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Volume III, Issue 1, October 2002

Innovations in Volunteerism


Keyboard Roundtables
Moderated by Rob Jackson
Participants:
Paddy Bowen, Andy Fryar, Minoru Kasai and Nora Silver

The future is very much on people’s minds at the moment. Whether related to the prospect of war or terrorism; to the discussions in many nations about retirement, pensions and healthcare during longer life; to our future as an increasingly global society; or to a myriad other reasons, the future is a very now issue.

What you have before you is a significant discussion by international experts and practitioners in volunteering management on our field’s future:  Paddy Bowen (Canada), Andy Fryar (Australia), Minoru Kasai (Japan), and Nora Silver (USA). 

Focusing on the key trends facing our volunteerism and the innovations that volunteering managers will need to develop to address those trends, this Keyboard Roundtable will allow you to stare Harry-Potter-like into the volunteerism crystal ball.

Some of the main themes emerging in the following discussion include:


  • Baby Boomers and whether or not they will constitute a volunteerism boom in coming years>

  • Corporate community involvement and employee volunteering

  • The role of government in volunteerism

  • The very nature of volunteerism and volunteering management

As is the norm for these Keyboard Roundtables, we gave our participants a series of questions to prompt their discussions and then stood back and let the discussion flow. So read on, and fill your immediate future with the views of our Keyboard Roundtable participants.


  1. What do you think have been the most significant innovations in volunteerism in the past ten years?’

  2. What innovations do you think will hit over the next ten years?’

  3. What innovations do you see the field of volunteerism having to develop to engage Baby Boomers?

  4. What is your biggest fear/nightmare about volunteerism in the next decade?

  5. What is your fantasy/dream innovation for volunteerism?

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Comments

Stephanie Linder, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Project Manager, CVE, San Franicsco CA USA

November 21st, 2002, 4:08pm

Thank you Paddy Bowen for reminding us that it matters what we are recruiting volunteers to do. As leaders of volunteers, we must be mission-driven. It might be my romantic Irish side as well but I also believe that volunteering should be about social justice and making the world a better place for all of us. The issue of co-optation is real and I would like to see our field address it head on.

J Cravens, United Nations Volunteers, Online Volunteering Specialist, Bonn, Germany

November 21st, 2002, 4:08pm

Such a great roundtable!! Thank you to everyone who wrote. I had lots of "ah ha" moments, lots of nodding-my-head-in-agreement moments, and lots of oh-geesh-I-so-disagree moments, which all add up to a great discussion, IMO.

Nora Silver was right on the money when she said that, for volunteer managers to thrive "may require the VOLUNTEERS whom we seek to represent, to change us as well." I just couldn't agree more, both in the truthfulness of this statement and in the fear I've seen in people's eyes when statements like this are made. Volunteers have been my best resources for change, for new ways of looking at things, and for new ways to manage and involve volunteers. I treat them as investors and partners, and they respond in kind. It's challenging -- the questions, the comments, the criticisms -- but it keeps me on my toes and, in the end, makes me a better manager of people.

I can remember angry people stomping out of workshops on online volunteering, or on how to recruit the emerging baby boomer "senior" volunteer, simply because the idea of change was one they could not handle on any level, and they rejected it completely. On the other hand, I've seen so many people, regardless of age or background, embrace new ideas and offer really terrific, challenging questions. So I haven't lost the faith... yet.

I do think that, particularly in the U.S., most volunteer managers are failing "to wake up to the reality of 21st century volunteerism." Luckily, I also think there is a rising group of very vocal volunteer managers, some new to the field, some veterans of the field, who are leading the charge for change, either through advocacy or through models of their own work. If these mavericks could be identified and cultivated into leadership roles, the profession will not only survive, it will thrive, and reach a level of respect many of us have dreamed of.

I think volunteer managers must -- MUST -- stop talking about volunteers only in terms of money if they want volunteerism to truly grow, thrive and make a difference. The "they save money" factor has got to come at the very end of conversations, reports and what not. Volunteer managers, whether they are asked for this or not, need to start generating reports and discussions about how volunteers are contributing to the organization's mission, how they are working towards social justice, equity, human development, preservation and promotion of culture, promotion of healthy bodies and minds -- volunteer managers themselves have got to lead the charge showing how volunteers are vital to quality of life in communities and in the work of nonprofits. And in doing this, volunteer managers will show their own worth.