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Keyboard Roundtable participants from Australia , Canada , Rumania , the United
Kingdom, and the United States discuss what an "entrepreneurial volunteer" really
is (a pioneer or someone who doesn't like rules? a
blessing or a nightmare?) and how a volunteer program manager can welcome and
support out-of-the-box participants. Here's an excerpt from one of Abby
Dyson's ( UK ) comments:
One area of discussion that I'm particularly interested in exploring, and
finding solutions where there are obstacles, relates to that first group of
volunteers that Rob identified which is, in my opinion, very similar to the
final group that Linda refers to.
These are people who, for various reasons, are put off by the rules and
bureaucracies that exist. One set of reasons may relate to a lack of understanding,
time and/or willingness to navigate existing systems. Alternatively, perhaps
as in the case of Linda's expected experience as well as Ioana's volunteer,
there are people with a clear understanding of what they have to offer and/or
want to achieve (often they don't have both) and an expectation that the
organisations they work with will be able to accommodate them. The first
set of reasons will, I think, happily be tackled by Volunteering Managers
seeking to, as Adaire says, "institute good volunteer management
principles and practices" which will strip away the bad rules that may
have developed over time as well as effectively communicate the need for
good and necessary rules.
The second set of challenges are, I think, less likely to be embraced as the
solutions are less clear, more challenging and time-consuming.
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