The Meaning of Volunteerism
- Helen Zhao
- Sep 10, 2019
- 4 min read
“I need a volunteer. Anyone?”
Sound familiar?
Most of us have volunteered at one time or another. Although no one ever gets paid a buck, volunteers never seem to be on short supplies.
Why do people volunteer? Have we really thought about it? Is it really just altruism?
This is a tough question to answer. Being an old timer volunteer myself, I’ve been conversing with others on this topic and have always been intrigued by the reasons they have for volunteerism. I am super into getting to know what motivates people to contribute, so I got to share with you my findings.
Pretty much, below are the 12 common reasons, based on my conversations with volunteers.
Learning: Acquire new skills and improve existing ones
Internship: Get relevant working experience, or work experience components required by their programs
Networking: Expand professional network and build connections
Culture integration: Familiarize with local culture, customs, and learn to communicate in the local language
Business development: Get new businesses; bring products/ services onto the market
Leadership: Acquire, Improve and practice leadership
Get extract pay cheque: If the volunteer position is sponsored by the government, the volunteer gets compensated
Part of the job requirement
Build a better work relationship with the boss
Fill the void: Escape loneliness or boredom by bonding with others
A sense of belonging: Want to find a group where they belong
Altruism: giving makes them happy. They contribute without expecting anything in return
Then, let’s see who belongs to each group. Read on.
Learning: People with a growth mindset
Internship: Students or professionals who are enrolled in a program
Networking: Everyone. Mostly students, new graduates, industrial professionals, and business owners
Culture integration: Mostly newcomers. Sometimes exchange students
Business development: Startup and business owners; business development managers/ associates
Leadership: People in managerial and executive roles, leaders and future leaders.
Get extract pay cheque: Corporate / government employees who want to be paid extra
Part of the job responsibility: People who work for organizations that value volunteering as much as paid roles
Build a better work relationship with the boss: Those who want to know their bosses a bit more so they’ve chosen to volunteer with them off site
Fill the void: Mostly individuals in career transition, unemployed individuals, or retirees
A sense of belonging: People who look for a place to belong
Altruism: The givers, genuine people, the “Saint”
Altruism is volunteerism in its purest form: it used to be what drives people to volunteer. These days, people have developed their own “motivator” when it comes to volunteer for a cause. Believe it or not, altruism is barely anyone’s ONLY reason to volunteer nowadays, and no one does it JUST for the desire to give back.
The bottom line is, our time is just as valuable as others. Since volunteers’ time and effort is never compensated in monetary term (while they also have bills to pay), having personal reason or looking for personal gain is fairly reasonable. Who can blame volunteers for that?
Needless to say, altruism can no longer keep a volunteer fulfilled. Most people know how to develop their own agendas (not a bad thing at all).
If it’s not for any ‘selfish’ reasons, volunteers at least want to feel appreciated and valued for the work they do. They want others to feel their philanthropy work matters. The reality is, volunteers are not always being taken seriously, appreciated, and their values are usually unrecognized (what a bummer). Maybe that's why some prefer not to volunteer their time
Tell you what, volunteering is still important, despite the fact that not volunteer one’s time is always well justified. A common reason is the classic “I don’t have time.” You know what, no one has time. We make time for things that matter to us.
Here comes the fun part: in order to get people to do anything, you need to make them to see the “VALUE”.
You Ask: What is the “value” for volunteerism?
Answer: Win-win. While the volunteer organization enjoys your freebies, you must have learned valuable skills from doing what you do for a good period of time. Forget about the bullsh*t of being recognized or valued. Who cares? If you seriously want to grow yourself instead of just killing time, always opt for unfamiliar tasks, tough roles, and you gotta put in more hours on a weekly basis. The payback down the road is huge: what you have learned is forever yours and no one can take it away.
Still not convinced? What if it may get you a life partner down the road?
I’ve been a volunteer and member of SCMA (Supply Chain Management Association) since 2013. In January 2014, I met my husband Arnold for the first time when volunteering at the association’s dinner meeting in Calgary. Also a member, Arnold works for the association and he was the one who managed the event that day. We had a good conversation, dined together, and exchanged phone numbers before the night ended. We remained friends initially and started dating down the road. Now, we are happily married.
So singles, what are you waiting for?
Anyways, the point is, when you’ve planted hundreds of flowers, the unintended ones blossom. Same goes for volunteerism: you will never know who you may meet and bond with, what you’ve learned, and how much you can grow from that experience.
Before I close, I will leave you with this thought:
It doesn’t matter if anyone appreciates the work you did. Help building the community while growing yourself (win-win) is the meaning of volunteerism.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's. Assumptions made within this article do not necessarily represent author's opinions. The information contained in this article is not legal advice, and is intended solely to provide general guidance on matters of interest for the personal use of the reader, who accepts full responsibility for its use.
Photo Credits:
1) Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/
2) Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/