International scope - mentioning several countries

In this issue,Voices revisits two favorite Volunteer Engagement “voices” to debate a topic that could not be more timely today: Are we using the wrong model for volunteer work? In this repost of an April 2003 column by the late Susan J. Ellis and Steve McCurley, these two co-founders of e-Volunteerism, now known as Engage, discuss what happens when the patterns of volunteering change but the models and structures to support Volunteer Engagement remain the same.

What does the volunteering movement want from politicians in an election year? What efforts should Volunteer Leaders make to try and influence political outcomes and government? What important issues should the sector rally around and why is advocacy in the political arena so difficult for Volunteer Engagement professionals? And last but not least, what exactly is this notion of “tragically hip” and “terminal uniqueness”?

In this quarter’s Points Of View (POV), we wanted to lift the curtain a bit and give our readers a glimpse behind the scenes. Because, honestly, writing these articles isn’t easy. Well, that’s not strictly true. We have lots of fun actually putting the words on the page and knocking drafts backwards and forwards between us. But having ideas for us to write about? That can be hard.

There is a long tradition in Volunteer Engagement of focusing on the things we want, the things we feel we don’t have. Whether it’s more power, resources or respect, we give an inordinate amount of our time, dialogue and effort as a profession to the things we perceive we lack. This got us wondering, as we lead up to International Volunteer Manager’s Day on November 5: “What would change if we got what we wanted?”  

I have worked as a Leader of Volunteer Engagement in Australia for more than 20 years. In 2021, I was given the incredible opportunity to take on the role of Senior Manager of Volunteer Engagement with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL), a social justice organisation working alongside people experiencing disadvantage to address the fundamental causes of poverty in Australia.