The Business of Volunteering (Part 2)

The first part of this series highlighted the skills that one can acquire from volunteering via the real-life experience of a volunteer. However, it has come to my notice that not everyone knows all that volunteering entails and some of us may be misinformed about it so we would be discussing that here.

• Scene #1: Amina, 57 years old, spends two hours a day, three days a week, at a local school, helping to teach extra-moral (evening) classes.

• Scene #2: John, a 15 year old, goes roller skating at his estate park on a Saturday only to find that the park is a wreck. He could wait for the local cleaners to clean it up but instead texts some friends who show up with their boots and some garbage bags.

• Scene #3: Titi is a 43 year old lawyer who spends her days (and most evenings) as a partner at a high profile corporate law firm. One of her family's favorite weekend activities is gardening so they occasionally spend a Saturday afternoon at a community garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to local schools.

• Scene #4: Tanko is a 62 year old retired accountant. In addition to travel and other personal pursuits, he gives professional advice on the financial plans of a handful of nonprofit organizations. This is mostly done by email so he's found that he can get feedback to them whether he is at home or around the globe.

• Scene #5: Chinedu is a 24 year old recent University graduate who is in the process of looking for paid work in the nonprofit sector, preferably with an organization that focuses on public health. While he spends much of his time researching and applying for jobs, he also serves on the board of a local free clinic in Lagos.

From the above cases, we have an idea what volunteering is about. Common to all cases are; the people cut across different genders, ages and career stages. The time commitments range from impromptu to regularly scheduled work and it may include office-like work.

So volunteering means an interest, desire, or willingness to do good while contributing time, skills, and energy towards something that is not of direct benefit only to one's self, friends, or family and in the process, not expecting any sort of reimbursement or payment in return for one's efforts however with the option of choosing how, where, why, and when to get involved.

The United Nations has a volunteer programme called the United Nations Volunteers and has December 5 set aside every year for the International Volunteer Day. Volunteerism has evolved with society hence there are now virtual or online volunteers who can volunteer across the online space.

The many benefits of volunteering include meeting people whether for professional networking (in addition to making invaluable contacts, volunteering with a nonprofit is a great way to learn more about potentially working in the sector or a particular field), to make new friends, or to just understand a little more about others' ways of life. As stated in the previous post, volunteering also provides opportunities to gain new skills, practice existing skills in new ways, and learn more about complex issues like hunger, health care, and the environment especially when you volunteer for the United Nations and other international organizations. 

So, get online and look for the next comfortable volunteering opportunity next to you! You can start here!

[photo source: www.facebook.com]

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THE BUSINESS OF VOLUNTEERING (part1)

This is the first in a series of discussions that we will be having on The Business of Volunteering (TBV).

A few months ago when I signed up for an international event as a volunteer, the first thing I told myself was "don't expect to get paid". Of course volunteering means offering your services toward a cause without necessarily getting paid for it however, you may sometimes have the privilege of being given an allowance.

My first day on the job, I had high expectations on the level of organization as such I expected everything to be and fall in place. Little did I know that for my hub, a lot of initiative would be required from the part of the volunteers? Firstly, my hub manager appeared more of a project person than an events person and this was evident from the day before when we went for the volunteers meeting and there was no volunteer brief nor anything until a different hub manager came to the rescue. Interacting with her taught me that it is important to know each person's abilities in the event chain and assign roles to individuals based on that. While she is a more detailed person, my hub manager is a more pragmatic manager and this showed when an event partner did not show up for their event for which there were already guests. If my manager had followed-up with them, he would have been able to monitor them and know if and when they would be coming.

Other areas of the event at my hub showed gaps for example, the guest list was not provided which meant guests came in anonymously but for the creativity adopted on the part of my team and I at the registration point. I was assigned there because, after interacting with me, she ascertained that I would be the ideal person for that team and was she right! Though the day ended well, I never stopped wishing I had worked with the other lady instead. Though we might have to do more work and be on our toes for most of the period, it would have sharpened us however, where I thought my lessons would be wasn't where I found them.

The major lessons I learnt today have to do with first identifying skills and abilities of people you are working with or assigning duties to; being detailed in your work and planning yet, flexible enough to adapt to change while being pragmatic on a solid foundation of proper planning is not a bad idea in itself. Also, I learnt to identify opportunities for tutelage and encourage same though I admit I must learn to be more patient with people under tutelage. Finally, I learnt that different personality types exist and human resource is the most difficult and dynamic of all resources to be managed thus, wisdom is profitable to direct.

What exactly is volunteering and what does it entail? Look out for TBV2!

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