Volunteers make a difference. Do we let them?

Some organizations struggle to work with volunteers outside of the traditional task oriented opportunity. They nestle volunteers safely into compartmentalized positions, restricting responsibility to a specific piece of an overall project. In some ways, this type of volunteer management is very effective. And, it makes sense in the linear evolution of industrialization. Nonprofits, just like factories have embraced the ideals of the assembly line.

It does not have to be this way... or only this way. We all do work, at times, that makes us feel like cogs in the organizational gear. Grinding away to meet our mission. Take a look at your job and ask yourself, "what about it makes me smile". Now, think for a moment, has your boss asked you, or recognized the thing that made you smile? If so, awesome! You have a good boss. If not, find time to tell them.

Either way, volunteers working in your organization have the same sentiments. There are parts of their work they get really fired up over. Often, volunteers don't feel they are in a position where they can communicate what really drives them, or how they would really like to serve the community. If there are not adequate times for evaluation and reflection there is the potential to miss out on an abundance of skill, passion and knowledge from your existing volunteers.

Your volunteers will contiue to do good work and accomplish the task set out, but the ability for your organization to build capacity  to meet its mission will be limited.


How to work outside of the traditional task oriented model:

I think discussing this in regards to third party fundraisers is the easiest way to explain it. If your development department has a goal of raising $100,000 they have created a work plan to reach this goal.  It is not likely the Development Manager would hand over raising $20,000 of their goal to a person in the community, let alone $1,000. Their goal, is their goal. And if they don't reach it they will be held accountable.

In the task oriented form of volunteer management certain tasks are delegated to the volunteer at different points within the project. Reaching the goal is dependent on both the Development Manager and the volunteer being succesful at completing their work.

Reasons to move away from this:

1) Paid staff often think it is risky to delegate "important" work to a volunteer

2) Therefore, volunteers don't get delegated "important" work that capitalizes on their knowledge, skills and passion

3) Miss opportunities for skilled volunteers to be creative collaborators and leaders in the organization to better serve the community.

4) Limited abiltiy to build capacity to serve the community, raise money, create awareness provide direct services.

An alternate form:

If someone in the community approaches the Development Manager and wants to organize a softball tournament fundraiser to raise $5,000, with the proceeds benefiting the organization, I bet the Development Manager would say "go for it". In this scenario the Development Manager and the community member share the same goal, raising money for the organization. Their success, however, is not dependant on one another. The Development Manager is still going to work at raising $100,000. And the community member's work builds capacity to raise more funds beyond the $100,000.

Reasons to move towards this:

1) Capitalizes on the skills, knowledge and passion of people in the communtiy to meet the organization's mission.

2) Limits risk of collaborating with community members. If they are successful it adds to the goal set. If they are unsuccessful it does not affect the minimum standard for reaching the goal.

3) Creates champions of your mission that you can highlight to tell the story of your work and empower other people to join. Let's face it, the community doesn't want to hear about a fundraiser a paid staff person put on. A more compelling story would be a family who organized a benefit in honor of a loved one.

4) Builds capacity to meet your mission in new ways.

This same principal of collaborating with community members to build capacity within the context of any goal allows for highly skilled, creative and passionate people to fully participate in the cause of your organization.

Have you collaborated with community members in this way? If so, what did they do and what was the result?