Is Your Volunteer Service Worth It?

I posted previously about the notion that in service, you will be trampled upon.  If you've ever been involved in any kind of volunteer activity, you know that sometimes, unfortunately, there comes a moment when you stop in your tracks and say "what the heck am I doing this for?"  There are days when you really feel beat up in doing good.  Before you throw in the clipboard and walk away, take a step back, breathe, focus, and re-evaluate.

Take a step back.  How much of your time and energy are you putting into this activity or organization? Is it so much that you are taking away valuable, needed time from your own personal pursuits in a negative way?  Obviously, when volunteering, you are giving of that primary, finite resource of time, but is it to the detriment of other things you hold important?  If so, how can you manage your time better?  Perhaps limit the number of hours you spend on the activity on a daily or weekly basis, whichever is more appropriate.  I know some people who hold Board and leadership  positions in organizations who set "office hours" to handle emails, phone calls, and administrative tasks.  Find a way for your time to be spent in a valuable way.

Breathe.  A friend of mine who is a life coach and wonderful spirit, reminds me to do this simple thing. Darrilyn of Delicious Life Coach, even wrote out instructions on how to do it - who knew we could be better at this natural thing? But it's kinda required for life, so its a good thing to improve.  [BREATHE]

Remind yourself of your purpose. So many times we get into an organization to do good - teach children to read, save the whales, plant trees, build playgrounds - and then we get embroiled in the politics and procedures and personal motives and we lose our focus. All the sudden we're fighting to be the queen of the hill, waving our supposed purpose as our flag, as an accessory.  In everything, make sure you can see the "why," not just yourself in the media clip.

Re-evaluate. This might be the hardest part of all, especially when doing something you love.  Re-evaluate your purpose and that of your organization. Are they aligned in the way you thought they were?  Perhaps you thought you'd be building shelters for the homeless, but come to find out the organization is about painting the walls of mansions. Now, next question: which is it easier to change, your purpose or the organization's?

Volunteering is supposed to be easy, right? Show up, hand out a few canned goods, everyone's happy, and you get that warm, tingly feeling in your soul. And then you decide to help organize the canned food drive and find the shelters to support, then you've got to go to meetings, and get, like, actually involved.  And then you realize this volunteering thing is work. And someone's got to do it. And it's okay if it's you, just make sure its the work you want to do.

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Are you part of the 80% or 20%? #GivingTuesday

What will you give on #GivingTuesday?

I am what some have termed a “professional volunteer.” I’m an active PTA mom, I help out with the summer swim team, I’m a Girl Scout troop leader, I crochet scarves for homeless women, I assist with my sorority conferences. Yes, I’m busy. But here’s the thing, between you and I, a quietly kept secret. I don’t volunteer for everything. There are some “signup to volunteer” messages that I hit “delete.” Guiltily so, but I do.

I believe in the 80/20 rule. I accept it – 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.  I know that often, I am part of the 20%.  I’m now telling myself that I don’t always have to be part of 20%, sometimes I can be part of the crowd of folks that sits back and enjoys the fruits of everyone else’s volunteer efforts.  That’s fair, right?

I’ve never heard of the 100/100 rule, meaning that all of the work is shared equally among all of the people. In fact, I’ve never been involved in an organization where that has been true. Never.  I will thus conclude that this is an improbability of human nature.

Instead, I think that everybody can do something. I have friends who pay their PTA dues and then leave everything else to people like me.  And in turn, I do nothing more than show up and cheer at my daughter’s basketball games, while other parents man the clock and keep the statistics and blow up basketballs.  I manage the ticket sales of our sorority’s fundraising event to support our scholarship program, but I don’t tutor at the high school.  This balance seems fair in the overall cosmos of volunteering, right?

No-one should be dragged into volunteering.  It’s like the Bible says about tithing, you should do it willingly and happily, not grudgingly.  You should consider what you have to offer and where you can make a contribution.  We all do have something to offer, we all can make a difference, we all have value.  And there’s the perfect spot for everyone to share their gifts.  If we each give somewhere, then we all can rest sometine, too.  If we all take turns being part of the 20%, 100% of the work will get done.

What will you give?

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#GivingTuesday - What Shall I Give?

I caught on to the idea of #GivingTuesday too late last year - maybe on Monday, still full on sweet potato pie and lazy from hanging around the house all weekend.

Having missed it in it's inaugural year, I was excited a couple weeks ago when I got an invitation to be a social media ambassador for this movement to encourage people to give back to their community.  After we enjoy the turkey, spend all our money on Black Friday, over the weekend, and on Cyber Monday, what's there to do next?  Give!  Now that I'm in it, I'll be honest with you and say I need to think of what my giving will be.

Don't get me wrong. I volunteer and donate to my community all year long. Whether through the PTA or my church or alumni association or sorority, or just helping the kids gather cans for the local canned food drive, I try to do my part.  But for this #GivingTuesday, it should be something specific, right? Something on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

While I think, you can check out more about it on the website - #GivingTuesday. If you decide to participate, let me know in the comments below.  Or if you have a suggestion for me, tell me that below, too!

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