I started my career in the nonprofit sector through volunteering. I worked for two organizations while pursuing my undergraduate studies – IofC and Akanksha. With the former, I supported and led their youth programs. With the latter, I helped manage one of their teaching centers in Mumbai. I learned how to run their center, manage the curriculum, write impact stories and gradually got more involved in the Foundation’s strategic management activities. That is when I delved further into pursuing a career in the sector. Rest, as they say, is history.
It amazes me how this so-called ‘unorganized’ sector has grown and matured over the years to become one of the most valued force especially for nonprofits. The Independent Sector, based on the 2018 data in the US, valued Volunteer Time at $25.43 per hour for 2019. I am keen to know what it would look like per 2019 data. This is taking into account an individual’s involvement through his/her time, level of effort and the talent offered. And in the same article, they claim how volunteers contribute $203.4 billions to the United States through their volunteering engagement. Why should the volunteer time be quantified? You may ask. And I shall cover this as part of a separate post.
For now, I want to highlight some key elements of volunteering that are usually not as evident to the outside but really addressed in depth by the insiders in the nonprofit sector.
1. Volunteering helps organizations reduce their expenses. Yes and No. It really takes a team within an organization to set up all the volunteering activities. This is typically worked out through an annual plan – needs for volunteering within each programs as well as for the organization as a whole. There is scope of work written down along with estimated hours of service, the kind of skills that need to go into providing the service and then a brief description of outcomes expected out of this volunteering engagement.
2. There is a certain assumption around volunteering work as being easy and straightforward. While anyone can and should volunteer, it is also important to understand the mission of the organization and what they are working towards. While you can have the desire to help, the key is also to get into the ‘insides’ of the work and ask yourself how you can be of value to the work you are about to undertake.
3. Nonprofits are often seen working in partnership with so many stakeholders – the government, corporate, local communities, etc. It thus has its own set of challenges and opportunities which means that they do require some serious tall order skill-set too.
4. Just as you are thinking about ways to offer help voluntarily, nonprofits are also often looking at ways to make this two-way relationship meaningful. By that, I mean they invest several of their resources for volunteer management – a process to screen volunteers that align with the skills and interests, personnel to handle on-boarding and training for the volunteers, mindset around volunteer benefits (to be covered in future posts).
This week here in the US is the National Volunteering Week with April being the National Volunteering Month. Volunteers, of different ages, are everywhere – in schools, communities, health care, elections! A situation like COVID-19 has brought out the human altruistic behavior in huge magnitude! A big salute to that giving spirit in you and may we continue to contribute, give back and be inspired!