At some point, many of us say that we want to volunteer and do charity work. We may begin to engage in these activities by chance when a friend invites us to take part in a local movement or at the initiative of the company in which you work. In any case, these initial moments of bestowal may be of interest in doing more.
But once you decide you want to do more, then what? Many people think that volunteering is just a fundraiser. Although there is nothing wrong with this, there is much more to the world of charity.
Many of us voluntarily participated in various activities: instructing adolescents, serving food in the dining room, participating in decision-making as a member of a non-profit council, and writing texts for organizations. If you like charity work and you decide to take on different responsibilities, you will understand that there is an opportunity for everyone, but some planning will be required to find the right one.
Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you find volunteerism that allows you to give and feel good about it.
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1. Find out what you want to get from this.
This may seem counterintuitive, isn't volunteering just that? Obviously, bestowal is at the core, but many of us also want to gain something from this experience. Perhaps you want to learn more about the cause and make contact with new people. Or maybe you want to gain practical experience in a new area, such as fundraising or strategic planning. Or perhaps you are interested in some important issue in your community and you are eager to roll up your sleeves.
These different motivations will push you to different activities and organizations. Maybe you need experience working on larger projects, such as a communication strategy, you are looking for opportunities for free consulting. Or maybe you want to help your neighbors make supplies for the winter, then you better just go and ask how you can help them.
2. Find out what you want to give
The big mistake volunteers make is that they “just want to participate.” But in what sense? Do you really write well and want to help the organization rise to new heights? Do you like to walk the streets and campaign for a good cause? Or, perhaps, you prefer to help people with things like mailing lists, using your skills in selected type of activity.
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Sometimes we feel so perplexed by some kind of social problem that we just want to plunge into it with our heads, but we wonder why after a few days or weeks we feel a little out of place. Knowing what you want to give to others, as well as knowing what you want to receive, will allow you to determine whether this activity is suitable for you or not.
3. Find out how much time you can spend
It is very simple: be honest with yourself about how much time you can devote to it.
As mentioned earlier, we often experience an initial burst of enthusiasm for volunteering that can lead us to excessive commitment. If you have never been a volunteer before, going all-in with a weekly assignment that lasts three months is not worth it. This is especially true for volunteer activities that are related to more direct services such as mentoring, serving food, and so on. Often there is preparatory work that needs to be done, and other elements that affect the total amount of time that you spend on volunteering.
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In many cases, you can always start small and ask for more active participation later. This is better than starting with a heavy load and retreating, leaving the organization in a quandary.
4. Find out about the possibilities
Sometimes the best way to find an opportunity is to just look around and see what types of work are available. You should spend a little time learning the information well. Volunteers are required in various fields of activity: working with children, separate waste collection, putting in order and holding subbotniks, organizing festivals, building and so on. You can create something like a catalog for yourself, to browse and select what is most interesting to you.
