Category Archives: Community / Volunteer Engagement

Expectations for volunteering by the volunteer – too much?

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graphic representing volunteers

Volunteering is promoted as something that will give volunteers significant personal fulfillment, that will make them feel like they’ve made a real difference, that will make volunteers feel like superheros, and on and on. And many people expect their volunteering experience to make them feel like they have changed a person’s life forever, or that it will be so impressive that it will get them a full scholarship for university and into the university they most want to attend, or that it will cure any mental or emotional issue they are facing.

Here’s a tweet that’s a good example of how a lot of people and organizations talk about volunteering:

How volunteering can help you?

  • It fixes your mental health.
  • It gives you a purpose.
  • It kills your self-doubts, anxiety.
  • It improves your social skills.

The reality is that volunteering can amplify mental health issues. It can exacerbate self-doubt and anxiety and even loneliness. It can contribute to uncertainty if volunteering doesn’t go well – and very often, volunteering doesn’t always go well. Volunteering can, in fact, leave you feeling like a failure.

I’ve read a litany of online comments from people who tried of volunteer and don’t have the magical, perfect healing experience so many promise. And I so I must ask: are we overselling volunteering?

A recent post to a community for Peace Corps members – and those that wish to be such – reminded me of how not every volunteer gets the feelings so many recruitment messages promise, or how many volunteers don’t have their expectations met. This person has also seen many comments by frustrated Peace Corps members who did not get the amazing experience implied in recruitment messages:

I often come across posts online from returnees talking about how applicants need to expect to accomplish nothing or the bare minimum throughout the 2 years. Why is this? I understand there are complications regarding “making a difference” in some developing countries, but surely the majority of volunteers accomplish fairly impressive things?

And that certainly does happen: you can work as an employee for years at a nonprofit helping to address poverty in one community and never feel like you’ve really made a difference. But now, let’s stick to talking about volunteers (I’ll address the other issue in another blog).

When volunteering disappoints someone, it can lead to disillusionment with volunteering, frustration, even anger. Volunteering activities can also augment a person’s many negative feelings: as I’ve noted elsewhere, volunteering, when it’s not a good experience, can make feelings of depression or failure even worse.

A comment on a recent blog of mine seems to feel similarly about better preparing people for what volunteering really is.

I’d love to see the overarching organizations like state offices of volunteerism Americorps, Points of light, etc. Spread (the) word about (the) basics of being a volunteer. How to be a good volunteer. What to expect.

I agree: these organizations promoting volunteering, encouraging people to volunteer, need to ALSO be telling people that the commitment is REAL, that they need to take it seriously, that if they sign up they need to show up, that most rules that volunteers must follow are there for very good reasons, that training is just as important as the service itself, etc. And they need to make sure people understand that there will be moments of frustration and boredom – and that their volunteer service may be met with hostility from other volunteers, clients and community members.

Absolutely, let recruits know about the benefits of volunteering they could experience. They may, indeed, have a transformative experience. They may get skills that will help them in paid work. They may get knowledge and experience to help them in their career goals. They may see that they really have made a difference in someone’s life. But they also need to be prepared for when volunteering tasks seem boring, or not impactful, or just something to do so they look busy, or not really helping at all. They need to be frequently reminded of the “bigger picture” and how this seemingly unimportant task contributes to the large cause and impacts they may never see firsthand. That will keep volunteers engaged – and keep their expectations in check.

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. 

Executive Directors & Board Members: Get Out in Your Communities

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image of a panel discussion

The forum for candidates running for local city council or mayor, or county-level elected office.

The opening of the community farmer’s market.

The Spring musical by the community theater.

The rummage sale by the largest church in town.

The open house at the local mosque.

The Day of the Dead celebrations at the Hispanic cultural center.

The local Juneteeth celebration.

Your nonprofit MUST have representation at community events. Your executive director or a member of your board needs to be there, meeting people, shaking hands, listening to their program, showing your nonprofit organization is a part of the community.

I love the Internet, including social media. Yes, still. Any nonprofit that ignores its Internet presence, or doesn’t try to do something meaningful and collaborative online, is foolish and isn’t going to last. But the same is true for onsite, face-to-face community networking: you have to show that you care as much for other nonprofits as you want them to care for you. You have to look directly into the eyes of elected officials if you want your organization to matter to them.

What does this kind of in-person networking get you?

  • More donors.
  • More volunteers.
  • More and more appropriate client referrals and larger audiences for your programs and messaging.
  • More collaboration.
  • More community support, including cross-party political support.

“But I don’t have time!” you whine.

No, the problem is you don’t MAKE the time. Of course, you can’t go to absolutely everything – but you must build a list of key events and decide at which ones someone from your organization needs to be present.

Your marketing director, the chair of marketing on your board, or a trusted volunteer needs to research upcoming community events EVERY MONTH. Get it on a calendar and let the Executive Director, board members, even the entire staff, have a look. Encourage those that could represent the organization to choose what they might be able to go to – some might already have plans to go and hadn’t thought about going as a representative of your organization.

Prep your staff and volunteers that go to events on behalf of your organization in how to present themselves as representatives:

Give them an opening statement, like, “Hi, I’m so-and-so, and I’m a board member of such-and-such organization. Great event!” It’s that simple. Who do they say this to? Anyone they think might have something to do with organizing the event.

Over time, this kind of engagement cultivates a familiarity with your organization. Your organization seems more approachable and collaborative. Someone might tell you about partnership opportunities, a great candidate for your board, even misinformation about your organization that is spreading. You may find out about a local funding opportunity you would not have otherwise. A candidate for office may decide the cause you address – affordable housing, the performing arts, domestic violence, recycling – is worth supporting as a policy or legislatively.

And don’t be surprised if your online followers increase and your online messaging starts to have a lot more reach as well.

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. 

Seen a drop in volunteers? Quit blaming the pandemic & fix the problems.

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers doing service

Articles are everywhere saying nonprofits and government programs have seen a severe drop in volunteers since the start of the pandemic. Many imply that a growing number of people don’t want to volunteer and that’s fueling the drop in volunteer numbers.

It’s absolutely true that there’s been a drop in the number of volunteers at many organizations all over the world, not just in the USA. But the implication that people, especially people under 50, don’t want to volunteer is BOLLOCKS.

This drop in volunteer numbers has been coming on for a long while, but the pandemic sped things up. So many nonprofits have been seeing their volunteers get older and older, even dying off, but new, younger volunteers not replacing those that leave. Why?

Spend a week on Reddit, especially the volunteer subreddit, and you will see young people repeatedly posting messages that they want to volunteer, but don’t know where to look, or don’t know what’s available, or don’t know how to express interest, or have been trying and not getting responses to their applications. Many don’t know how volunteering really works – they ask if volunteers get paid, or are shocked that they have to go through training for certain roles. Most seem to think nonprofits do work that anyone that just walks through the door can do, right away.

There’s also a change in what volunteers want. Many don’t just want to do work for free for you; they want to feel like they are making a difference, or they want to have an interesting experience, or they want to develop skills for their career, or they want to have fun. None of those are bad reasons to volunteer. And the pandemic has changed how people value time and personal interactions: they now have a much lower tolerance for having their time wasted. One of the things I keep hearing is that people now want experiences, not things – that includes meaningful, enjoyable volunteering.

One of the most popular blogs I have ever written is Diagnosing the causes of volunteer recruitment problems. If you have seen a drop in the number of volunteers you involve, you need to go read it. And as I say in that blog:

What worked to recruit volunteers 30 years ago doesn’t work now; if you are having trouble recruiting volunteers, it’s overdue for you to take a hard, in-depth look at both how you recruit, what your in-take process is like, and the volunteer opportunities you have available.

No more but we’ve always done it this way. STOP IT! Times have changed. AND they will keep changing. Either change how you talk about volunteers, support volunteers, engage volunteers and recruit volunteers or stop complaining!

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. 

When some nonprofit employees & volunteers don’t really understand what the nonprofit is trying to address & why

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image that represents a panel discussion

I believe that everyone that works at a nonprofit, whether they are the Executive Director or the janitor, is seen as a communicator on behalf of that nonprofit. People are going to ask any employee or volunteer at a nonprofit a question about what that nonprofit does and why, and the person asked needs to be able to give at least a short, accurate description and then direct the person to the appropriate staff person (that person’s phone number or email) to get more info.

Too often, I see a disconnect between non-profit staff and the staff that work with clients and funders regarding what the nonprofit does and why. For instance, an IT staff member once came into my office at the United Nations program where I worked and said, “What does this UN program do? I don’t think I really understand.” And the more I talked with him, the more I realized he had NO idea not only what our program did, but what the UN really does.

I have seen and heard non-program employees and volunteers making unfortunate, even inaccurate, statements about the issues a nonprofit is trying to address – among themselves, to their family, on their own social media, to friends, to someone who they are interacting with as part of their job, etc. The consequences are REAL: they have now created misinformed members of the community, and these people will, in turn, talk to others. Maybe they won’t donate money or volunteer as a result – and will discourage others from doing so.

I would love to read any blogs or articles about how to address such a disconnect within an organization where some employees and volunteers don’t have a clear idea of what the nonprofit they work for does, why that is the mission, etc. I’d like to read blogs and articles that also have a strong argument for why ensuring all staff understand such is vital. For instance, why do frontline employees and volunteers at a thrift store that funds a nonprofit addressing poverty, job training, addiction, etc. need to understand where other funding comes from, how services are delivered, etc.? How do you get senior staff on board with making sure all staff and volunteers see that video you just shared with donors about the great work of the nonprofit, for instance?

If you know of such, please drop them in the comments.

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.

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. 

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. 

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!

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.

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

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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).

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