Volunteering ain't all it's cut out to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m just starting to do this but as a pro bono attorney. My experience had been good so far. There’s a ton of need and not as many people willing to do it.

Does it have to be with an org? Is there something you’re good at that would be useful to people? If you’ve done your own taxes, VITA clinics need people. If you’re good with kids, you could volunteer at a head start or other subsidized preschool. High schools always need people to help kids with college applications. Are you handy? You could fix stuff for people who don’t have enough money to pay. Help pull weeds for a community center or YMCA. Volunteer to coach a team at a school that needs it. Be a lifeguard - there are never enough of them and that keeps community pools closed. I do tenant-side eviction cases for free.

Look for the work that’s not sexy and that needs somewhat more commitment than a Saturday here or there. Try not to expect people to express their gratitude - you’ll be disappointed a lot. Just do the work that helps.

you know, this is such an apt observation as well as advice.

A number of my HS friends are retiring and a few have started volunteering. One of them complained to me about how they volunteered on one campaign, her skills were not used, and she refuses to do that again. Well, I get that if the campaign could have used those skills and I also get that campaigns want to win, so they are going to focus on the tasks that will do it = getting folks to the polls and that includes phone calls and door knocking.

If you do not care if the candidate wins, then insist the campaign use your skills, even if not needed. But if your goal is getting good folks elected to office, then help campaigns do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may need to put in time to earn the org's trust. When they know you are reliable and do a good job, then they can start to have expectations of you. Before that, they're just hoping you show up.

This is a Catch 22 situation. You can't tell people you need their specific skills to help the organization, and then when they show up have them sit in a corner twiddling their thumbs on something useless.

As a fabricated example, imagine Habitat for Humanity had a skilled and licensed master electrician who signed up to volunteer. They show up and instead of having them do electrical work, Habitat has the electrician spend the day sitting on a bucket separating mixed up nails in a box. Do you think that electrician will ever come back? Trust is a two-way street.

If you need someone to separate nails, then tell them that's what they'll be doing. Don't ask for skills and then waste the time of people who have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may need to put in time to earn the org's trust. When they know you are reliable and do a good job, then they can start to have expectations of you. Before that, they're just hoping you show up.

This is a Catch 22 situation. You can't tell people you need their specific skills to help the organization, and then when they show up have them sit in a corner twiddling their thumbs on something useless.

As a fabricated example, imagine Habitat for Humanity had a skilled and licensed master electrician who signed up to volunteer. They show up and instead of having them do electrical work, Habitat has the electrician spend the day sitting on a bucket separating mixed up nails in a box. Do you think that electrician will ever come back? Trust is a two-way street.

If you need someone to separate nails, then tell them that's what they'll be doing. Don't ask for skills and then waste the time of people who have them.

One way to suss out what’s needed is just to ask. “What work most needs doing?” “What positions do you have the hardest time filling?” One of the PPs mentioned that a lot of advertised positions are in hopes that you’ll donate money at some point. These are the “come help keep our puppies company at the shelter” type positions.

There’s always a need for helpful people, but that might mean doing what’s needed most rather than what your current skill set is. You can always learn new skills!

[Anonymous]

Senior communities like The Village at Rockville

[Anonymous]

Things went downhill fast with George HW Bush and his, "Thousand Points of Light". Eliminating paid professional jobs. Instead relying on a patchwork of, what they hope will be, good-hearted volunteers.

[Anonymous]

It's been years since I've volunteered.

In my 20s I volunteered at the Kennedy Center. They were ungrateful. On the plus side, I met a lot of very interesting people. I was single and met some great fellas. I gave that up within a year because it was hard to be treated like chattel.

I also volunteered for years at a D.C. food kitchen which I think is no longer around. It was gratifying because you got feedback on the spot - fed people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just starting to do this but as a pro bono attorney. My experience had been good so far. There’s a ton of need and not as many people willing to do it.

Does it have to be with an org? Is there something you’re good at that would be useful to people? If you’ve done your own taxes, VITA clinics need people. If you’re good with kids, you could volunteer at a head start or other subsidized preschool. High schools always need people to help kids with college applications. Are you handy? You could fix stuff for people who don’t have enough money to pay. Help pull weeds for a community center or YMCA. Volunteer to coach a team at a school that needs it. Be a lifeguard - there are never enough of them and that keeps community pools closed. I do tenant-side eviction cases for free.

Look for the work that’s not sexy and that needs somewhat more commitment than a Saturday here or there. Try not to expect people to express their gratitude - you’ll be disappointed a lot. Just do the work that helps.

you know, this is such an apt observation as well as advice.

A number of my HS friends are retiring and a few have started volunteering. One of them complained to me about how they volunteered on one campaign, her skills were not used, and she refuses to do that again. Well, I get that if the campaign could have used those skills and I also get that campaigns want to win, so they are going to focus on the tasks that will do it = getting folks to the polls and that includes phone calls and door knocking.

If you do not care if the candidate wins, then insist the campaign use your skills, even if not needed. But if your goal is getting good folks elected to office, then help campaigns do that.

Oh man, this is so common on campaigns. A lot of people who want to help with social media and policy when what we really need is door knocking and phone banking. Ground game is what really makes the difference in campaigns.

I now work in the non-profit sector and volunteer management is hard and not everyone is good at it. For events, you recruit more volunteers than you will need because people always bail, and then more people than you expect show up on the day and you are scrambling to find work for all of them. This happened recently at an event my work hosted - some of the volunteers offered to help with staff roles likes registration, but they don't have the required security clearance to use our database. I could tell some of the volunteers were getting frustrated we weren't giving them more to do.

With office volunteers, you recruit someone with a specific skill set and spend a lot of time training them, and then they get a new job and can't volunteer anymore.

I think you just need to keep trying until you find somewhere that is a good fit, and where you feel needed.

[Anonymous]

Look at becoming a CASA.

[Anonymous]

The only way to get your skills truly utilized in a volunteer capacity is to pick a group that is related to your skill set.

[Anonymous]

My husband works in philanthropy and nonprofits. He says most orgs don't know how to make use of their volunteers. My advice is to work with a hospital or some other org big enough to have a paid position of volunteer coordinator so that you can discuss what you want to get out of the gig with that person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering at orgs is for people who miss the cattiness of the office.

Hahaha, yes!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charity Connect will match your interests and skills to appropriate volunteer placements.

So you have to pay $100 here to find a good placement?

[Anonymous]

I’m hoping to do a lot of volunteering after I retire. I already volunteer with a dog rescue group, and they can definitely use more volunteers for application checking and as adoption coordinators, so that’s something I can expand into. I’m hoping to complete certification as a Master Naturalist, which has its own volunteer commitments. I am also hoping to find an organization that needs volunteer tutors. I have a teaching and tutoring background, and can help with both adults and youn adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charity Connect will match your interests and skills to appropriate volunteer placements.

So you have to pay $100 here to find a good placement?

Is it worth it? Do they actually help you find a meaningful opportunity, more than you’d find by yourself on Volunteermatch? Because if they actually have inroads with orgs that can get you recognized and plugged in to the right role, I would pay.

[Anonymous]

Look on TaprootFoundation.org
If you have skills to offer, the orgs there will appreciate you.