Welcome back! I am continuing to respond to the questions from ADF members directed to the candidates running for office.
Today's responses relate to the subjects of Volunteers.
AP: Volunteer recruitment and burnout are big problems. Do you have any plans to address either of those issues?
SB: how do you plan to cultivate membership and volunteers? kind of goes hand in hand with Ashley's question.
The most common complaint from volunteers in any organization is lack of appreciation. Volunteers do hard work at what can be considered “thankless” jobs. For that reason, I believe that recognition of that work is even more vital for volunteer work than it is for compensated work. Our volunteers need a “raise” – they need to know that we understand how much effort they are putting forth and that it has real value to us.
Much of the work of our volunteers is done “behind the scenes.” We see numbers on a report that say we have the same number of members as the last report. But they don’t tell the whole story… sometimes, we lose one protogrove but gain another. A lot of work goes into that, and I do not just mean by the administrator. That new protogrove gains a mentor or two, maybe some of its members also gain individual mentors for the DP, which means that they also then have someone reviewing that paperwork. Depending where the new protogrove is located, nearby groves might reach out in welcome. Their Regional Druid certainly does. But the numbers on the paperwork show us none of that activity.
And that is just one example. Recognizing what ALL the jobs are and sharing that information is one way to recruit volunteers. Another is to ask our members what their strengths are, so that we know what skills are available to us. We do this at our day jobs with very little thought, but for some reason, we struggle with this in volunteer organizations. Doesn’t everyone in the office know that if you are struggling with an excel formula, Mike is the go-to person to help sort it quickly and get back on task? They store this information in a sort of informal memory database, which gets updated every time someone new gets hired. We could do the same thing electronically, with a database or even using google docs.
Once our volunteers know that we value and appreciate their time, we need to help them manage their time efficiently. I think a lot of our positions are daunting, because they seem to encompass such a wide variety of issues or because they involve such a large amount of work. Who can afford to have a “day job” alongside a spiritual practice and a personal life and still volunteer 20 hours a week? Not most of us. However, if we were to break those down into smaller chunks, things that could be accomplished in 3 hours or even 5 hours a week, we would also be likely to get more volunteers.
And we need to learn a better use of the word “no.” We tend to turn to the same core group of volunteers consistently, believing it is better to ask the person who has always managed to get things done before than it is to take a chance on a new volunteer. I think this is just basic human nature – reliability over uncertainty makes sense. But by not saying “no, you have too much on your plate already, let’s give someone else a try” we are forcing the very burnout we wish we could avoid.
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| Image by Gerd Altmann (Creative Commons CC0) |
AP: Volunteer recruitment and burnout are big problems. Do you have any plans to address either of those issues?
SB: how do you plan to cultivate membership and volunteers? kind of goes hand in hand with Ashley's question.
The most common complaint from volunteers in any organization is lack of appreciation. Volunteers do hard work at what can be considered “thankless” jobs. For that reason, I believe that recognition of that work is even more vital for volunteer work than it is for compensated work. Our volunteers need a “raise” – they need to know that we understand how much effort they are putting forth and that it has real value to us.
Much of the work of our volunteers is done “behind the scenes.” We see numbers on a report that say we have the same number of members as the last report. But they don’t tell the whole story… sometimes, we lose one protogrove but gain another. A lot of work goes into that, and I do not just mean by the administrator. That new protogrove gains a mentor or two, maybe some of its members also gain individual mentors for the DP, which means that they also then have someone reviewing that paperwork. Depending where the new protogrove is located, nearby groves might reach out in welcome. Their Regional Druid certainly does. But the numbers on the paperwork show us none of that activity.
And that is just one example. Recognizing what ALL the jobs are and sharing that information is one way to recruit volunteers. Another is to ask our members what their strengths are, so that we know what skills are available to us. We do this at our day jobs with very little thought, but for some reason, we struggle with this in volunteer organizations. Doesn’t everyone in the office know that if you are struggling with an excel formula, Mike is the go-to person to help sort it quickly and get back on task? They store this information in a sort of informal memory database, which gets updated every time someone new gets hired. We could do the same thing electronically, with a database or even using google docs.
Once our volunteers know that we value and appreciate their time, we need to help them manage their time efficiently. I think a lot of our positions are daunting, because they seem to encompass such a wide variety of issues or because they involve such a large amount of work. Who can afford to have a “day job” alongside a spiritual practice and a personal life and still volunteer 20 hours a week? Not most of us. However, if we were to break those down into smaller chunks, things that could be accomplished in 3 hours or even 5 hours a week, we would also be likely to get more volunteers.
And we need to learn a better use of the word “no.” We tend to turn to the same core group of volunteers consistently, believing it is better to ask the person who has always managed to get things done before than it is to take a chance on a new volunteer. I think this is just basic human nature – reliability over uncertainty makes sense. But by not saying “no, you have too much on your plate already, let’s give someone else a try” we are forcing the very burnout we wish we could avoid.
This is a question that I posed to Rev Matthew, but I think it relates to the above as well. I was reading a couple of articles by Isaac Bonewits yesterday. In one he said, "Every member of ADF has both the opportunity and the obligation to contribute her or his time, money, energy and talents to the adventure." I think that encouraging more volunteers is a struggle and not just in ADF. Certainly, there are many people who have family and work commitments that keep them from volunteering. For those that have the time but don't volunteer, I suspect they don't realize that with volunteering we often gain far more than we give. How do we light the fire in people so that they have the passion to give their time, energy, and talents? How do we get new people to view this as a great adventure? Because we are so spread out and so many are working as solitaries, I think it might be hard for people working on their own to really get the same sense of community that those who live in places where there is a grove to attend do. I do think that ADF is making efforts to build community but there is always more to do. As a non-officer director, how do you see your role as a community builder in our organization?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great question.
DeleteFirst and foremost, I think that the best way to accomplish anything in an organization is to serve as an example. It is always difficult to convince others to do things that you are not willing to do yourself.
Next, I think we need to identify and respond to the reasons that people are not already volunteering.
We have both already mentioned a lack of time, and I believe that this is perhaps one of the biggest obstacles. Whether it is an actual lack of time, or merely the perception of not having enough time to accomplish a daunting task, breaking opportunities into smaller chunks and assisting in the development of time management skills are the best ways to combat the time factor.
Additionally, I believe that some folks lack the confidence in themselves to volunteer. They may not believe that they have the necessary skills, or they may be afraid of making a mistake or being judged by their peers. The best way to address such issues is by creating a culture where people are able to explore their own abilities and where mistakes are not judged too harshly. Essentially, we need to build a positive and safe space for ourselves and others to be vulnerable.
As NOD, I believe my role is listen to other members - not just to hear their concerns, but to also get to know them as individuals - and to bring their concerns before the Mother Grove to be addressed. As Herald at Cedarsong, I reached out to each new member in our state with an informal “letter of introduction” which mentioned not just my grove, but also the other groves in our state. That email also included a sincere offer to help with any questions they might have. I did so with the understanding that while I might not already know the answer, I would be able to find someone who did.
ADF is a network of individuals, each with their own special skills and unique viewpoints. Therefore, the more individuals I am able to reach out to and connect with, the better I am able to help others create connections. Those direct connections foster precisely the kind of passion that can lead to involvement. By asking someone a question that you know they have the answer to, you instill in them the confidence that they can, in fact, contribute in a meaningful way.
To bring this back around, I believe all of this is wrapped up in leading by example, and even from my position as "general member" I strive to practice what I preach. For example, earlier this week, I had a conversation with a member regarding an idea and recalled speaking awhile ago with a different member who was independently working on a similar concept. These members were completely unaware that the other was exploring something similar. Because I was able to make that connection, they are both now aware and have the option of joining their efforts.