COMMENTARY: A flood of volunteers may drown charities

c. 1997 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is the author of”Turn Toward the Wind”and publisher of Religion News Service.) UNDATED _ It’s either feast or famine in the kitchen of the Third Street Church of God in Washington, D.C. The ebb and flow has less to do with the food supply for the homeless […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is the author of”Turn Toward the Wind”and publisher of Religion News Service.)

UNDATED _ It’s either feast or famine in the kitchen of the Third Street Church of God in Washington, D.C.


The ebb and flow has less to do with the food supply for the homeless men and women who file in every weekday morning than it does with the volunteers like me who overwhelm the tiny kitchen some days and are nonexistent on others.

Third Street Church’s challenge is similar to one faced by many charities: how to manage a volunteer population that comes and goes at will, sometimes helping, sometimes getting in the way, and sometimes not showing up at all.

As the focus on volunteerism increases around The President’s Summit for America’s Future, which convenes in Philadelphia next week (April 27-29), many nonprofits are bracing for an influx of well-meaning people who don’t have a clue about effective volunteering.

And since most nonprofits suffered through the last two decades with dwindling numbers of volunteers, they simply aren’t prepared to manage large groups of people showing up on their doorsteps demanding to help.

The conference seemed like a good idea at the time, but the potential flood of helpers may be a disaster for nonprofits. The problems lie in the inability to place volunteers because of the incomprehensible way nonprofits have grown from cottage industries to sophisticated enterprises in the last dozen years.

The fact is, many well-meaning individuals will not have the skills needed to effectively help organizations that now employ trained social workers, relief experts and education professionals. On the other hand, those with marketplace skills can be overly confident about the experience they bring from their for-profit world, unintentionally insulting people who have worked long and hard to develop programs with benchmarks that do not include profit margins.

To solve this dilemma, both an institutional and individual approach is needed. First, dollars must be committed to nonprofits for training and development of volunteer programs. The cover story in the current Chronicle of Philanthropy warns organizations they need to gear up for this influx, even to the point of shifting dollars from programs to training.


But most organizations simply don’t have the funds to make such a shift and will need the help of foundations, corporations, and perhaps, the government on a short-term basis. After all, it is the decrease in welfare funding that has created the increased need for services at the very time organizations are expected to train new volunteers.

But most importantly, individuals inclined to volunteer must take some time to assess themselves and their motives. A volunteer in today’s world needs more than just a good heart. If you are considering becoming a volunteer, you need most, if not all, of the following characteristics:

_ Honesty. Before you offer to help, think about your motives. Are you volunteering out of guilt? What are you expecting to get from the experience? Are your feelings easily hurt or do you often feel unappreciated? (If you answered yes to the last question, forget about volunteering.)

_ Humility. A successful volunteer experience will teach you more than you can imagine. But you must start with an open mind and a willingness to understand the needs as the organization sees them. You may, in fact, have to offer your portfolio of skills much as you do when you look for a paying job. Once you find an organization that needs your help, try to avoid coming in with suggestions and ideas to improve the program. Listen, observe and offer to do whatever tasks are needed. Volunteers earn the right to be heard.

_ Hopefulness. If you like quick turnarounds and fast results, you will have a hard time finding satisfaction in many volunteer situations. Charities often work with hurting people and broken social structures. It takes months or years to make a real difference in most cases. Some people work for a decade before they see one “success” story. Cynics need not apply, but neither should those who are overly fond of happily-ever-after endings.

The work at Third Street Church continues, even when I can’t be there because I am traveling or my schedule is too full. That is the case for most charities, which continue working diligently whether volunteers show up or not. Many groups have accommodated do-good dabblers with short attention spans and busy lives, but few have come to count on them. To do so would jeopardize the real mission.


So as the excitement over volunteerism increases, let’s not forget the intended beneficiaries of all this enthusiastic support. Otherwise, our good intentions could overwhelm the very people who have been doing good all along.

MJP END BOURKE

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