When is Volunteerism Real?

Great post in the cheeky, chatty philanthropy blog Selfish Giving on the growing trend of young people and volunteering - volunteering to assure a good story to tell colleges that is. Selfish Volunteering takes a hard look at what motivates young people to wotrk at nonprofits, and then worries out loud that "may not be falling for it, which could dissuade teens from volunteering and lead to labor shortages for nonprofits." One question:

Would it be better if high schools didn't require volunteer work so colleges would know which students are truly committed to getting ahead community service? That probably won't happen, so teens may have to go well beyond any mandatory volunteering to gain an edge with college recruiters.

Technorati Tags: philanthropy, volunteers, nonprofits, future leaders in philanthropy

Comments

[Joe]

Thanks for the plug! Love the look of your site. Good luck with your new blog!

[Jessica Stannard-Friel]

I think that the push from college admissions officers toward community service and leadership are a big part of the reason so many of our peers say it is their goal to start nonprofit organizations. We're all so used to seeing founding something as the best way to demonstrate our talent and drive, important characteristics in the college application process. Now, still in that mindset, we think it's better to start a nonprofit and become the Executive Director right away, rather than go to work for an organization, learn the ropes, find mentors, see what works and what doesn't work, and take over an organization that has a track record of success. I think social entrepreneurship is an increadibly important force and that innovation from young people is crucial, but I also think that this mindset has the potential to lead to significant duplications of effort when people start nonprofits because they'd rather be in charge now than have to work their way up for ten years. That leads to two executive directors, two rent checks, two fundraising departments, etc., when economies of scale might allow for more social impact. I would strongly encourage anyone with a new idea, a new approach, a new strategy to start a new organization, but I worry about people starting redundant organizations just to be in charge. Because there's no personal incentive for mergers and acquisitions in the nonprofit sector (no buy-out check for the founders, for instance), I'm worried that market forces won't take care of this automatically. I haven't personally observed this to be a major problem today, but judging from the number of people in our general age group whom I've heard express an interest in starting a nonprofit, I anticipate that it may be a problem in the future. What do the rest of you think?

[Divine]

Great point, Jessica. There are a great number of people in our generation who want to change the world but forget that there are several things they must learn first before doing so-- things that do not come out of a textbook. In this sector, especially, the adage of "learning by doing" is vital because it has really only been within the last decade or so that graduate degrees focusing on non-profit management and the like have been made available.

[Alex]

High school age kids are in many ways still developing their interests, passions and sense of self etc. They may not necessarily have been raised in a family that fostered an environment where charity and "do-gooding" was acknowledged or even introduced. I think it's a good idea for high schools to have some sort of charitable service requirement-at the least to present the option of philanthropy to those who have not yet been exposed to it. Colleges will never lose their knack for weeding out the apathetic. Those who are involved in many different volunteer activities because they are great individuals will still have their chance to shine before the admissions board.

[Will Schneider]

I agree with what you're all saying, except I question the motivation of 'forced' volunteers. In an industry that requires more of an "above and beyond" attitude (without additional compensation) than almost any other field, do we really want throngs of semi-committed students? Anyone who has managed volunteers know that they sometimes create more work than they accomplish.