Volunteering Truth - The Bad News

The past disasters that have taken place in the United States and the renewed call for people to become more involved i.e. to volunteers and “help” may or may not energize people to action or to be more active in the nonprofit arena.

For nonprofits volunteering is often viewed as a cornerstone in which the rest of the organization is built. However, to most people there tends to be a great deal of dysfunction in dealing with and having a large group of volunteers. Board members for most nonprofits are non-paid and serve as volunteers. The word volunteer itself according to Webster means a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for service or undertaking. If you are a paid staff person in an organization understanding what role exactly a volunteer should or should not take is often difficult at best to discern. Every organization is different and every need is unique.

In my experience as a consultant I have seen nonprofit organizations view volunteers in two very different ways. Nonprofits in general either want and freely accept volunteers or are clueless and have no idea why they would want to have a group of volunteers. For the latter a volunteer is someone that is more of an annoyance because the job at hand does not really match with the hours and the limited time commitment a person is willing to give. At one time in history the words “community service” were seen in a positive light. Now unfortunately the term is used more in referring to people involved in the court system and are made to volunteer as part of their sentence to “give back” to society by giving time!

Ironic isn’t it?

Another void often missed in dealing with volunteers it what it actually costs! In the for-profit world larger companies know to the penny what it costs them to train an employee. Yet in the nonprofit arena what it truly costs to screen, place and train a volunteer is ignored. On the surface it is very easy to be overly critical of an agency who shuns volunteers and often broad statements are made that to be a successful nonprofit you MUST have a large number volunteers in your organization. But is this really truth or fiction?   

To understand the real role volunteers have in America we need to look at the hard data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts an annual study on the volunteer rates in the U.S. The most recent report was released in December 2004 and looks at volunteer rates from September 2003 to September 2004. (1)

At first glance the numbers seem huge pegging the number of people that volunteer in the US at 64.5 million people. However, looking at the entire population as a whole in the country you are looking at only 28.8 %. So this means 71.2% of Americans do not volunteer! Which begs the question, why? There are obviously a myriad of reasons and for now I ’d rather leave those facts for others and look at the current facts:

Nonprofits in the United States are surviving with only 28.8% of the population actually volunteering!

Ok, now you know that only 28.8% of the population volunteers, what does that really mean in terms of time actually spent on an annual basis? Well, 21.3% of the people who volunteer spend annually between one to fourteen hours and 24.3% spend fifteen to forty nine hours annually and 15% spend fifty to ninety nine hours annually and 28.1% spend one hundred and one hours to four hundred and ninety nine hours annually. The additional 5.7% did not report the number of hours spent volunteering. So, the median amount of time people volunteer is 52 hours! (2)  With that number in mind you need to ask yourself a simple and maybe profound question. Assuming that you had lots of instruction on exactly what it was you were volunteering to do, how much could you do in 52 hours annually?  

Lastly, in the nonprofit arena a great deal of time and energy is focused on trying to attain the “perfect nonprofit board”. Part of the perfection in many individual’s mind is making sure that the nonprofit board represents the community you serve. In doing this demographic information is reviewed with a focus specifically looking at race and sex. When we look at volunteering by race we see 30.5% of the white population volunteers which equals 55,892,000 people and 20.8% of the black population volunteer which equals 5,435,000 people as well as 19.3% Asian 1,832,000 people and 14.5% Hispanic or Latino volunteer which equals 4,102,000 people.  

Many national nonprofits i.e. United Way and the Red Cross to name a few, as well as large for profit corporations are spending millions of dollars for the sake of striving to be more diverse in their workforce and/or volunteer base. I honestly think these efforts are, for the most part, very sincere in an effort to be a mirror of the communities they serve and to be seen as inclusive. However, in 2004 the number of 501c3 nonprofits in the United States totaled over one million! (3) So, looking at the above facts you can clearly see that the pool of non-white volunteers to pick from is relatively small. For many boards it often seems nonexistent and proves frustrating when trying desperately to have a diverse board.

Now you know the truth! The question is will it set you free to really do what you need to do to make a difference in the lives of others?

Sources:
(1) The Bureau of Labor Statistics issues an annual study on volunteer rates in the U.S. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm

(2) Volunteers by annual hours of volunteer activities and selected characteristics, September 2004 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.t02.htm

(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Entities Listed on the Exempt Organization Business Master File, by Type of Organization and Internal Revenue Code Section, Fiscal Years 2001-2004 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/04db22eo.xls

Volunteering Truth - The Good News

The President’s Volunteer Service Award, an initiative of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, honors America’s volunteers and encourages even more Americans to get involved.

The President’s Volunteer Service Award is available to all Americans:

• Kids (up to 14 years of age); 50+ volunteer hours;
• Young Adults (ages 14-25); 100+ volunteer hours;
• Adults; 100+ volunteer hours; and
• Families & Groups; 200+ volunteer hours.

Additionally, the President’s Call to Service Award, which is also available to people of all ages, recognizes those who have exhibited an extraordinary commitment to volunteer service by dedicating at least 4,000 hours to the service of others.

In order to earn the President’s Volunteer Service Award or the President’s Call to Service Award, you must keep track of your volunteer hours. You can do this as a diary or calendar, or by using the on-line Record of Service. Once you have volunteered enough hours to qualify for the award, you should submit your hours to a Certifying Organization, who will certify your hours and apply for the award on your behalf.

For more information about the President’s Volunteer Service Award, visit http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

Additional resource guide books on how to have a successful volunteer program can be found by clicking here!

Volunteer Match is the nonprofit, online service that helps interested volunteers get involved with community service organizations throughout the United States. Volunteers enter their ZIP code on the VolunteerMatch web site to quickly find local volunteer opportunities matching individual interests and schedules. This simple, effective service has already generated hundreds of thousands of volunteer referrals nationwide.

Futures Program is a world-class software system designed to recruit and manage volunteers at the elementary, middle and high school levels. It is a platform which links a volunteer core together for an entire school district, encouraging cooperative community efforts and ultimately benefiting the students of user schools.

board netUSA  is the unique website revolutionizing the way nonprofit boards and new leaders find each other. If you're an individual interested in board service or a nonprofit looking for a new board member ... you've come to the right place. 

Network for Good is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the Web to help people get more involved in their communities - from volunteering and donating money, to speaking out on issues you care about. 

Managing Volunteeer Programs -by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD
http://www.managementhelp.org/staffing/outsrcng/volnteer/volnteer.htm