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Creating V.A.L.U.E. for Volunteers - by Rick McNary
This month we are featuring a submission that was sent to Jan and me. We felt the truth of this perspective was so inspirational that we wanted to share. We asked Rick if he would allow us to share his note in our newsletter, and he agreed.
A huge thank you to Rick McNary of Potwin (you might remember him as the person who created the Shop Kansas Farms Facebook group during the pandemic) for sharing and allowing us to share!
Forward:
A lady called me one evening shortly after the Haiti earthquake in 2010, asking if our organization was legitimate because she wanted to donate. She had heard that we were assembling volunteers at the Kansas Coliseum to package meals for the survivors in Haiti. I tried to reassure here that we were then I said, “How about we do this? Tomorrow, I want you to come to the Coliseum and ask for me, then I’ll set you up on a line with nine other volunteers who will be packaging meals. If you enjoy your time, then we’d be honored to accept your donation. If you don’t, then know that the hour you spent with us mattered to the people in Haiti because, during that time, you will have worked with nine other people to package 2,000 meals. It’s part of a plan to package One Million Meals (we had so many volunteers over two days, we packaged 1.25 million meals!
I circle back to her table about the time she was to end her one-hour shift, and she gave our organization a sizable donation. “I’ve never had a more rewarding volunteer experience in my life,” she exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
I was reminded of an acronym I had created almost 20 years earlier as I began a career of working with volunteers. Although I have facilitated those kinds of events all over America, my favorite place to engage people to make a difference is in my small town of Potwin, population 421 (counting cats and dogs). I share this town with the local and national award winner, and PRIDE leader, Melvina Jones who can mobilize people like none other.
If you work with volunteers, I offer you something that has been practical and sensible. Moreover, it has been successful and applicable no matter what the initiative.
Enjoy, and go make the world a better place in which to live!
Creating V.A.L.U.E. for Volunteers:
I’ve spent four decades engaging volunteers in housing rehab and construction, packaging meals for the hungry and international mission projects.
Early on, I created the V.A.L.U.E. acronym to provide a framework to ensure volunteer engagement and satisfaction. I have found it helpful in structuring a methodology in engaging volunteers who want to make the world a better place.
V – Value
Volunteers are willing to give up one of their most precious resources to make the world a better place: their time. As a volunteer scans the myriad volunteer opportunities, they make decisions based upon the value of the project. Is it an important issue worthy of my time? Will my time be well spent working with others? Is this project of value to me, to my community and to the world.
A – Affirmation
If a volunteer chooses to spend their time on your project, it is important that they are thanked, acknowledged and rewarded for the work they do. Unlike employees that can be bossed around, volunteers should be often and strategically encouraged. They want to know they are making a difference, and it is your privilege to remind them that you could not have done the work without them.
L – Length
I have the greatest success with volunteers when I put a time frame around it. If I say, “I need your help this weekend painting a house,” I get little response and, at best, a “maybe.” But if I say, “I need you from 8-12 Saturday morning to paint a house, I usually get a “sure, I’ll be there.” A lady was asked to become as Sunday School teacher and she said, “No, around here, once you become one, you are until you die.”
U – Understanding
Clarity truly is kindness, so the more you can clarify what the person is doing and why it matters – especially if it’s a small part of a much larger project - the happier they will be because they understand the role they played, even if it was just for an hour, it matters in the grand scheme of things.
E – Exit
When volunteers leave, make sure they are thanked on their way out, reminded of the role they played and you could not have done it without them, and encourage them to come back when they can. Please, no guilt trips. Making a volunteer feel badly when they leave ensures they will not return. If they leave feeling valued, then they become your strongest ambassadors and repeat volunteers.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
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