RESOURCES - Article - Volunteering

Volunteering
By John Decker

Congratulations! You have earned the opportunity to volunteer and you should definitely do so. Whether you work full time, work part time, or plan to retire now or in the near future, you should build volunteer activities into your life plan. You have developed skills, contacts, time and possibly financial resources, which you can devote to helping others.

If you are working full time, volunteering will serve a number of purposes. It will help enhance your skills, develop and expand your network, and add perspective to your knowledge of how organizations work. Employers also generally look for outside activities on a resume to demonstrate a well-rounded background and interests beyond work.

If you are planning a second career, volunteering will help you develop the skills and network to make an entry into the new field much easier. It will also give you a reality check to help determine if you are really interested in and suited to the activity. If you are planning to leave work, getting started on volunteer activities now will help you in your transition to retirement.

You have probably done some volunteer work before – at your local church, coaching Little League or helping industry/professional associations. It can be very rewarding and help build professional skills and contacts while broadening your life perspective and providing personal satisfaction.

There is a world of need out there. You can always find something to do. One web site (Network For Good www.networkforgood.org) allows you to search over one million non-profits in the United States alone. Guidestar (www.guidestar.org) lists thousands of volunteer opportunities. Whatever your situation, you can make a contribution, be it driving someone to church one hour per week to spending a year training teachers in Ghana.

Your first challenge is to narrow down the choices to the ones you are comfortable with. First, take a sheet of paper and sit down with your spouse and/or a couple of personal friends and trusted advisors and assess your situation:

How much time do I want to devote to volunteer activities?
How is my energy level, do I have any relevant health issues?
What skills do I bring to the table or want to develop?
Do I have financial resources to devote to my efforts?
What past volunteer experience can I draw upon?
Do I have other resources (extensive network, expertise, computers, office space, a vehicle, etc.)?

Next, try to define the parameters of what you would like to do. Would you like to work locally, regionally, nationally or globally? Do you prefer to work one-on-one with individuals, with small or medium sized organizations, or with national/international groups? Do you want to work at a direct level, program or development level, senior management, or board level? And mostly, what are the needs out there that you would really like to address; how do your values and sense of mission affect your focus?

No matter where this assessment leads, start now. Search the web and visit sites of organizations you find interesting. You might visit your local United Way chapter for introductions to their member organizations. Look in your local newspaper. Most of them have listings of volunteer activities. (If they don’t, there’s an opportunity to volunteer and start a listing of volunteer activities.)

You will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Be it a summer working at a national or state park, volunteering at a local food pantry, collecting and delivering computers or medical supplies to distribute in developing countries, working on the ground in such countries (e.g. the Peace Corps), or playing flugelhorn in the town band, you will be richly rewarded by your contribution, new knowledge, new friends and a sense of meaning. All of these contribute to a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life.

John C. Decker is an Executive Vice President with TMI Executive Resources. He has successfully implemented and completed job search campaigns for over 1,000 senior level managers, executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs. He is a frequent speaker on executive career management topics.