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”?
If you’re not familiar with the title of this article, it suggests that there are two types of people or even jobs – generalists and specialists. In looking at most professions, we see a mix of both. Yet when we look at Volunteer Engagement, we would argue that we only see generalists.
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.
As we alluded to in our last Points of View, this modern world seems to be beset with crisis: the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. . .an inflationary cost-of-living crisis. . .the crisis in Ukraine. . .a continuing migrant and refugee crisis after years of war in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and too many other countries. . .climate crisis that affects the whole planet.
There has not been a time since the World Wars where it seems the global population is facing such upheaval, so many demands and layers of losses. It seems like people are reaching the end of their tethers. Or, as J.R.R.
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?”
Is a new energy emerging in volunteering?
That’s the belief of the authors of England’s new "Vision for Volunteering." It’s a vision over a year in the making and it sets out a national ambition for where volunteering should be in 2032.
This isn’t the only document seeking to shape the future of volunteering.
As we slowly continue to transition from the pandemic, we are seeing increased and open demonstrations of anger, rudeness and other uncivil behaviours.[i] These go even further beyond the norm than those we have seen in societies around the world over the last two years[ii] and certainly beyond what we would typically anticipate experiencing pre-COVID.
The beginning of a new year . . . A blank slate and a golden opportunity to start fresh and embrace big shifts and new perspectives . . . The chance to dig deep and create real changes, in ourselves and throughout our profession . . .
So what’s stopping us? Well, to be blunt, we are. No, not Erin and Rob! But all of us as Volunteer Engagement professionals.