Volunteering

Volunteering is something that some people would like to do and it is something that I know that we do when we have the time. There are organization that take volunteers throughout the year because there is such a demand and then there are organizations that take volunteers at a specific time during the year to meet their demands. Organizations that take volunteers at a specific time during the year normally need the volunteers for a specific project or if there is training involved they want to do the training at a specific time.

When you ask a charity or organization if they need help when you put your hand up it is important to understand that you may get a variety of answers to that question like the following:

• What experience do you have volunteering with an organization like ours?
• What is your available time evenings, weekends, or weekdays?
• How much time are you willing to volunteer?
• What type of volunteer work are you looking to do?
• Where are you located? (this can happen when you apply for a volunteer position with an organization that is national and you don’t give your location)

Now here are some of the answers you might receive when you volunteer:

• Thank you for your interest, please let us know a good time to contact you and we can discuss how you can assist our organization.
• Thank you for your interest, at this time we are currently not accepting volunteers but will keep your name on file for when an opening comes up.
• Thank you for your interest but we are not accepting volunteers. Please try again at a later date.
• Thank you for your interest and we are having a meeting on (specific date) and look forward to meeting you then.

Sure the questions and answers are just a few ideas of what you might receive and you have to be willing to accept any of these. I work with an organization that does need volunteers for specific events and projects and we always have to ask where the person is located to see if volunteers are needed at the specific time. We always keep the contact information so that when we need volunteers we have a list of people we can reach out to.

When you get an email saying that an organization doesn’t currently have any positions available, understand that and appreciate that you get a response. Don’t get upset that they don’t have something immediately for you because everyone organization is different. Also it is important to understand that if you reply again with a tone of being upset that the organization cannot assist you immediately it doesn’t look good on you.

Volunteering is something that can be very rewarding but it can also require a lot of your time and energy and you have to know what is expected of you before you make the final commitment of your time for any organization.

If you want my help ask, don't assume

So many times you hear someone mention something that they would like to do and you are not sure if they are asking for help or not. If you want my help ask for it and don’t assume I am available to help or if I will offer to help.

I have run across times especially as a volunteer that you hear “oh, I figured you would be available to help”. I can only be available to help if I am asked to help and you give me some lead time about an event so that I can see if I am going to be available or not. I think this is one of the biggest frustrations for me and that is making the assumption that I am going to be available to do something just because you need the help. The other issue is when someone thinks just because I volunteer to help that it is automatic that my husband is going to be there as well. There have been times when one of us has the time to help with something and the other one is busy.

There are times that you listen to someone talk about something and it sounds like they are basically asking for help and when you offer you hear, “oh, no I don’t need the help you are too busy.” This is something else that people need to understand that if I am offering to help you, I am willing to help and just need to figure out things. Sure there may be times when we are just too busy to help with something but then we wouldn’t be offering to help but would be saying “I would have loved to help but given our schedule right now it isn’t possible.”

The other fun one is when someone is talking and sounding like they need the help and when you offer you hear, “oh no I am planning on doing this myself.” This is one that makes me laugh because the person has made it sound like they need the help and when you offer they want to do it themselves. At least I have offered to help so the person can’t complain that no one offered to help.

I have heard people complain that no one was willing to help them and it either was they never asked for help or when it was offered they didn’t want it. Now if you are going to say that no one was willing to help please make sure that you have asked for the help and not just assumed that people would be there to help out on your schedule.

It can be interesting when you know something is going to be happening and you figure that your help is needed but you aren’t asked until the last minute. We deal with this sometimes and it can be frustrating because you knew you needed the help at the beginning of your planning so even if you don’t have a plan totally figured out at least start asking people if they are going to be available around a given date to help. Just getting the date when something is and then hoping that people are going to be able to jump and help doesn’t always work. Also it can be a challenge to get people to help even with the notice but at least you have a better chance of getting the help.

So remember, if you need my help ask for it and don't’ assume I am going to be available to help. Volunteers are volunteers for a reason and one of those is because they only have a limited amount of time to give to a cause so respect that and ask for the help ahead of when you will need it.

Helping others

So many people try to help others are then get frustrated when it didn't work out how they expected it to work out.

If you are going to help someone out make sure that you understand everything and there is an agreement between you. Here are some things to think about:

• Understand your abilities and your available time.
• Understand what the other person requires and the time commitment.
• Make sure the two of you discuss the needs, abilities and timing
• Don't exaggerate your abilities as it could come back at you.
• If you are donating your time the other person needs to understand what time you have to do this thing.

It is very important to make sure that when you are helping others that there are some discussions as to what is expected, when it is expected and how it is to be delivered. I have heard of cases that a person has had just a couple of hours to donate to do something and the original job was going to take that long but the person or organization kept changing their minds so the job took a lot longer and took a lot longer than the couple of hours.

Making sure that there is a clear definition of what is expected is sometimes a challenge to get because in cases of organizations they are unsure of what is needed until something is started. Sometimes an organization may want something and they expectation is it will only take a couple of hours as they are just making some basic assumptions and don't understand the requirements.

As an organization it is also important to understand that individuals donating their time need to understand what is expected of them. It is also important for the organization to know that not everything is going to be available all the time to help with issues or projects. You also need to understand that a project may not be completed by one individual if the requirements keep changing.

Helping others especially when you are donating your time can be a challenge. Make sure you know what time you have available and communicate that up front so that everyone knows.

Volunteering

I have had the pleasure to be a volunteer for several years and for a number of different charities and non-profit organizations. Some of my volunteering has been donating some of my craft items to the organization so that they can either raffle the item off, give them to people who need them or in some cases even sell the items to help with programs for the children.

One thing I have seen is that different organizations treat their volunteers so differently. In some cases you hear nothing from the organization when you give them things that they have asked for and other ones either give you a call or an email or note to acknowledge what you have done.

I have also volunteered my time to some organizations, and again have been some extreme differences between how one volunteer is treated and another volunteer. If an organization wants to keep their volunteers, they need to ensure that they are treating all of their volunteers with respect and ensure that their effort is acknowledged. In one case that I can think of, three volunteers organized the same type of event and two heard the words thanks and the other one received a public thank you as well as a floral arrangement. No, the volunteers don't know that they were treated differently, but the organization sees how some leaders favour one volunteer over another volunteer.

The one situation that really got to me was the latest call that I got from an organization that I helped a couple of years ago. For this organization I donated a number of knit hats for children, and then I spent 5 Friday afternoons for one hour teaching kids from grade 1-5 to knit. It was a great time as I got to help kids learn something new for them. A couple of weeks ago, I received a call asking me if I would teach kids to knit during their summer camp. Each group goes for three weeks, so I would have 3 – 1-hour sessions with each group, this sounded not too bad. Now the only thing that really got me was this was the entire summer, and the organization would set the day and time that I would be teaching the knitting. I wouldn't have any input on the day or time, and considering this was for the entire summer, that doesn't work for me. When I said no, they just didn't seem to understand that committing one hour a week during the day is difficult for someone that works.

So, what I am really getting at is if you want someone to volunteer for your organization, you have to be willing to accept their schedule as part of it. In my case, if I had been given some input on the number of times, I taught the knitting and the day that worked best for me, I might have considered it.

Volunteers are people that are willing to give an organization some of their personal time for free, so remember you need to respect the volunteer and consider their schedule.