Today I wanted to talk about an important topic: volunteering. Volunteering can come in many forms: time, treasure, and talents. You can volunteer your time at a local homeless shelter, going door-to-door for a local political candidate, or mentoring students. You can donate your treasure through one-time or ongoing monetary donations to a nonprofit. Finally, you can donate your talents in various ways, such as playing in the band at a benefit dinner.
Volunteering seems straight-forward enough, but when you look at how the world has evolved I don’t know many individuals who have a lot of spare time or money. Still, giving back is important and many people give back in one form or another on a regular basis.
I have volunteered in a variety ways over the years. Some of these include being a small group leader for middle-schoolers at our Church, being a participant and later a leader in the Young Adult ministry at our church, living as an urban neighbor through an organization called Urban Homeworks, and more recently getting more involved in an anti-human trafficking group. My point in listing these is to show that I’ve been involved in a number of volunteer/nonprofit organizations and have learned a few things along the way.
The biggest risk in volunteering is ending up burnt out and frustrated. Below are a few tips to help you avoid burnout and frustration when you volunteer:
- Pick something you are passionate about – but keep your expectations in check
Pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to find a volunteer activity that aligns well with your passions. On the one-hand, if you don’t care enough you may get tired of the meetings and time commitment. On the other hand, I have seen many people who are passionate and fired up about a cause but end up quitting in frustration because others weren’t nearly as passionate or they didn’t feel like they were doing enough to drive change. Still, I think you are much more likely to succeed long-term volunteering for a cause you care about versus something you are apathetic about.
- Don’t over-commit
Over-committing is where burnout beings. It’s important to remember that in any volunteer situation you are doing something on top of all the other responsibilities that life throws at you. Some people have trouble saying “no” (put me in that group) and end up being an ineffective volunteer/leader because of it. When I committed to the urban neighbor program I was also going to school full-time, working 35 hours a week, engaged, volunteering at church, and really had no business committing to the program. I did learn from the experience, but when you over-commit people become bitter quick and you end up letting somebody down…or your body crashes.
- It’s okay to be picky
There will always be an endless number of volunteer opportunities. If you have time and are willing to help a cause, you will find some volunteer organizer at some organization eager to find work for you (or to take your donation!). In reality, though, we all have a limited amount of time and endless number of responsibilities. Consider thinking twice before saying yes and make sure that it’s the best use of your time and talents. There may be another organization that will better utilize your skill set.
- Volunteering does not have to be formal
While I respect the thousands upon thousands of people who commit countless hours to political campaigns, I never did put in any time to the “formal” campaigns of the candidates I supported last election. Does that mean I didn’t volunteer or help their cause? Absolutely not. In fact, especially if we are talking about political campaigns or causes, I think it’s far more effective to sit down and have a conversation over a cup of coffee about why you support certain candidates or causes. It doesn’t even have to be a formal meeting with someone to discuss politics! I never did that, either, yet I still had countless conversations with friends about the issues and candidates.
The best thing about “informal” volunteering and service is that you never really have to commit to a time or schedule. The worst thing about it? You may never actually end up doing anything.
While there is always a risk you will experience burnout or end up frustrated with a volunteer experience, I definitely think it’s a risk worth taking. There is nothing like supporting a cause you are passionate about, serving others, and generally just giving back.
How do you avoid burnout and frustration when you volunteer?
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Great tips DC! We volunteer our time through a number of venues, though mainly through our church. Not overcommitting is huge as is having variety. We have a few things we really care about and adding variety to that helps us avoid burnout.
@FrugalRules Great point about variety, though sometimes I just end up overcommitting when I try to add variety to my volunteering ;) But I can definitely see your point that doing a few different things will allow things to not stagnate and allow you to do a few different things.
I never thought about burnout – interesting point.
My wife and I had big plans to volunteer this year, but with the bub I think many of those plans have fallen by the wayside :(
@MonsterPiggyBank I can understand why you have put off your volunteer plans!
I’ve seen a ton of burnout and frustration from many individuals in my experiences volunteering. I should point out I’m not talking one-off volunteer projects (i.e. delivering meals once a year) but ongoing volunteer commitments.
Don’t over-commit is great advice. It’s easy to make a big commitment at the beginning but it’s hard to back out of that commitment if you find you don’t have as much time as you thought!
Great post. Definitely don’t over commit until you are sure that the work is right for you and that you actually have time.
I have been guilty of doing too much and getting burned out. My really ambitious goal from a few years ago was was to offer a low income clinic one day a month at my office. You had to show proof of income or demonstrate why you thought you qualified. It was great at first, but then the flood gates opened up, and we just couldn’t handle it. It made me start to question who was really needy vs who is just wanting a free ride, so we had to shut it down. I still think it’s a great idea, you just can’t use a for profit business to do non-profit work or at least not in the way we tried. Now, I spend most of my time working with animals. They aren’t out to pull one over on you.
I think you made some great points. I have experienced volunteer burnout before. When I was on the executive committee for a local surfrider chapter, there was one guy who just ran things like a dictatorship. He treated everyone like we were employees, and was really rude. He seemed to forget we were there for the love of what the organization does. I ended up leaving because I was so frustrated. I think there is a lot of politics and red tape when it comes to some non-profits. It’s always good to remind yourself that you are there on your own free will.
My problem is I can’t find the time to volunteer. I think when kids are older I will have more time to give back to the community where I live.
Volunteerism doesn’t have to be such a large scale thing. Do you have an elderly person in your neighborhood? Do they need their roof raked? Lawn mowed? Home cleaned? Sidewalk shoveled? This is what my husband and I do. We have a group of people for whom we do small things, including what is mentioned. It is true, especially this winter, that it can become burdensome to not only care for your own property, but care for the property of a person in need. However, a simple measure of caring for your neighbor can even introduce small children to the important aspect of volunteerism. It truly can become a family project.
@RobertaRenstromNyquist Exactly, that’s what my fourth point was above.
I haven’t done any volunteer work in a number of years but I bet it would be quite easy to work too much and get burned out if you are truly passionate about the work you are doing and you just keep wanting to do more and more.
For the past couple of years, I’ve had the girls set share goals for the organizations they care about – I’ve been impressed by how willing they are to share their money. Now that they are bit older, we’re going to work in a few volunteer opportunities beyond their cash donations. Being altruistic is important to me and a trait I want to pass to my girls, but you are absolutely right that you need to have realistic expectations and not take on too much. Otherwise you’re no good to the people you’re trying to help or yourself.
Overcommiting is a sure way to burn yourself out. It is sometimes hard for me to say, “no” but I’m getting better because I know if I don’t, I’ll resent doing so much and won’t want to help again.