Volunteering 101

Sign Up for CafeMom

Kim's Journals

A little of this and a tad of that.

Volunteering 101
Oct 9, 2009 at 5:11 PM
By
- cleanaturalady
Comments (2) Total Views (71) Everyone can see this journal post.

Prev Next

I have come to discover a thing or two about volunteering that I think would be beneficial for everyone to know.

This first section is addressed to those who are using volunteers to augment their staff.

Volunteers are not employees. What they are doing for you is a free service. You cannot treat them like paid staff members.
If it weren't for the volunteer taking time out of his/her day to stop in and help you, you would either have to do the work yourself of pay someone else to do it. Not only is that volunteer working for you for free, he/she is actually saving you money. Remember that.
Volunteers are often service oriented people who enjoy helping others out, but they do have lives outside of the sphere of volunteer work. If their lives become complicated and they need to step back, respect that.
Your volunteers should supply a bit of relief from your regular duties. They should not be relied upon solely on for all of the miscellaneous tasks that would rather not have to fool with.
Be appreciative and friendly, not demanding. This is what keeps volunteers coming back to work with you. They know that you appreciate what they do for you.

While I am at it, I might as well step both feet out on this ledge and add a few tips for volunteers as well.

Be reliable. This means showing up on time or calling ahead to notify someone that you are running late or if you will be unable to keep your commitment that day.
Treat your volunteer commitments as if they are important to you. Yes, your 'real life' comes first but once you have made a commitment, you need to follow through.
Don't take on more than you can handle. Saying yes to something when you know you cannot possibly do it given all the other things going on in your life is not helpful to anyone. No one likes a flaky volunteer.
Be respectful of those you are volunteering for. You are there to help them do a job; be fully present and ready to work at the volunteer job.
Keep it professional. Even though you are not being paid, make sure you dress appropriately, speak to others appropriately and conduct yourself the way you would at any other job.
Have fun. If you aren't doing something you love, then you are likely to have a lousy attitude and this will be very clear to everyone in your general vicinity.

With the economy in the tank as it is, more and more people are going back to work. This has thinned out the volunteer pool quite a bit, which puts more and more pressure on the remaining volunteers to fill in the gaps. In other situations, and also because of the economy, volunteers are needed because budget cuts have created holes in the work-force. This also puts a great deal of pressure on the volunteers to fill in and may be relied upon too heavily to get work done in departments where remaining employees are unable to carry the whole load. This creates tension all the way around. Volunteers feel pressure to volunteer more than is practical for them, so they end up committing to more than they can handle and then feel resentful because they are over-scheduled. Employees feel pressured to get more done than they possibly can during a workday, so they feel frustrated and put out when volunteers don't keep their commitments.

In order to avoid a tense relationship between employees and volunteers, it is important that both parties work diligently to respect the time and effort each other is putting into the job at hand. The relationship between employees and volunteers is a delicate one and one that takes a bit of finesse to pull off correctly. The employee should always be mindful of the help that the volunteer is providing, but the volunteer also needs to behave humbly. This fosters a relationship of mutual respect and makes for happier volunteers who keep coming back as well as employees who feel grateful for the help they receive.