a volunteer for those served by the organization or the “cause” (I don’t do the work and wonder why it matters).
  • I feel supported in the volunteer role, I’ve been giving the prep I need for the role (I don’t feel like I’m foundering/set up for failure).
  • I feel like everyone wants everyone else to succeed, people don’t try to play “gotcha” with each other, there are not any ugly hidden agendas going on, there’s no delight in someone making a mistake, etc.

If I get even more out of it – if I have fun, if I get skills I can use in my job, etc. – that’s great too, but those four points are what are essential for me. And rarely do I undertake a volunteering gig that hits all those four points.

Helping at a blood drive in August hit all four of those points.

I’ve been promoting Red Cross volunteering for people who want to get started volunteering for many years – but I decided it was overdue for me to give it a try myself. So I went to the web site, read up on opportunities, and signed up for a few roles I thought I had time for and that looked interesting to me. None of the online volunteering I was interested in is available right now (they have enough volunteers for those tasks), but they really need people to help at blood drive events, and my commitment would be just one shift a month, so I signed up.

Filling out the initial application took a while – the Red Cross requires a lot of information in the volunteer application. But I think that’s a good thing: it screens out people who can’t make a commitment to reading information, filling out a form correctly, etc. – something any volunteer with the Red Cross will need to do in any assignment.

Then I did a phone interview with a volunteer that’s in charge of screening, then watched a video on YouTube, and then went through a live online training with a veteran “blood donor ambassador” – the name for volunteers who help sign in people at blood drives, make sure they get snacks and a rest afterward, etc. And all of that time is logged on my account already as volunteering time – I didn’t have to do anything.

We are a one-car family, and that means, most of the time, I do not have access to a car. I was able to sign up to help at a blood drive a short, direct bus ride from my home, in a nearby town. I had signed up for my first gig within minutes of my interview, and it was just two weeks away from that date.

I showed up at the event, 30 minutes early (as the video explained), and it turned out that I was the only volunteer ambassador there – meaning I was checking everyone in. I was very nervous since I thought I would get to “shadow” someone. Instead, it was all me – the site manager showed me how to check donors in, and the first donors, all veteran blood donors, also helped me (I think they loved being the experts to guide the newbie). And for the rest of the day, that’s what I did: donors showed their ID, I scanned it with a scanner, I checked off their name, I gave them a nametag, they had a seat and then got called up for the donation.

It was easy, it was interesting (nice to chat with people, interesting to watch how they go through the different stations of donating), and there was about 30 minutes when no one was scheduled and I was able to eat the lunch I brought.

If you are squeamish, don’t worry – you don’t ever have to see any blood, since you are facing away from the donor tables. And if anyone were to throw up, it’s NOT your job to clean it up (no one threw up, BTW, but we did have one guy faint).

If another volunteer had shown up, one of us would have been at the registration table and one of us would have been at the snack table, chatting with people who had just given blood, to make sure they were okay and ready to leave after 10 minutes or so. Had it been a larger event, there would have been two people registering and two people at the snack table.

If you are looking for an easy, interesting volunteering gig, I highly recommend you sign up to be a blood donor ambassador. You get to pick which event(s) you help at. It gives you insight into how the Red Cross works (the Red Cross does a lot more than blood drives). And you can sign up for as many blood drives as you want – if there is one every day in your area (which there is in the Portland, Oregon area), you could easily get 25 hours, maybe even more, of volunteering in a week, if you can volunteer on weekdays (more if you can do weekends too). I highly recommend this for people that are required to do community service – you may have three weeks from the time of sign up until you start, but you can get hours in quickly if you have time during the day.

In addition to Blood Donor Ambassadors, the American Red Cross needs:

  • Blood Transportation Specialists
  • Disaster Action Team members
  • Shelter Services staff members (being a blood donor ambassador is a good way to see what the intake process is like for emergency shelters)
  • Disaster Health Services Team (if you are a licensed healthcare provider)
  • Administrative help

If you dream of being deployed to disaster zones elsewhere, you first have to have deep experience as a part of your own local Red Cross in your own area (disaster action teams, shelter staff teams especially).

And if you are with an initiative that’s struggling to attract volunteers – what is the Red Cross doing that YOU should be doing regarding volunteer management? Note that I didn’t deal with any paid staff as I went through the onboarding process – my screeners and trainers were volunteers themselves!

Also see:

UPDATE:

A few months ago, I decided to test my own advice that I have posted on the subreddit regarding volunteering many times, that if you volunteer locally with the American Red Cross, you might get asked to deploy to a disaster somewhere else in the USA.

Welp – that’s exactly what’s just happened: I just got an email sent to all volunteers:

As Hurricane Ian hit Florida with dangerous winds, rain and storm surges, Cascades Region is in alert and standby modes in preparation of volunteer deployments. As we monitor the situation we look to current Red Crossers to train in both deployable and local volunteer roles to continue supporting the mission and our impacted communities.

And there’s a link to something called the Deployment Interest Form, and more info about information events (2 virtual, 3 in-person) to share deployment processes and training.

Folks, it really, really does work: volunteer LOCALLY with your American Red Cross chapter, in any capacity, and you will get info on trainings for disaster response, and if you complete that training, you may get invited to deploy to a disaster zone to help.

And in the USA, you start by filling out this form.

https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html

The crisis in Florida and the East Coast caused by this latest hurricane will go on for MONTHS. You could be a part of the response! Fill out the form, get the training you need – ASAP.

Do your volunteers feel psychologically safe?

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Google researchers, the People Analytics team, studied the qualifies of effective teams at Google. Code-named Project Aristotle – a tribute to Aristotle’s quote, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (as the Google researchers believed employees can do more working together than alone) – the goal was to answer the question: What makes a team effective at Google?

Research from Google’s Project Aristotle found that the most important dynamic of a successful team is members feeling psychologically safe. This occurs in environments where no one else will embarrass or punish others for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.

Reading this was like a punch in the gut for me. For any job that hasn’t worked out, that I couldn’t wait to leave, this was always the primary problem I faced with supervisors.

I hope that all managers of people that see this do a deep, honest examination of the culture of their own departments and companies with regard to this kind of fear-based way of working. But I hope managers of volunteers look at the culture around volunteer service as well. And I hope you won’t get defensive if the evidence you gather points to toxicity in your program or your entire organization.

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If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Something missing on your web site?

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I go onto Quora regularly to answer questions about volunteer engagement, nonprofit management and anything else I think I might be able to help with. It’s part of my own personal campaign to address misinformation and create better understanding about mission-based orgnaizations.

I saw this question and I think it speaks volumes:

In other words, why do most nonprofit web sites want your money but now your time as a volunteer?

Think about the message that sends to the community and to your current volunteers!

On that note, two resources worth visiting if you never have – and revisiting if you haven’t in a while:

The Information About & For Volunteers You Should Have on Your Web Site. 

Don’t Just Ask for Money!

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Nonprofits: legislation & politics are affecting your staff & clients.

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An image to depict social cohesion and team work and interconnectedness: images of four human like figures, each a different color, holding hands and leaning back - if one breaks hands, it will mean that, eventually, all will fall backwards.

Nonprofits, community groups and other mission-based programs in the USA need to be aware that legislation and politics are affecting your staff (employees and volunteers) and your clients/customers. Such is affecting their families and their day-to-day life, their health care, the life-altering choices they can make, their participation in society, and on and on. And that means it’s also going to affect staff job performance with you and potentially affect the impact you can have with clients/customers.

Regardless of your own personal politics and regardless of your organization’s mission, you need to be aware of how legislation and politics are affecting your staff and to think about how you are, or are not, going to support staff as this is happening.

You have employee, volunteers and clients who may become pregnant and need to seek abortion services. Or maybe denied access to abortion services despite an ectopic pregnancy, an incomplete miscarriage, placental problems and premature rupture of membranes. How are you going to support them as they undergo these experiences?

You have employees, volunteers and clients who have same-sex marriages, something the US Supreme Court may overturn. If that happens, and their marriages are declared invalid, will you continue to give spousal benefits for staff, such as maternity leave or health care coverage? If that happens but those marriages remain valid, but no more can happen, will you give spousal benefits, such as maternity leave or health care coverage, to those staff members now forbidden by law from marrying? Will you still send track the names of those partners in your database if you do so already?

For an election, some states are putting just one ballot drop box to serve an entire county, or prohibiting most people from applying for absentee ballots. Are you going to give your employees and volunteers paid time off to vote on election day? Are you going to make sure staff and clients know about non-partisan voter education programs, like guides from the League of Women Voters, and debates?

Some staff have family members who are not legally in the country and are living in day-to-day danger of being deported, and if such happens, it could not only mean the separation of a loved one, but sudden changes regarding income, in options regarding child care, and more. What will you do to support such staff?

Consequences of not thinking about this or addressing it:

  • You will lose employees and volunteers.
  • The productivity and performance of employees and volunteers could be affected, which affects your service delivery.
  • Inaction may go against your stated organizational values.

Note I’m not asking you to take a political stance. The IRS wording on the Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by nonprofits is clear: 

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.  Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.

Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances.  For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.

On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.

But if you think politics isn’t personal and can’t affect a nonprofit, whether it’s a performing arts center or a literacy program or an animal rescue group, think again.

And you should consider mentioning to funders how these state and federal actions are affecting your staff, your clients and your work in general. They should know.

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

What marketable IT skills should be taught mobile-only users?

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Someone online asked the following – they were asking about people in a particular developing country:

If you had to teach an IT skill (IT used in the very broad sense and including social media management, online chat support, microblogging) to a group of people whose only exposure to tech is their cellphones and social media platforms, in 16 half-day sessions, what would you pick? These should be skills that are in demand by employers and can give them a foot-in to work on platforms like Fiverr and Udemy.

I found the question interesting because, when it comes to online volunteering, finding roles where you use ONLY a smartphone are few and far between. Similary, I’ve never seen a paid job where all you need is a smart phone (but LOTS of scams implying there are such).

My answer was very different than everyone else’s. Here are the suggestions I made:

I would make sure they understood:

  • the basics of cutting and pasting, editing,
  • spell check with the free version of Grammarly, when something is online/in the cloud and when something is downloaded,
  • when something SHOULD be in the cloud versus when something is downloaded,
  • using a VPN,
  • keeping information safe online,
  • knowing what of your information should be private and what’s okay to be public,
  • how to protect privacy online and stay safe online and detect scams,
  • the basics of netiquette and
  • how to build trust online.

I would do a workshop on what an effective online video interactive meeting looks like versus an online panel or online presentation. I would show how YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook video work – how to post, how to “like” a video, how to set privacy settings for videos, how to moderate comments, and if possible on a phone (I’m not sure if it is), how to edit such. I would emphasize that online tools are fluid – what we use now might not be what we use in 10 years, and that’s okay, because what we learn and how we work now will just transfer over to whatever comes along.

What’s interesting is that the person didn’t really seem to like the answer. She found them too “basic.” My rebuttal, which I didn’t post on her original question, but will here:

The aforementioned skills are what I look for when hiring someone, and I find them severely lacking among both applicants and co-workers – especially co-workers under 35. Whether the role is social media management, web site design, database management or online counseling, all of the aforementioned skills are fundamental to an employee, consultant or volunteer’s success in that role – and when any of these skills are lacking, the work suffers and it reflects poorly not only on the person but the entire organization.

Basic or not, these are the essential skills 21st-century workers need to master, no matter where they are in the world. And way too many of them are falling short. When an applicant has these skills, they get hired and they FLOURISH, no matter what tech changes come along.

And for those in the USA: Happy Labor Day!

Also see:

Virtual Volunteering & Employability

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

When nonprofits don’t like your pro bono expertise

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It can be just one person volunteering their expertise or a group of people from the business world gathering together to leverage their expertise for a nonprofit. They may build apps or create communications plans or build web sites for nonprofits. And this type of pro bono consulting can be a terrific thing: the nonprofit gets something it needs, and the expert volunteers, usually from the corporate sector, may get a team-building and/or networking event that also checks a corporate social responsibility (CSR) box.

But it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes, at the end of that hackathon, the nonprofit doesn’t get the app it needs. Sometimes, at the end of that build-a-thon, the nonprofit doesn’t get the revamped web site it was counting on to replace its current, out-dated site, or gets a site that does not at all meet its requirements.

Sometimes, it’s not a huge deal that the pro bono consulting doesn’t work out. I once helped with a brainstorming session for a nonprodit that the branch of a very well-known consulting firm wanted to do. The employees were excited that they could offer free consulting regarding how to better market the nonprofit’s programs. Imagine my disappointment when I realized the consultants hadn’t read any of the material they had been sent beforehand, and therefore they had a complete misunderstanding of our programs. I spent the majority of the brainstorming session explaining the programs of the nonprofit, and we were left empty-handed regarding any strategies or new insights. But all I lost was, altogether, a full-day of work, in terms of setup and the actual meeting; I have to admit I wasn’t really expecting much from this “partnership.” The nonprofit did get a photo of the employees altogether in a room, looking interested as a nonprofit staff person spoke, and we both got to use that photo in a variety of marketing material.

But I’ve been involved in organizing volunteering events where volunteers from the business sector are supposed to, at the end of the day, have created something tangible that the participating nonprofits need, and the nonprofit’s disappointment is not just a minor inconvenience: that nonprofit participated specifically to get that graphic or app or marketing strategy or web site, and now they are left in the lurch. They were counting on this volunteer endeavor to result in something they could use. And when the nonprofit staff realize that despite all of their own work – and that would be extra work, on top of their day-to-day responsibilities – they are leaving empty-handed, their frustration can turn into anger and bad public relations.

How does it happen?

  • The corporate volunteers didn’t take the commitment seriously, didn’t budget time for their participation, etc.
  • The corporate volunteers didn’t learn about the nonprofit beforehand, didn’t treat the nonprofit the way they would a paying client, didn’t listen to the nonprofit staff, etc.
  • The corporate volunteers just wanted to say, “We volunteered an entire Saturday helping so-and-so. Here’s some photos of us volunteering.”

If you are organizing a hackathon or other event meant to result in a tangible product for a nonprofit, please remember to temper expectations:

  • Emphasize to volunteers that the nonprofits are their clients. The volunteers need to treat the nonprofits the way they would paying clients: their needs are real, and if their needs aren’t met, if they aren’t listened to, they have every right to complain.
  • Be honest about what the nonprofit really is going to have at the end of this hackathon, build-a-thon or other volunteering project. Don’t hype expectations.
  • Be clear about what nonprofits can expect from volunteers in terms of support after the event. And it’s worth noting that, in my experience, no matter how much volunteers say they will continue to support the nonprofit with the hackathon or build-a-thon is over, when the event ends, the volunteers scatter and the nonprofit is on its own with the resulting app, graphics, marketing plan, web site, whatever.
  • Be honest about the possibility that not every nonprofit walks away with something they can use. If you have been doing this program for a while, say what percentage that might be: “Of the 20 participating nonprofits, we find that at least 2, unfortunately, don’t end up with a usable web site.” You might want to emphasize the experimental nature of what is happening, that this is a change for two groups from different sectors to get to know each other and have fun, and that the resulting product is a somewhat secondary goal (although, please remember that nonprofit staff are underpaid and overworked – they may not be looking for a feel-good event right now).
  • Consider scheduling a low-profile makeup session that will take place two or three weeks after the main event, where select, veteran volunteers will gather and ensure the “left out” nonprofits DO get the finished product they signed up for. Have the date for this after-main-event makeup function on the calendar and book committed volunteers to participate at the same time you are putting together your main event, so that you can say with confidence to disappointed nonprofits: “We have a makeup event scheduled for such-and-such date and we already have volunteers lined up and we will get your needs taken care of.” In fact, you may want to pay the people who are going to do the makeup work – even just a stipend – to better guarantee they show up and get the job done.
  • Let nonprofits grade their experience participating in the event and their experience with the volunteers specifically; volunteers with low grades don’t get to participate in the future, or have to go through some sort of training that will help them not let nonprofits down in the future.
  • Consider paying nonprofits for their participation. A stipend of $500 to a nonprofit can offset any hard feelings for, at the end of the day, not having that app, graphic, marketing strategy or web site that they were supposed to get per their participation.

Does it all seem like too much? Are you thinking, “Hey, nonprofits should be glad they are getting free expertise, no matter how it works out for them!”? Then, please, don’t do these events for nonprofits, because all you are doing is creating unrealistic expectations and a lot of disappointment. The work of nonprofits is serious and their staff members are grossly underpaid – if they are paid at all. They don’t have time for unfunded experiments and feel-good corporate team-building social events. Show them the respect they deserve!

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

NOTE: I’m taking August off from weekly blogging. See you in September!

The key to success in using online tools in nonprofit work is…

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The reality is that nonprofits that did well pivoting to online meetings, online service delivery and virtual volunteering during the pandemic, and that continue to successfully leverage online tools, are those that already had excellent relationships with employees, volunteers and clients before the pandemic. They are those that already were well-managed and had excellent communication among teams and partners and the public, and that came from trust and a commitment to their staff and supporters, not from being techies. Their success was about the trust they had cultivated, not the technology they used.

No, I haven’t done academic research on this and I have only my own experiences and anectodal observations to back this up. But I have seen and experienced enough to know it’s true. You do too.

And these same successful organizations, most of them quite small, won’t stop using online meetings, online service delivery and virtual volunteering, even as they re-introduce onsite meetings back into their work. Because they know what works and they want to do the best they can to support staff and clients.

If your organization isn’t doing well adopting a new tech tool or using what it has or leveraging social media, the problem may not be your understanding of tech – it may be your lack of understanding of your own organization and its people.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

For more advice on virtual volunteering, including how to cultivate trust among volunteers, employees and clients in such relationships, have a look at The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. It’s the most ultimate guide to digital engagement and it’s available both as a traditional print publication and as a digital book. And if you buy it directly from me, the last two boxes in my closet will soon go away! And your copy will be signed with best wishes from me! I also get a bit more money than if you buy it from Amazon (and it’s slightly cheaper to buy from me as well). Note that if you buy two or more books, you get an additional book for free!

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

How are you supporting the mental health needs of your volunteers?

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

People in the USA are struggling with the basic decisions required to navigate daily life as the effects of pandemic-related stress continue to take a toll, especially on younger adults and parents, according to a national survey from the American Psychological Association. The global pandemic, rising prices, the housing crisis, climate change, violent political rhetoric targeting specific groups and people and world events are all adding to the stress and anxiety people are feeling, and that’s in addition to the stress they may experience through social interactions, family interactions, their professional work and, yes, volunteering.

No volunteering is stress-free. Cleaning up a beach means seeing all sorts of plastics and it can mean that volunteers begin to realize that merely cleaning up beaches occasionally won’t ever be enough to get rid of the garbage that is harming our environment. Serving on a board can mean feeling like if you fail in fundraising and/or in appropriate oversight, the nonprofit will cease to exist. Volunteering in a high-stress environment – helping women who have experienced domestic violence, working in an animal shelter, working with people experiencing homelessness – all come with intense mental pressures. As one nonprofit put it on the TechSoup community:

My nonprofit provides free home repairs. Many of the homeowners we serve are living in tragic conditions – without heat, hot water, full bathrooms or kitchens. It’s a lot to process and my team has been asking for upgraded mental health support. 

Your nonprofit needs to think about the mental health needs of your volunteers (and your employees, for that matter).

Some suggestions:

  • Remind volunteers regularly that it is okay to take a break – AND MEAN IT. If a volunteer says, “I need to take a break from volunteering for four months,” your reply should be, “Thank you so much for telling us. What date do you want your leave to start?” And then you work with the volunteer so that you have all the information you need from them so that you don’t have to bother them during leave. Remind volunteers that taking a break can better ensure they are able to succeed at volunteering and that it further helps them have a balanced, healthy life and, therefore, be even better volunteers. Remind them that working for prolonged periods without a break is bad not only for a person’s psychological and physical health but also for their volunteering: the more tired and burnt out a volunteer feels, the less effective and productive that volunteer will be.
  • Consider mandatory leave for volunteers – that they MUST take a month off once a year, for instance, especially if they work directly with clients. While I was not a volunteer, when I worked in Afghanistan for the UN back in 2007, they required me to take at least a week’s leave every nine weeks. When I found this out during my first week, I thought it was ridiculous; in my ninth week, I couldn’t sleep in anticipation of getting out of the country and back to my family for a much-needed vacation. Volunteers sometimes feel like they cannot take leave, but the reality is that breaks make us better upon return.
  • Remind volunteers that they have the right to say no to a new assignment or to continuing an assignment. Remind them that saying no isn’t selfish, that it allows them to better ensure they are able to succeed at the opportunities they say yes to and that it further helps them have a balanced, healthy life and, therefore, be even better volunteers.
  • Post the names and phone numbers of help lines and mental health resources in a common area frequented by onsite volunteers, in emails to volunteers and on your online community for volunteers. In the USA, your county’s department of health probably has such a list on its web site.
  • Remind volunteers to set boundaries with clients, other volunteers and employees. No volunteer should be required to socialize with other volunteers or employees, and an organization needs to be careful to not show favoritism to volunteers who do socialize with stNo volunteer should be required to friend a volunteer or employee at your organization on Facebook or to follow someone on Instagram, for instance, and you may want to have a policy that they are forbidden from friending or following clients. No volunteers should be required to join a Facebook group, since they very likely use Facebook with family and for personal social interactions.
  • Shop around for special discounts and freebies for volunteers:

— Is there a spa that would give your volunteers a special discount on manicures, pedicures or massages?

— Is there a movie theater that would give your volunteers and their families a special discount on theater tickets?

— Is there an arts organization that would give your volunteers a special discount on ceramic, drawing, dance or other classes?

— Is there a sports team that would give your volunteers and their families a special discount on tickets to a game or match? Don’t limit yourself to the big three – baseball, basketball or American football. Also look into hockey, soccer and roller derby.

— could you get a donor to pay for yoga or tai chi classes onsite at your nonprofit? Or would a studio offer a discount for your volunteers?

Don’t require volunteers to do one of these fun events together, if possible – like all going to get a mani/pedi the same day. They often need a break from each other, not just volunteering service itself.

  • Ask volunteers in different settings what brings them stress or anxiety in their service: you can do a survey (and make identities of those that answer anonymous), you can ask the question on your online community for volunteers, you can ask at face-to-face meetings of volunteers and you can call or meet with volunteers one-on-one specifically to ask. Showing that you care will be valued by your volunteers – but be sure you also act on their feedback.
  • Refer your volunteers to other resources, like:

– “Staying resilient while trying to save the world” by Amnesty International

– Protecting your mental health and well-being while speaking out, from the Malala Fund.

  • Ask volunteers how they would like to be supported as well.

How does your nonprofit support the mental health care of its volunteers? Please share in the comments below.

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Ensuring cultural & social interactions: as important as water, food & shelter.

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ACAPS is a nonprofit, nongovernmental project founded in 2009 with the aim of conducting independent, groundbreaking humanitarian analysis to help humanitarian workers, influencers, fundraisers and donors make better-informed decisions. ACAPS is not affiliated with the UN or any other organisation, allowing it to be a more neutral, critical voice regarding such initiative. ACAPS is overseen by a consortium of three NGOs: the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and Mercy Corps.

ACAPS published a report in May 2022, Life goes on in Yemen: Conversations with Yemeni families as the war nears its eighth year, that illustrates why humanitarian response cannot be just about providing water, food and shelter, and why it’s a mistake for charities to limit their communications with donors to only these needs. Water food and shelter are often called “basic needs”, but the reality is that social interactions, cultural practices and trust in the strength and work of institutions are all a part of basic human needs as well. The report is about Yemen, but it applies to every country.

This image is, to me, oh-so-powerful – and applies to every community, not just Yemen:

An image of a family as a part of a cycle that includes life-cycle events like weddings, deaths, births, etc., and the essential nature of having a social and cultural life.

This excerpt from the report is a good summary of what the image and the entire report is trying to say:

This research serves as a reminder that Yemenis are interested in more than just the satisfaction of their essential needs (such as water, food, and shelter). It highlights the diversity of households and the creative ways people adapt to economic challenges and accommodate long term strategic needs. Yemenis continue to participate in life-cycle events, celebrations, and social obligations. Having a social life maintains and creates networks and connections that build social capital, enhance the quality of life, and form the support network people can rely on when they most need it. Understanding the key role social capital plays in Yemeni life highlights that social capital is something built, maintained, stored, and used in a continuous cycle. Connections are important, but social capital is the glue that keeps these connections alive. When Yemenis keep celebrations modest by inviting fewer guests or keeping events shorter, they build less social capital. Similarly, they lose social capital when they hold fewer gatherings or visit extended family in their ancestral villages less.

So many people want to volunteer and/or donate financially to help people experiencing extreme poverty caused by social injustice, historic oppression and inequities and armed conflict. That should continue to be encouraged and cultivated – but people also need to understand that community development is every bit as important as charity and the provision of water, food and shelter.

Shout out to the Aidnography blog for bringing this to my attention.

Also see:

Decolonizing International Aid (including international volunteering).

humanitarian stories & photos – use with caution.

Extreme poverty is not beautiful.

Advice for teaching children compassion & understanding instead of pity with regard to poverty.

Nope, volunteering is not always inherently “good”.

A blend of international & local volunteers can “decolonize” humanitarian development

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image of four human like figures holding hands in a circle

A May 2022 report from VSO and Northumbria University in the UK says that changing how international and local volunteers work together, rather than eliminating the involvement of foreign volunteers abroad entirely, can decolonize humanitarian development, so that foreigners are no longer in control of decision-making and so that racist and discriminatory structures are addressed and dismantled.

The research, based on interviews and participatory workshops with volunteers, community representatives and VSO staff, found that there was no “one-size fits all” approach to designing and putting in place successful “volunteer combinations”. The report emphasizes that there is a need to adapt volunteer planning and management in programs based on local requirements and local learning.

The presence of international volunteers brings energy and donor attention to projects, whilst community and national volunteers enable effective engagement with local communities and increase the likelihood that impacts can be sustained due to their particular knowledges and longer-term involvement. However, there is no simple one-size-fits-all approach that can be applied to constructing a blend of volunteers, as the combination is dependent on the individuals within each blend, the environment around the project and the phasing of the work itself.

The report also warns that “community volunteers” – local volunteers, while crucial to the effectiveness of each blend, risk being sidelined.

Here is the press release summarizing the report.

And here is the full report (PDF).

Also see: