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Tags: volunteer management volunteerism
Categories: Volunteer Management Review
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Come with me to a meeting of Del-EASI. Del-EASI (pronounced “del-easy”) stands for the Delaware Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement. The meeting we are attending is being held in the library of an old historic home, now a conference center. The surroundings are elegant. The room is filled with 30 retired men and women. Nearly a third of the members hold Ph.D.s. All have had extensive managerial and technical experience in industry. The meeting is called to order by Bernie, a former environmental manager for a major chemical company. Bernie calls upon Jack, a retired director of a nationally-know research laboratory, to give the first report. .Jack is currently representing Del-EASI on a governor-appointed taskforce looking at the environmental impact of manure generated by Delaware’s huge chicken industry. The group listens intently as he discusses the taskforce’s last meeting. Several members ask questions and a discussion ensues regarding the connection between phosphorus in manure and algal blooms like pfisteria. Bernie then calls upon another member to give a report. Wally is the leader of a team of Del-EASI members who have written a report on alternatives to solid-waste recycling. He hands out copies of the report to the group. The study was requested by a state senator and will be distributed to all of the members of Delaware’s General Assembly. Next, Linda, a former executive in a federal agency, passes around a sign-up sheet. She is looking for a team of Del-EASI members to conduct safety audits for a local non-profit. The team will inspect several buildings owned by the organization. Then they will submit a report to the executive director identifying potential safety hazards.

DelEASI is an all-volunteer, entrepreneurial group that is loosely affiliated with a Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). RSVP provides meeting space for the group, clerical support and supplemental insurance. But Del-EASI remains independent. The group has its own, separate identity. It is self-governing and develops its own projects. It has its own point of view, which could, from time to time, differ from that of its sponsor. The relationship between the two organizations is mutually beneficial. By supporting the group, RSVP gains access to highly-skilled professionals who would otherwise not volunteer for the organization. Furthermore, RSVP doesn’t have to create assignments for these highly skilled volunteers. They do that for themselves. Del-EASI, on the other hand, benefits because the group doesn’t have to do fundraising or hire secretarial staff. Those services are provided by its sponsor.

As volunteer organizations look for ways to incorporate Baby Boomer, entrepreneurial volunteers, they might consider the option of sponsoring loosely-affiliated, all-volunteer groups like Del-EASI. Think about the mission of your organization. Would sponsoring a group make sense for you? What, besides a common interest in the issue your organization addresses would bring these people together? Might it be a similar professional background, being single or living in the same geographic area?

The creation of such a group might happen in several ways. For example, you might be lucky enough to have a group come knocking on your door asking for sponsorship. Or you might go to an already existing, all-volunteer group and offer to sponsor them. The most likely scenario, however, is that you will have to initiate the group yourself and then allow it to become independent. One way of doing this is to sponsor a short-term project that will appeal to the kind of people you are trying to attract. This is how Del-EASI got started. The RSVP started a wellhead protection project. The volunteers enjoyed working together so much that they decided to stay together. Ten years later the group is still going strong! Another approach might be to recruit a well-known figure in the targeted profession, community, etc. A letter from this individual to others in his or her personal network could create the nucleus of a new group.

What are some of the essential characteristics of entrepreneurial groups that enable them to be successful?

Real Autonomy. An entrepreneurial group will quickly end an otherwise beneficial partnership with a sponsoring organization if they feel in any way externally controlled. Probably the biggest obstacle for volunteer managers in working with such groups is their inability to give up control. After all, isn’t that our job -- controlling things so nothing goes wrong? Consider the possibility, however, that the group can do this better than we can. We “manage” affiliated groups by helping them to create their own internal controls.

Common interest. There must be some compelling interest that brings the members of the group together. For Del-EASI it is preserving the environment and having the opportunity to talk to others about technical subjects. For other groups it might be eliminating homelessness, improving education, feeding the hungry or any one of the countless number of social issues with which our organizations are concerned. Of course, it only makes sense for your organization to sponsor an all-volunteer group if there is a clear connection between its interests and your mission.

Service focus. Certainly one of the major benefits of joining a group is the opportunity to meet other people and to discuss issues of mutual concern. If a group remains purely social, however, there may be no compelling reason for a non-profit to sponsor it. There will be, of course, periods of inactivity in the lifespan of any all-volunteer group as one project comes to an end and the group decides what to do next. Down time is healthy.

Non-hierarchal organizational structure. Self-directed volunteer groups work best when the organizational structure is flat. Everyone is a leader, therefore, everyone has a responsibility to participate in some way. The organizational structure of the group allows members to vary the nature and intensity of their participation over time. For example, a member might take a leadership role for a specific project for several months and then pull back and allow someone else to step forward.

Internal leadership. Even non-hierarchal groups need a facilitator. The emergence of this person from within the ranks of the membership is perhaps the most crucial factor in a group’s long-term success. A successful facilitator is a respected member of the group. He or she is intentionally low-key so that a space is created for others to be thought and action leaders. The facilitator, however, provides the ongoing structure for the group. He or she plays the important role of reminding the group of its own norms; that is to say, the rules the group has established for itself to govern behavior. For Del-EASI, examples of group norms would include “we are not an advocacy group” and “we approach problems by evaluating what is known scientifically about them.”

Consensus decision making. In a non-hierarchal group there is no “leader” to make all of the decisions. A different approach to decision making is taken where the issue is discussed at length and a real attempt is made to hear from everyone in the group. It is then the facilitator’s job to determine where the group stands on the question at hand. Sometimes this means taking a formal vote. But more often, it is more a matter of “reading the pulse” of the group.

Regular meetings. It takes time for trust to develop in an all-volunteer group. It is only through regular meetings that members will begin to feel safe enough to express their ideas and join with others in collective action.

The entrepreneurial nature of the Baby Boomers will force organized volunteerism to look beyond its own borders and to forge partnerships with community-based, entrepreneurial groups. But this is not a new idea. Over 20 years ago Ivan Scheier urged formal volunteer programs to form mutually beneficial collaborations with all-volunteer groups (See “Working with Grassroot Groups," 1992). With the retirement of the Baby Boomers, this is surely an idea whose time has come.