volunteerplaintalk

Tag: volunteering benefits

  • Benefits of Volunteering: Does Research Miss the Mark?

    “Go volunteer, it’s good for you,” is sorta like looking at a spectacular sunrise and saying, “yep, that’s pretty.” But what exactly does volunteering do for us?

    Many highly respected sources have looked into why volunteering is good for our well-being and their research centers mainly around a given premise.

    Research into volunteering’s benefits on well-being

    One recent article states: “when we help others, we tend to experience what researchers call a warm glow. Second, volunteering is likely to help boost our sense of social connection.”

    https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_volunteering_can_help_your_mental_health

    The premise surrounding volunteering’s benefits typically focuses on our need to belong and the “helper’s high.” Research also concludes there are benefits from sharpening skills that translate into job searching, especially for younger volunteers. And then, researchers conclude that “more research needs to be done.”

    Researchers, here’s my gift to you. Over the years, I’ve witnessed volunteering benefits I haven’t heard anyone talk about. (except other volunteer managers)

    I’m no psychologist and don’t pretend to be one, (unless I can’t get caught) although one time, when I was introduced to a therapist who was seeing a friend of mine, he fixed me in his gaze and said, “stop practicing without a license.” Ok, you got me. But what I’ve seen through the years in volunteering is:

    Volunteering removes a multitude of inner pressures the volunteer feels in everyday life. For instance:

    • Was I paid fairly for my work? Do I make enough money? (when there’s no money involved, guess what? Everyone is paid fairly.)
    • Am I less than any other volunteer? (no, because when I’m connecting with someone who’s hurting, it makes no difference what my title is, how much money I have, how beautiful I am etc.)
    • Is every little thing being criticized/analyzed? (in most cases no-I’m pretty much given encouragement; my volunteer manager is like a coach and has sincere faith in my abilities.)
    • Am I appreciated for what I do or am I just a cog in the wheel? (I feel welcomed when I’m told how needed I am, how much I’m appreciated for showing up. Imagine that happening at my job? Ok, maybe at first, but every time I show up? Ha!)

    But wait, there’s more:

    Volunteering’s additional benefits:

    • There’s a sense of newness/wonder.(I’m excited to come once or twice a week/month etc. and reinvigorate my volunteering.)
    • I can relax and be accepted for who I am. (After my initial nervousness, I realized the organization is pretty chill and a whole heap of pressure came off. I found I’m a lot more talented than I thought.)
    • I’m doing this because I want to. (no one’s making me show up. I’m here because I want to be here. I’m here because I feel good being here. I call it, “my time to be me.” I feel free from the pressures to be a partner, a worker, a parent, a neighbor, and someone’s child. I feel those expectations lift and you know what? I’m a better at all of the above because I’m proving to myself that I’m a good person.)
    • I am doing something meaningful, something altruistic, something free of bringing me money or fame or influence. This has a more pure feel to it. (and thanks to my wonderful volunteer manager, I understand my contributions are really helping. I know my time is valued.)
    • I’ve got a chance to be good on a level playing field. (I feel like my life is kind of a mess right now, but here, I’m told my volunteering is amazing. You know what? I believe my volunteer manager. I can see for myself. My volunteering is amazing and I’m kinda amazing after all.)
    • This is a safe-haven in my storm of life. (wow, how wonderful to have a place to go where I’m encouraged, cared about and can focus on something other than what’s happening in my life. It’s my place of refuge.)
    • My inner skills come out. (I didn’t realize how good I was at relating to people or solving problems or getting things done until I was given the freedom to explore my talents. )
    • I’m connecting with people I’d never get to meet. (New connections open my world, and reinforce my hope that humanity is basically good)
    • I’m learning and growing.

    Research is wonderful, but it needs to look deeper. It needs to ask, “what stifling pressures are lifted when people volunteer? What potentials do people discover when stepping outside their boxes?” And finally, “what well-being benefits are hiding just beneath the surface?”

    In my mind, volunteering is the freedom to be human. It’s complicated, but so basic. Volunteering can peel away the everyday pressures we feel and free us to be our most genuine human selves, the selves we yearn to be.

    who has the answers?

    Maybe researchers could save some time by asking volunteer managers what volunteering benefits they’ve witnessed. You know, expand the research a bit?

    Or wait. Maybe, just maybe, researchers could look into the role a welcoming and vibrant volunteer initiative plays in creating an atmosphere in which a volunteer’s well-being increases. And, oh, yeah, maybe ask what role a competent and knowledgeable volunteer manager who coaches, encourages, mentors, and builds up the volunteer plays in furthering a volunteer’s well-being.

    Hey! Maybe there’s a direct correlation.

    -Meridian

    oh, for more reading (cause ya can’t get enough, right?), here’s an older post on gathering some of these statistics and showcasing them. Maybe researchers would start to take notice.

    Is it Time to Start Selling Volunteer Perfume?

  • Mono or Multi? Voluntasking is the Answer

    office mail business work
    Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

    Greta’s hand was shaking. Three recent volunteer requests needed her attention. One of her volunteers, Serena, was on the phone with a major problem. End of month reports were due at 5pm and Greta hadn’t gotten the chance to record all the available volunteer hours. Matt, a recent graduate of the latest volunteer orientation was standing in her doorway. He needed a dose of her encouragement. She could feel her heart racing. How would she be able to do it all?

    Multi-tasking vs. single or mono-tasking. A 2009 study of heavy media multitaskers versus light media multitaskers from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America revealed that heavy media multitaskers are more likely to be affected by random, non-essential stimuli. And here’s the surprising results. Heavy media multitaskers performed worse than light media multitaskers on a task-switching ability test, instead of performing better as expected. It seems as though multi-tasking actually hinders our ability to concentrate.

    There is one tremendous benefit we seldom speak of in describing volunteer contributions. Volunteers are more able to focus on a single task than harried staff who are juggling multiple duties at one time. We, volunteer managers know this from experience. Take Greta in the example above. Can she possibly bring her best to each task in front of her? Will she be able to give her undivided attention to Matt, or to Serena? Will she find the concentration necessary to fill the volunteer tasks? Can she actually clear her mind to gather and record the volunteer hours for her report, not to mention adding the additional stats and stories she knows will make her report more impactful? Or will her attention dart back and forth, splitting her cognitive abilities into tiny, unusable pieces?

    No, not with all the external stimuli that fractures her attention. This inability to do superhuman multitasking is one of the reasons we, volunteer managers ask for volunteer help with our workload. We realize that a competent volunteer can do a job that might take us ten times as long to do, because we are in a constant state of being distracted.

    We’ve seen it so many times. Give a volunteer a desk and a light and they will power through an assignment. Volunteers possess the trifecta of task accomplishment:

    • The will or passion
    • The time
    • The focus

    We need to highlight this overlooked asset and properly showcase it as a benefit derived from embracing volunteer help . We can start by asking staff and senior management these questions:

    • If you had two hours a day to focus on one task without interruption, what could you accomplish?
    • Do you often feel like you are being pulled in multiple directions and you can’t concentrate?
    • What would it mean to you if you could offload a portion of your work so that you could give your attention to the tasks you feel are critical to your job and our mission?
    • Do you feel that being pulled in so many directions actually helps or hinders your ability to reach your goals?

    And here’s the kicker question:

    Do you really think that someone who is passionate about helping, can sit and actually focus on the task at hand and is willing to devote the time to getting it done will do a much poorer job than the person who is continuously pulled in every direction?

    If you want to have some fun, at the next staff meeting, ask staff to take out a piece of paper. Announce a phrase, such as “volunteers are great.” Ask staff to spell the phrase out loud while writing their names and addresses on their piece of paper. You’ll get laughs and groans, but it will take a good chunk of time as their brains switch back and forth between tasks. And it won’t help that they are being distracted by the reactions of their fellow staff members around them.

    Now point out that this is their reality. Ask them (in all seriousness) why they wouldn’t want a volunteer, one who is capable, and has the will, time and focus to accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently, helping them.

    Non-profits are notoriously understaffed and overburdened. The reluctance to seek volunteers’ help is holding missions back from great accomplishments. The mind-destroying multi-tasking world in which non-profit staff find themselves can be alleviated by the help of focused volunteers.

    We can encourage our organizations to take advantage of volunteer help for many reasons, all of them sound. One simple, but overlooked reason is voluntasking: the passion and ability of volunteers to devote the time it takes to focus on one task, thus accomplishing it faster and with more accuracy and freeing up staff to concentrate on mission centric goals.

    Or, we can all continue to cling to our workloads and keep multitasking. But, if we do, we’d better learn to love mediocrity and burnout.

    -Meridian