Reply to How to say No to volunteer work

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Start volunteering less and you won't be asked as much. It's because you're showing your face so much that people are asking you. I speak from experience. In the meantime, say you stretched thin and can't do it.

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The above post has a terrible idea--volunteer less. OP does not say she and DH want to volunteer less; she wants to know how to decline volunteering more. She actually values voluntarism, which PP above...does not. Of course people will ask you less if you do less overall. But that would be, frankly, a jerk move, if it means things that need to be done don't get done by anyone.

OP, don't cut back on what YOU feel is important to do, just so you won't be asked to do more.

Smile and say, "The work with the gardening committee (or whatever) is so important and I'm glad you're organizing it, but I'm volunteering with both the X and the Y right now, and focusing on those." Then change the topic.

See the pattern? Acknowledge that what they're asking/the cause is indeed important; then note that you are already committed doing something else; then change the topic. If you can, and it's genuine, suggest someone else who might want to volunteer. I do not mean throw someone else under the bus -- recommend another potential volunteer only if you really think that person might be interested AND isn't already super involved.

I am constantly bombarded about doing this or that for an organization I'm in, where I already have one role. I simply smile and say, "I know X is going to work out. I'm doing the organization newsletter and focusing on that, and volunteering at school as well all year long. Did you think about asking So and So about helping with X? He was working on Other Thing, but that's concluding next month."

Oh, and OP: Thanks to you and your husband for the volunteering you already do. Keep it up. The world, our communities and schools, our neighborhoods all need volunteers like you two. Don't listen to cynics who say just stop doing it so you won't be asked to do more. Keep doing it and know you limits, and when you can and can't exceed those limits.

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