Volunteerism in a new mode

By Kathleen Speakman

I recently completed a five year stint starting up and running BC’s first venture philanthropy organization. Venture philanthropy combines the pooled funds of individual donors, their expertise and the energy and ideas of entrepreneurial not-for-profit leaders to grow and scale innovative community organizations. In the process of matching “high capacity" volunteers with highly entrepreneurial not-for-profit managers and board members, I had the opportunity of observing volunteerism in a new mode.

The new “fit”
The new donors/volunteers are confident entrepreneurs, having accomplished business success at a comparatively younger age than previous generations; they have a strong sense of agency, believing implicitly in their ability to make change; and they have built their successes on multi-dimensional support networks. All of these attributes make them a good fit with an emerging type of not-for-profit leader.

These are the leaders of newer, mainly grassroots organizations; the groups have a hunger for human resources – the more grassroots they are, the more appetite they have; their managers and board members have a healthy dose of opportunism and aggressively prospect for support from a wide range of sources.

These organizations don’t have the means of managing volunteers in the traditional sense, with job descriptions, clearly delineated work plans, timelines and the resources to support them; what their leaders do have going for them is that they welcome the chance to engage in a working relationship with someone who may express forceful opinions but who also has the expertise to move their organization to another level.

A shift in the WHY of volunteering
Reflecting on the interactions of these kinds of volunteer/manager teams, I believe we’re seeing a shift in the WHY of volunteering, at least within this demographic.

The new donors/volunteers want:

• to contribute their specialized abilities and skills rather than “give back”
• to invest rather than “care”
• to deliver an outcome rather than “donate time”
• to tap their networks and leverage awareness, business services, real assets, more people like themselves – rather than “advocate”

The “new” not-for-profit leaders are looking for volunteers:

• to implement a business process, a system, a software tool, a quality initiative, a human resources practice – rather than “help”
• to increase their organization’s talent base rather than “recruit”
• to accomplish a more integrated organizational goal-set rather than “fundraise”
• to connect with more influencers in a multi-stakeholder environment rather than “attract new donors”

The “new” rules of engagement
For the person who fits the “new” volunteer profile, here are a few tips for meeting your own expectations when you get engaged with this type of not-for-profit:

• take a learning/listening approach – mission-driven enterprises are of necessity quite different from bottom-line-driven enterprises.
• understand that the organization is a social change organization – it was created to make a difference (which is what you want to do); the group is trying to distribute power more equitably in our society so be prepared to empower others, rather than to take charge.
• keep in mind that you are entering the not-for-profit’s world from a comparative position of privilege – plan on sharing the benefits of that privilege.

For the not-for-profit manager looking to engage this new kind of volunteer, some of the tried and true rules still apply:

• take time to clarify and understand the person’s interests and motivations.
• encourage, acknowledge, recognize – in other words, be a good people leader.

The new reality means new approaches too:

• high capacity volunteers need more one-to-one time, but since they produce more, you can be more selective in choosing volunteers.
• volunteers new to not-for-profits, and especially those who highly value their own time and abilities, often want to see quick and dramatic results; so educate them early and frequently as to the scope and scale of your change model and its impact, no matter how modest.

Isn’t this what it has always been about?
All of this might be interpreted by some as a disappointing shift in values on the part of a new generation of volunteers and not-for-profit leaders, from good-heartedness to uninspired pragmatism. However, it turns out that the leading outcomes of many of these engagements are relationships of tremendous mutuality.

Jointly vesting in strategically important projects compels volunteer/not-for-profit teams to work intensively together for success. In these circumstances people not only learn but also actively integrate new processes, systems and practices; further and perhaps more significantly, many on both sides of the exchange also experience a broadening of their outlooks and attitudes. These are the kinds of society altering changes that the voluntary sector advocates for and that volunteerism, in whatever form, definition or fashion - will surely always be about.

About Kathleen Speakman
Kathleen Speakman is Strategic Advisor for the Centre for Sustainability. From 2002 to 2007, she was the Executive Director of BC Technology Social Venture Partners (BCT SVP), a charitable foundation that seeks to catalyze significant, long-term positive social change by encouraging individuals to be well informed, effective and engaged philanthropists, while investing time, expertise and money in innovative not-for-profit organizations. Kathleen holds an MBA from SFU and has taught strategic planning and management skills for the not-for-profit sector at SFU and BCIT.

About Volunteer Vancouver

The mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Vancouver.

Volunteer Vancouver
1183 Melville, Vancouver, BC
V6E 2X5 Canada
t 604.875.9144
f 604.875.0710
www.volunteervancouver.ca

A United Way Member Organization and funded in part by the City of Vancouver.