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VOLUNTEERISM, THE PROFIT IN NON-PROFIT
All
of us have a desire to give back to the society. But how many of us
actually go the extra mile? How to bridge the distance between intention
and action ?
For most of us, life goals revolve around the dual
pillars of family and career. But today’s thinking workforce seeks greater
meaning from their lives and this can often come from dipping their fingers
into social volunteerism. While most organisations are investing
considerable resources into their CSR activities, not too many engage
themselves in removing the roadblocks to volunteering.
Desire versus duty
Ryan Scott, CEO and founder of Causecast
points to the crux of the issue, “For most of us, volunteering usually
falls in the category of ‘should do’, not ‘must do’ and that lack of
urgency makes it all too easy to procrastinate.” He adds, “But the biggest
barrier to entry for corporate volunteering is knowing where to get
started. Volunteering should ideally begin as a well-planned, social
experience that makes it effortless to get involved; to the point that not
participating in it with your colleagues feels odd. Once people are
introduced to volunteering, they usually want to keep volunteering as long
as the experience has been managed well. This is especially true if
volunteers find an issue that resonates with them personally; and if they
can see and feel the impact of their efforts.”
“Volunteering in itself is considered unselfish but
in today’s day and age, with the transition in work culture and increase in
material pursuits, helping others seems to have taken a backseat. The noble
gesture of volunteering, especially in a time of calamity or crisis is
however still visible across the country. People have opened up to this
selfless act of helping others in distress quite overwhelmingly,” suggests
Lt Gen Rajender Singh, CEO, DLF Foundation.
A middle agent
Consider enlisting the help of
an outside agency to boost the number of employee
volunteers. Internationally, organisations have been experimenting with
agencies like Causecast, which provides an interactive, a mobile and social
hub to make corporate volunteer programmes easier and more fun to be
involved with. There are many companies that offer platforms that include
an online solution, which centralises elements such as donation processing,
mobile applications and reporting.
Alternatively, one can also tie up with an NGO to
facilitate the process of employee volunteering. “The best way to get
started is to visit an NGO centre that works towards a cause one may
associate with and spend half a day there to understand the operations,
requirements and territory of volunteering and then establish the right
fit,” advises Dhaval Udani, CEO, GiveIndia, a ‘philanthropy marketplace’
that is dedicated to helping people support a cause of their choice from
approximately 150+ NGOs. He adds, “Organisations such as United Nations
have the biggest avenues for online volunteering through which an aspiring
volunteer can engage with any NGO across the world. Online volunteering can
reduce the time crunch and the geographical barriers. These organisations
also recognise, acknowledge and appreciate volunteers, which further boosts
the participating volunteers’ morale and keeps them engaged.”
In-house or external?
On a personal level, volunteering need
not begin at the workplace alone. However, opting for a programme offered
by one’s organisation becomes a winwin proposal for both. “Volunteering
outside of your workplace is admirable, but you won’t have the ancillary
benefits that are available through wellrun corporate volunteer programmes.
Increasingly, companies are looking at volunteer programmes as vehicles not
only for community impact, but also employee engagement, retention,
recruitment, skillbuilding and leadership training. So if you’re taking
your company’s employee volunteer programme seriously, there’s a good
chance that your company will also take you more seriously,” explains Scott. It
has been said, “Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly
the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen
Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas
Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” So maybe, it’s time to stop turning lack
of time into an excuse and plunge into whichever cause that calls out to
you the most.
WAYS TO MAKE A START TOWARDS BECOMING A VOLUNTEER:
Make it structured: Companies such as Genpact, KPMG and Jardine Lloyd
Thompson follow global guidelines to encourage employees to volunteer
year-long while companies such as HDFC Life have dedicated employee
champions who mobilise other employees to engage locally with NGOs, says
Udani; Volunteers can engage with their alma maters or set up initiatives
or even ‘organisations’ together. India’s largest ‘giving’ festival – the
Joy of Giving Week – is initiated and run each year, purely by
volunteers.The organisation,‘Make a Difference’ is a result of
professionals volunteering aside from work, points out Udani; Even the
trivial act of keeping your surroundings clean to helping out the
neighbourhood old-age home or orphanage are great places to start
volunteering, says Singh; There are also certain people who voluntarily
contribute to the society through their respective professions; for
instance, a doctor organising a free health camp, a lawyer advising or
counselling for a social cause, etc, adds Singh.
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