October 2010 Feature Article
The New Face of Volunteerism
Charities Channel the Passions of Unpaid Leaders
By Liz Potasek
Photography by John Linn
Diverse Backgrounds
While nonprofits adapt to meet the changing needs of volunteers, they’re also working on how to bring new immigrants into their volunteer forces. The annual immigration rate in Minnesota is triple what it was in 1985, according to MAVA. Latino and Asian populations in the state grew by over 160 percent between 1990 and 2000, while the African population in the Twin Cities boomed by 629 percent during the same time period.
That demographic shift has forced nonprofits to broaden policies to include the customs and beliefs of other cultures.When Somali men and women started volunteering at the St. Cloud Hospital, the hospital reexamined its dress code to make sure it was inclusive. “We’ve really worked hard to be as open and supportive as we can be,” says Janene Riedeman, director of Volunteer Services at the hospital.
Nonprofits also value the informal volunteering that takes place outside their doors. “When I look at the Somali community members that I know in the St. Cloud area, they are helping each other all the time with rides, with translation, with connecting people to resources,” said Betty Schnettler, director of partnerships and services at the United Way of Central Minnesota. “They don’t necessarily call it volunteering, but it is, because it’s helping their community members have success and a good life.” IQ
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| Women’s Center of Mid-Minnesota volunteer coordinator Julie Guth (bottom) helps volunteers such as Crosslake massage therapist Laurie Hoenig (top) design their own opportunities. | ||
A massage therapist from Crosslake, Hoenig wanted to make a difference by using her talents.Would it be possible, she wondered, to come in once or twice a month and give massages?
Hoenig’s request made sense to Julie Guth, the center’s volunteer coordinator, who also has harnessed the talents of a sketch artist and a scrapbook designer for her unpaid workforce. “These aren’t things that I would necessarily be advertising for, but are based on the skills that a particular person has,” she said. “And they really help the women and the kids staying in the shelter.”
Like most nonprofits, the Women’s Center of Mid-Minnesota is always on the lookout for more volunteers. The organization needs legal advocates, mentors for children and office assistants. But Guth also advertises for what she calls “you-nique” positions, which has brought web programmers and event fundraisers to the center.
Today, more and more nonprofits are attracting volunteers by offering opportunities that allow volunteers to utilize both their workplace skills and learn new ones to improve their future prospects. Volunteers also want flexible schedules and to develop their own projects. “Just like people right now want a wide choice in consumer goods, they also want a wide choice of volunteer opportunities,” said Mary Quirk, the volunteer resources leadership project manager at the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA), a Maplewood-based nonprofit that helps organizations train and nurture volunteers and volunteer leaders. “They’ll go into an organization and if they’re only offered two or three choices, they’ll look around and say, ‘Well, there’s some other place my skills can be used.’”
Unique Opportunities
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| Friends Vicki Morgan (left) and Debbie Erickson raised over $12,000 for Imagination Library, a free program that provides books to children. |
Some volunteers customize their own positions. Friends Vicki Morgan and Debbie Erickson were huge fans of the Imagination Library, a free program that gives children under the age of six age-appropriate books each month to help them build their own libraries. Erickson had previously volunteered for the United Way of Central Minnesota, which runs Imagination Library with singer Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Foundation.When she learned that centralMinnesota had about 9,200 children enrolled in the program and the annual cost to provide books to the children was $35 per child, she teamed up with Morgan to host a progressive dinner party to support the cause. They raised more than $12,000 and are planning another event for April 2011.
Skilled Service
Since the economic downturn, an increasing number of workers volunteer to keep their skills fresh while they look for new jobs. “We’ve seen a lot more displaced workers between the ages of 55 and 62 who have been working all their life and then suddenly find themselves laid off,” said Lisa J. Braun, director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in St. Cloud. “They’re at that transition point in their lives where they’re not sure if they want to retire or if they want to look for other work.”
People just starting their careers volunteer as a way to gain experience or explore a new field. Guth has recently been approached by several people who hope that volunteering at the Brainerd women’s shelter will give them needed social work experience. Likewise, the St. Cloud Hospital has seen an increase in volunteer requests from students pursuing careers in health care.To meet those needs, the hospital has created new partnerships with the local Workforce Center and area technical colleges. “Talented volunteers help to support new specialties or new programs,” said Janene Riedeman, director of volunteer services at the hospital.
Inside the Numbers
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| "Just like people want a wide choice in consumer goods, they also want a wide choice of volunteer opportunities." -Mary Quirk, MAVA volunteer resources leadership project manager |
Many experts anticipate an even larger jump in volunteer hours as Baby Boomers retire. In 2009, 22.8 million boomers dedicated 3.1 billion hours of service to communities across the country. Sixty-two percent of boomers who currently volunteer expect to volunteer more when they retire, according to a study by AARP, a national advocacy organization for people ages 50 and older. And 36 percent of people who hadn’t volunteered in the last year expect to do more when they retire. “There’s a pretty big gap in what the boomer generation and younger generations want to do as volunteers versus the generations that came before,” said Quirk.
Accommodating these requests can mean more work for nonprofit staffs. But the numbers show it’s worth the effort. Minnesota’s volunteer rate is third in the nation, according toMAVA; one and a half million residents dedicate 171.1 million volunteer hours annually. The average value of an hour of volunteer service is $20.85, and it’s estimated that the annual economic contribution of all those volunteer hours is $3.4 billion dollars.
As funding gets tight, more and more nonprofit organizations are relying on volunteers; 60 percent of Minnesota organizations have increased their reliance on volunteers, according to MAVA. But while more than 50 percent of those organizations report an increase in volunteer hours, only 12 percent have increased funding for their volunteer programs.
Flexible Options
Between work, family and other obligations, many volunteers—including retirees—are finding it difficult to commit to a regular schedule. “When I first started at RSVP 23 years ago, most volunteers wanted to serve in on-going opportunities, where they volunteered at the same place during the same time every week,” said Braun. Today, the majority of Braun’s volunteers are looking for short-term or one-time projects they can fit into their schedule.
In response to this trend, United Way of Central Minnesota created “GIVE it GET it Volunteer Days,” which offer a variety of shortterm projects designed to engage a wide range of volunteers.
“Sometimes if people aren’t offered a variety of different things, they may feel that volunteering isn’t for them. But there really is an opportunity for everybody. Depending on their skills and interests and time availability, there’s always something that will be fulfilling.”
- Lisa J. Braun, Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Director
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