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Volunteering We See but Don't Recognize

Posted on 24 February 2008 by Ned, a 26-year volunteer fire fighter with an Australian Volunteer Fire Brigade, Australia
There is another area of volunteering which often goes unrecognised due to the fact that it is highly conspicuous, that is, of course, the emergency service volunteer. More often than not, these people are dressed the same and perform the same as their paid counterparts. They are always there putting their lives at risk, not for pay or recognition, but for the sense of community. These are often uniformed volunteers in a system which has limited access to National Honours and awards, but due to the stringent rules governing such awards, only the very best of the best get awarded such honours. It is these volunteers who would certainly benefit from an award of the calibre of the IYV Medal, designed by the UN for member organisations to award for volunteer service in 2001, (International Year of the Volunteer). Such an award was instituted by the New Zealand Government as a national award and all volunteer fire fighters in NZ during 2001 received them. This was a brilliant morale boost and would be a wonderful thing to continue on the 10 year anniversary of IYV, (IYV+10).

I would like to lobby the UN to make this an official UN award, like the awards for peace keepers, which is awarded to volunteer EMS workers across the world. The reason for this is that many governments, state and federal, tend to place such an initiative in the too hard basket and more often than not, nothing actually gets done until the last minute, so it's a case of "let's run off a few thousand pretty bits of paper and have a barbecue to make it look like we care."

Posted on 3 October by Roger Carr, Owner, Everyday Giving, Fredricksburg VA USA
Volunteers give their time to make a difference. They want to use their knowledge, skills and experiences to respond to a cause they are passionate about. They want to feel appreciated and respected. They want to see the impact of their efforts.

Many of the less formal volunteer projects provide these experiences to their volunteers. They are fueled more by passion than business. They typically provide more active and influential roles for volunteers. If a more formal volunteer project doesn't view and use their volunteer force as an extension of the staff, they are going to continue to have more difficulty over time. Gone are the days when volunteers are only used for stuffing envelopes or knocking on doors asking for donations.

Posted on 7 September 2007 by Karen Kogler, The Equipper Church, Volunteerism Resources, Palatine, Illinois USA
The struggle with terminology in the volunteer management field reflect the larger issue you bring up here, Susan, of just what volunteerism encompasses. I like your definition of "the things that people do collectively in their spare time to achieve a goal through group effort." I work in church volunteer management where we too struggle with terminology and definitions. Increasing the ways we can work and learn together benefit all of us.

Posted on 4 September 2007 by Hillary Roberts, PLNJ, Inc., President, Keyport/NJ USA
A topic close to my volunteering heart, Susan! At the core of every non profit organization was (and if they are true to mission still exists) that initial group of trail blazers who stood tall as visionaries and laid the blueprint for what is now a well-established national non profit. We can look to most large npo's and find the "volunteer start up story."

What saddens me is when a grassroots, or all volunteer organization, is disrespected. Pushed aside as "some other form" of charity. Some charitable missions do not require a paid staff, a commercial space or a transportation fleet. Some very valuable community outreach is accomplished through the support of quality citizens, TIME givers and compassionate spirits. We need to not only admit but relish that leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. That kind of generosity should not be taken for granted.

How do we change perception? One thought, volunteers, not paid staffers, should conduct workshops on this topic. Volunteer leaders should be included at conferences; invited to speak about their tools and techniques as front line advocates and insiders. I'd like to see a national/international, all-volunteer Leadership Speaker's Bureau.

Instead of attending a workshop on HOW to recruit, retain and recognize volunteers offer a workshop that outlines HOW volunteers think, lead and provide some of the best field resources an agency can hope for!

In other words, we all need to welcome and recognize the value of people placed in active volunteer positions to better understand the gaps bridged through the commitment of all volunteer groups and more non profits need to remember their grass-roots.

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