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

[Anonymous]

I volunteer tutoring elementary age kids at a nearby church that has a wonderful and well organized program, an hour a week now but I will likely increase to 2-4 hrs a week as time goes on, there is a need.

My adult daughter volunteers at a homeless center helping to prepare and serve meals, several hours twice a week, she is feeling very valued and appreciated and enjoys the work.

These places are both in Florida but I'm sure there are similar opportunities where you live.

[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.

If Habitat is building a house they won’t need a master electrician who volunteers once a week to do electrical work every time he or she shows up because it will depend on what stage the house is at being constructed. If the are about to start framing then those nails need to be sorted.

[Anonymous]

Maybe someone could lead a group on what literary references mean. We can start with "Catch-22."

[Anonymous]

Google it!

[Anonymous]

I haven’t had this experience at all.
Not sure where OP is volunteering but try new/different places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I had a really terrible experience at one of the more well known dog-rescue places when I signed up to volunteer.

The woman who was supposed to be coordinating got really overwhelmed, lost her sh&t and was yelling and when I started to back away she flipped me the bird!

Lesson learned.

Ahaha....I wonder if it's "the one" or if this is a common pattern

[Anonymous]

OP’s comment on the social aspect of volunteering is important. Yes, one goes for the work. But a substantial part of the satisfaction, at least for me, has been forming new relationships with people who share the same values and, by virtue of the volunteering, the same experience. Many volunteer programs suffer from clannishness. That’s a management problem, but sometimes just sticking it out a while will resolve things. It helps if there’s coffee or whatever before or even better after a session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at becoming a CASA.

I was going to mention this, it’s an excellent way to volunteer and there is a desperate need. It’s emotionally and intellectually challenging work so definitely rewarding and all the skills will be trained so you don’t have to be an advocate previously.

If working with abused kids is more than you want, the other terrific option that will be rewarding and immediately appreciated is being a Big Brother/Big Sister or otherwise participating in their mentoring programs.

[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.

To an extent that's how habitat works. In the group that I volunteer with are two general contractors one of whom is a licensed electrician and a carpenter whose hobby is furniture making. All of us do the same framing work because they have a process that has been refined over the years. It's rewarding work and all of us enjoy it. I think a lot of people who think that have certain qualifications that organizations need need to realize when they are actually signing up for grunt work that their expertise is irrelevant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

To an extent that's how habitat works. In the group that I volunteer with are two general contractors one of whom is a licensed electrician and a carpenter whose hobby is furniture making. All of us do the same framing work because they have a process that has been refined over the years. It's rewarding work and all of us enjoy it. I think a lot of people who think that have certain qualifications that organizations need need to realize when they are actually signing up for grunt work that their expertise is irrelevant

I'm the campaigns PP. I was just flabbergasted b/c this HS friend segued from complaining about bad policies to venting about how such and such campaign didn't use her skills - "It was just a waste of my time and skills." In my thought cloud, "So you hate the policies, but don't want to do the work to elect someone who will fight for better ones? Got it."

Maybe for folks who are hell bent on not wasting their time and talent, they should plunk down the $100. Might be worth it in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at becoming a CASA.

This. Serious commitment, well run programs, you make a profound difference in a child's life.

Not for everyone, but one of the single best things I ever did with my time and energy.

County based but you can find your local chapter and tons of info here: https://nationalcasagal.org/

[Anonymous]

I am not a fan of volunteering. If people are working, they should be paid for it.

Take a look at how much the leadership of these orgs get paid. It's a lot, usually. Then they run it on unpaid interns and volunteers and poorly paid fellows or entry level positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a fan of volunteering. If people are working, they should be paid for it.

Take a look at how much the leadership of these orgs get paid. It's a lot, usually. Then they run it on unpaid interns and volunteers and poorly paid fellows or entry level positions.

Volunteering lets people set their own terms/interests, to an extent (barring "They aren't using my skillz!" folks). A big part of employment is having to accept the parts of the job you don't like, from working 40+ hours a week to tedious tasks that loom over our heads while we do the parts we do like.

Unpaid internships are garbage, though. Don't pay people in exposure or experience unless landlords, utilities, and grocery stores start accepting exposure for payment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe someone could lead a group on what literary references mean. We can start with "Catch-22."

It means a no-win situation. Like trying to communicate a point with someone who is always right AND has a chip on their shoulder. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a fan of volunteering. If people are working, they should be paid for it.

Take a look at how much the leadership of these orgs get paid. It's a lot, usually. Then they run it on unpaid interns and volunteers and poorly paid fellows or entry level positions.

This is a legitimate concern both in volunteering and in making donations. But not every organization is as you describe and volunteering has rewards that money cannot duplicate.