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Volunteering is generally presented very seriously – largely because many of the causes volunteers support are very serious. But not all. And even grim situations can evoke laughter, since a sense of humor is a great coping mechanism.

Humor is also a great communication tool, especially when it tells the truth about a situation. In this Voices feature, we present examples of effective humor used in recruiting, training, and recognizing volunteers. These include YouTube postings, blog and newsletter entries, and cartoons. When can you provoke a smile and also generate action?

Barwon Health, the largest and most comprehensive regional health services in Australia, concluded several years ago that its 1,000 volunteers were ready and able to improve the health of their community. So in February 2014, the health service implemented a Volunteer Training and Development program that provided volunteers with opportunities to expand their healthcare knowledge, participate more concretely in the health service's mission, and ultimately build an empowered, healthy, and sustainable volunteer base for the future.

In this e-Volunteerism feature, Barwon Health’s Lyn Stack writes that “by investing in our volunteers through health knowledge, we utilise their support to directly improve the health and wellness of our community, while also providing volunteers with opportunities to increase confidence and decrease fear of entering the health sector.”  Stack describes how the program has expanded in two years to include Australia’s first Volunteer Health and Wellness Calendar, a Healthy Living Ambassadors program, and a national public awareness campaign to help volunteers expand their own health awareness to others. “By sharing this program,” Stack writes, “we can empower all volunteer leaders to invest in and reward their volunteers through the power of knowledge.”

In 2010, Volunteer NOW and the Voluntary Service Bureau in Belfast obtained Heritage Lottery Fund money to conduct a two-year oral and social history project to capture the volunteer stories of over 110 people in all walks of life in Northern Ireland. The work led to the publication of a book called Volunteer Voices: Belfast’s Creative Extremists and an exhibit open to the public. The book also included several historical accounts of the evolution of volunteerism in Belfast, sometimes bleak but also hopeful. As the Foreword states:

Most of the past forty years of Belfast’s history has been turbulent, fractured and painful. The City suffered and over 1,500 of its people died; countless others injured. During the early 1970s Belfast experienced one of the largest movements of population in Europe since the Second World War. Later with the erection of ‘peace walls’ and interface barriers, it became, and still is, a physically divided city…Amidst this reality, however, are countless stories of people with hope. People equipped with enthusiasm and energy who gave their time as volunteers…and “faced the dragon’s fire” believing it was possible to make a difference.

In Voices, we excerpt some of the many inspiring examples of the power of volunteering told in this book. 

Founded in 1901, the Junior League rapidly became the most influential women’s organization in the United States. Today there are also chapters in Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Its mission statement puts volunteering and women front and center:

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

Local Junior Leagues made many significant contributions to their communities, but also developed an elitist public image of wealth, social standing, and exclusion. The list of famous women who were members of the League is very long. When the feminist movement affected every women’s organization, the Junior League found itself challenged to retain its position while changing with the times.

This Voices from the Past story explores the history of the Junior League and how it evolved in the face of modern life, still keeping its mission rooted in the power of volunteers.

Do we take ourselves too seriously? Volunteering plays a critical role in so many organizations, in so many countries across the world. And these days, being in the volunteer management business isn't easy. It’s no surprise that many of us are stressed. What we need, says John Suart, the editor of the world’s only comedy site for non-profit organizations, is to laugh more. In this feature article for e-Volunteerism, Suart explains why it’s important to try and combat stress and pessimism by injecting more humor into our work and our lives. 

Is an attitude shift in order as we consider the value and individuality of Volunteers?

While intentionally spelling Volunteer with a capital “V,” Marlene Beitz poses this question and raises many others in Voices, asking readers to think about the conscious and subconscious ways we regard the Volunteers who are often called the “heart and soul” of our organizations.

From her personal viewpoint as a Volunteer as well as a Coordinator of Volunteers, Beitz opens a window into Volunteer experiences and ponders the sometimes surprising (and disappointing) effects of common Volunteer management approaches. But in a positive shift, Beitz explains that organizatons can more fully meet objectives if they break down ingrained expectations of Volunteers as a group, and build up a renewed sense of engagement and partnership with Volunteers as valued individuals.