Volunteers: Do We Achieve Success Because or In Spite of Them?

James M. Langley

President, Langley Innovations

Volunteers

The Either/Or of Volunteers Either one of the best ways to magnify the

capability and reach of an institution or The greatest waste of the time and talents of the

professional staff

Either the best source of sustained support (volunteers give 10x more than non-volunteers) or

The greatest drain on the fundraising capability of an organization

Volunteers

What makes the difference between the two? Selecting the right people Creating the right environment Assigning real work Matching talents to tasks Avoiding myths, assumptions, and linear thinking

The Right People

Volunteers

The right people Socially responsible Strong belief systems, values Live by their beliefs Altruistically aspirational Well educated Very busy

These traits tend to lead to financial success but financial success, in and of, itself, is not proof of them

Volunteers

The right people Those of faith, any faith, give significantly more

than those of no faith Those that attend their faith services more

regularly give more “Religious” about something Evidence of social responsibility Rooted in community

Beliefs Behaviors

Philanthropic Propensity+ Aspirational

Volunteers

Identification/Recruitment

The best are the hardest to get, take the most time to court but ultimately make all the difference

Don’t just accommodate those who come to you looking for something to do

Avoid the “heavy hitter” syndrome, look for the mission driven, socially responsible, those who give outside their immediate self-interest

Create a farm system – task at time

Volunteers

Americans are still philanthropic

Believe in giving time and money

If they give time (and 73 percent have, 43 percent in the last year), they give 10 times more

About half are consistent giversAnother 25 percent occasional giversAnother 25 virtual never givers

Volunteers

Believe they should be given nothing in return (84 percent), including recognition

Six in 10 (63%) Americans cite a renewed sense of the value and importance of community service within their network of friends and family

Volunteers

Voluntarism is at the heart of the American experience

Americans give more volunteer time than any other culture

Americans give more of their disposable income than an people in human history

One relates to the other

Time, talent and treasure – a sequential strategy

The Right Environment

Volunteers

Yet, 6 in 10 Americans says charities have become too much of a big business

56% say many charities have “disorganized” management

More than one-third say they want to see immediate results when they volunteer

44% say that if an organization cannot take advantage of their specific skills, they will volunteer elsewhere.

Volunteers

Want to “touch the baby”

Experience is predictive of giving SFO

What happens if experience is a turn off? Bloated and moated Meddlers or insiders? Risk management, legal office, project mistrust or

suspicion Alumni compact example

HIGHER PHILANTHROPIC GROUND “There’s a tremendous opportunity for

nonprofits to build greater awareness and understanding of how they manage their organizations by sharing insights into their funding structure, project management and volunteer coordination practices. Transparency through open and frequent communication with current and prospective donors should always remain a priority.” -Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Volunteer Match

Survey

Real Work

Volunteers

Giving volunteers real work

Definition To perform or offer to perform a service of one's

own free will. To do charitable or helpful work without pay

Volunteers

Real work Not something you spend a lot of time making up

for other people to do Not something that forces you to put aside your

everyday duties and responsibilities to create Not a means to humor people into feeling

important so they give you more money It’s the stuff you do to advance the mission of your

school The more effort relates to mission advancement,

the more satisfied everyone is – staff and volunteer

Human Development Cycle

Engaging with PurposeAAPFreshman Send-offsOff-site introductionsYield events and activitiesFinancial aid education and adviceAffinity group orientationsCampus Tours

Recruitment/Orientation

Financial AidInternshipsSponsor and/or Provide Public

Service InternshipsCareer Opportunity MentoringAssisting the Student Discovery

InitiativeCareer placement assistance

Retention/Preparation/Citizenship/Community

Local orientation and introductionCareer mentoring and networking Mini-alliancesSalon events

Career/Vocation/Service

Salon eventsStrategy sessionsProject leadership Franchising GU causes/valuesMini-affiliations/alliancesHelping hands

Common cause/Relevance/Service

School (State) % of alumni U.S. News rank & categoryPrinceton University (NJ)611, National UniversitiesCarleton College (MN)59.96, National Liberal ArtsAmherst College (MA)58.22, National Liberal Arts Middlebury College (VT)57.25, National Liberal ArtsWilliams College (MA)56.71, National Liberal ArtsJudson College (AL)56.1RNP*, Liberal ArtsCentre College (KY)54.542, National Liberal ArtsDavidson College (NC)53.711, National Liberal ArtsHoly Cross (MA)50.729, National Liberal Arts Thomas Aquinas (CA)50.771, National Liberal Arts

*Connotes ranking in the lowest quartile of that category

High Alumni Participation

Common Denominators Rich teaching traditions, accessible faculty Palpable, pre-existing sense of community,

belonging, mattering, shared purposes, rituals Continuity of purpose, leadership Absence of divisive crisis, lingering controversy Sustaining the compact for alumni Advancement as culture carriers Value exceeded cost

Volunteers

Real Work Beyond boards, please (especially fundraising

boards) Task forces Blue ribbon panels Commissions

Immerse in mission, delivery systems Touch the baby, render real service Trust

Volunteers

Real Issues Emotional health Family health/dynamics The creation of community

Students as stakeholders, responsible The anatomy of bullying, alienation Commitment to a common cause The celebration of values

Athletics vs. academics

Volunteers

Create work modules Look at political campaigns Define important work that can be done in one

hour, try out volunteer, increase increments according to interest, capability and performance (Student Discovery example) Tours Interviews/Polling/Market Research

Peer to peer Parent to parent

Volunteers

Create work modules The running of every organization requires the

assessment of what people are capable of doing and finding the appropriate level of work

People with sophisticated skills do not want to be assigned administrative tasks

If administrative tasks need be completed, find volunteers capable of and content with doing them Phone answering, stuffing envelopes, staffing

events

Volunteers

Boards Should be a huge source of talent

Strategically assembled to create a skill set Assemble the skills, and the character-set, and

the money will follow But, if you over-emphasize money, your create

fractious boards and sub-optimize your philanthropic potential

Volunteers

Board Duties/Obligations Representational, advocacy Stewardship

Review Relationship management Pare back standing committees, replace with

occasional task forces Add other volunteers to task forces, standing

committees

Volunteers

Boards Don’t let them get cocooned, sweep in and out of a

board room Move them around Invite testimony, don’t shy from controversy, tough

issues Confide Create inner circle

First to know, good and bad

Volunteers

Boards What do they do between meetings? Need to maintain “top of mind” status Board meetings should be about reports of what

has been accomplished in the intervening period Danger in a board becoming purely supervisory Need a critical mass

Example, altruism, civic engagement Giving of time, keeping of commitments Giving

Matching Talents to Tasks

Volunteers

Reached a point where the greater logic says that volunteers need to be a permanent and critical extension of the professional organization How we began How we got so much done Institutions over-professionalized, stilted volunteer

spirit Cannot continue to increase costs Need more financial support

Volunteers

Need to think about building a professional organization and think about volunteers as non-paid, part-time professionals Job definition Recruitment/application Goals, objectives, metrics Performance reviews

Volunteers

Volunteer Skills High end abilities that we couldn’t otherwise afford

(voluntarism tied to years of formal education) Investing Law Strategy Marketing Computer science Health

Volunteers

Think of professional staff as functional core

Volunteers as selective, strategic augmentation

Advertise, interview for specific skills

Create a certain amount of redundancy

Stop thinking of them as prospects Humoring, ingratiating Tiptoeing around

Volunteers

Every time someone says, “I need more staff to ….”

Ask ourselves if that need represents an opportunity for volunteer contribution

Peter Drucker – A knowledge worker needs to be treated like a volunteer

Need to explore the relationship of control to productivity

Avoiding Myths, Assumptions, Linear Thinking

Volunteers

Volunteers are unmanageable, undependable How much time did you spend seeking out

specialized talent vs. accommodating those that showed up?

When you don’t train and trust, how do you expect people to feel valued and essential to the enterprise?

When someone is given inconsequential work, how do you expect them to stay motivated?

If volunteers are highly successful in their professions, how could they not offer valuable service?

Volunteers

In too many cases, volunteer sub-optimization is attributable to one primary cause – urgent, unimaginative fundraising

“Volunteers” were/are really prospects; we sought to engage them to advance the fundraising process

Since they were more prospect than volunteer, we put them on boards and put on shows for them

Volunteers

We need to get real Real skill Real work Real contributions Real assessments Real decisions Real results

Volunteers

The building of communities, or communities of support is non-linear

Not every institutional action triggers and opposite and equal philanthropic reaction

The maintaining of high purpose and making a difference will always attract interest and support

Time, talent and treasure – a sequential strategy

Volunteers

Create a culture of constructive volunteerism Higher Purposes Common good Everyone has an essential role, if not fulfilled, the

whole is affected Effort relates to outcome Shared success

Volunteers

Epochal New World Mayflower Compact 1620

“ …combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation …; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony.”

Preamble to the Constitution, 1787 “We the people ….”

Volunteers

Questions?