Volunteering

Volunteering is an activity whose purpose is to provide benefit and/or help to a program, group, or field. In most cases, volunteering is considered to be benevolent in nature. Often times there exists a duelist motivation for participating. A distinct personal motivation for accomplishing a task that has a public outcome.

In Portland there is a strong culture of participation in volunteering. Which is not to say there are many programs in the city, but rather the percentage of participation within these programs appear to be impressive. While in other regions of the United States, there exists an unspoken rule that 'volunteering is good' and 'good people volunteer' it is left as impersonal virtue at best. More often then not volunteering by virtue is enough to motivate a person to participate in a single volunteering event, such as a walk-a-thon to raise funding. However, this volunteering tends to be short-lived.

Sustainability

Sustainable volunteering is an idea that means more than some in Portland. It is not simply a buzzword for what might considered a noble characteristic, but rather a clear operational destination. It is not enough to say that sustainability is good for a volunteering program. In Portland it is a necessity.

Burnout & Churn

Most volunteer coordinators will agree that a key factor in volunteering is burn-out. This is also addressed in the business term churn, which identifies the relationship between the amount of new customers entering versus the amount of current customers leave. While Portland's noble tendency to participate is high, there still exists the constant burden of churn.

While most one-time events tend not to suffer churn only in its stages, such as planning and preparation. Churn is a sizable opponent to volunteering programs that depend on consistent reliable participation over a long time. This is because in these situations, the tasks tend to require training, and an initial investment on the behalf of the program to equip the new volunteer.

For example, training a new volunteer might require 6 hours from another volunteer. That is 6 hours of skilled volunteering (The ratio benefit is around 5:1 to unskilled hours). So the program is investing 30 hours in order to gain at the very least 30 hours return. Calculate that with the most common churn departure which usually happens around 10 to 12 hours. This puts programs at a negative 18 hours for every new volunteer that fails to follow-through.

The counter-churn activities tend to revolve around accurate disclosure of what the actual activities entail. Couple this with an in-depth interview and screen process. Unfortunately this is only a stop gap.

Personal Stories: The Volunteer's Super Fuel

What often proves to be a powerful motivator for consistent volunteering is a personal story. A situation that occurred in the past for a volunteer that serves as drive to participate in a related program. The more the volunteer participates, the more important the personal story becomes.

For example, a person might have suffered economical disaster in the past, leading to the humiliation of begging and homelessness. In their greatest time of need, they are blessed with access to a shelter. A shelter which is able to provide safety, food, and medical attention free of charge. This incredible gift not only ensured their survival, but allowed them to use what little resources they already had to recover from their situation. They eventually are successful in rejoining an economic class, but will forever remember time when they were cared for without expectation of return. This person, fueled by their past help, is perfectly suited to volunteer consistently, powerfully in a shelter related program.

Not all personal stories are as polar. The truth be told there is no formula, only a basic pattern that a program or idea has provided a benefit in a past, and now the volunteer can work to propel the values further by their involvement.