Incentive to Volunteer

Our management dilemma came at the perfect time for me.  I’m giving a speech in my PR writing class about trying to get people more involved with the Manhattan Arts Center.  I’ve come up with a list of incentives to try to convince people to help.  I think that if people knew more ways to get involved they’d be more likely to do so.  Many people don’t realize that it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to volunteer or to just help non-profits.

Classes:  People can volunteer to teach a class (and even get paid).  Many people took classes through arts and humanities councils and this is one way to ensure the tradition continues.  It also helps kids encourage their creativity, especially if their schools don’t offer classes in art, dance, music, and specific physical education like karate, archery, etc.  Many classes like this aren’t offered in schools and it helps our future generations.

Arts: Schools are taking away art programs and the arts center allows children to learn about different types of arts through the exhibits.  People can help the exhibits by volunteering to help set them up, donating money, and attending gallery openings to show support.

Theatre: People can help in the theatre by acting, helping with designing and making sets, and even attending the performances.  The money from tickets helps support the shows and to support the MAC.

If other organizations give several possibilities for how to get involved then maybe more people will help non-profits.

The need for time, not money

My case statement group just had a meeting with a representative for Big Brothers Big Sisters that I feel is highly significant to the current discussion about volunteers.  He said that they had a very successful fundraiser and also received a large sum from United Way, but had a hard time getting volunteers to be big brothers and big sisters.  Particularly, they had a hard time getting male volunteers.   These volunteers are essential to what this program is trying to accomplish.  As a big brother or big sister, (bigs is how he referred to these volunteers)  you become a mentor for an “at risk” child.  The volunteer work is really easy and actually can be quite fun for the big as well as the child.  There is not a need to spend money on some activity, just a need to spend time with a child. This is a great way to volunteer, but you must be willing to commit to it.

RSVP, an invitation to serve

I may be jumping ahead of myself a little bit since this topic will relate to a class project not due for weeks, but I felt inspired yesterday and wanted to share with everyone.

A classmate and I visited RSVP of the Flint Hills yesterday to discuss an upcoming project and I learned much more about RSVP and the great things they are doing in our community. A little background: RSVP is a volunteer program for people 55 years and older. The executive director shared with me that their biggest challenge is raising adequate funds for their programs because so many people are focused only on youth-oriented giving. The group would like to expand to other counties, but just doesn’t have the funding to do so yet.

I found this very interesting because I never gave this much thought before speaking with her; the idea that our society values youth the most. Donating to children’s causes is of course critial for our future and our society, but it surprises me that we would leave the older age groups behind. Perhaps things will change as the baby-boomer generation grows older, and generation Y moves into the professional workplace, but I am concerned with the immediate consequences. It takes volunteers of all ages to sustain a community, and it deeply saddens me that we cannot provide the funding to have more volunteers in the Flint Hills.

What does everyone else think of this topic?

Mandatory Volunteering

I believe the topic of mandatory volunteering is unrealistic in the real world. No one can force an adult to do something, and if someone IS forced to do something they don’t want to do, the result will normally turn out half a$$.  And something not done 100% in my book, is not worth the time of doing at all.

Therefore, I believe volunteering should be at the discretion of individual, but with incentives and rewards for the individual to feel like their time is well spent. For some, their own satistication and gratification of helping others is the only reward they need. But for others, in a business setting wanting to perform philanthropy activites for example, rewards or bonuses may need to be set in tact to motivate employees to cooperate.

I agree with the earlier posts, that high school students are an important public to recruit for volunteers. Getting people to volunteer at a young age will “hopefully” instill in them the routine of volunteering. By networking and building relationships with this age group, they will not only bring energy to your non profit, but also many more years of volunteerism in the future.