What Are Your Reasons To Volunteer? True Altruism or Highly Political?

As a volunteer, wouldn’t it be nice to receive a card sometime with a beautifully written volunteer appreciation poem in it?

But, how many of us ever have truly great volunteer experiences? One of my wellness categories is called, “RECIPROCAL WELLNESS – OUR GENEROSITY” and the sad truth is that we are extremely lacking in society when it comes to reciprocal wellness.

What is reciprocal wellness, you ask? Well, it happens when people go out into the world to lend a hand and when they do they have a truly rewarding experience, in which they feel appreciated. They are not looking for any real accolades, and they don’t want a big fanfare, they just want to feel good about giving back to society.

Have you ever done any volunteer work? Of course, you have. Who hasn’t at some point in their life? We all spend time volunteering. Whether it’s helping with the local Girl Scouts or your kids football team or helping at a food bank or the local library, we have all done volunteer work.

There is no shortage of volunteers in society and there is no shortage of volunteer work needing to be done. What is in short supply is recognition and appreciation for volunteers. It’s bad enough that most organizations have terrible volunteer recognition programs. What’s even worse is that many volunteers get treated very poorly. Sometimes it’s the organization that is being unjust but more often than not it’s the other volunteers who are the problem.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether you get paid or not. There is gossip and politics and liable and slander and blackballing and cliques and it feels like high school all over again. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here is a list of 28 behaviours to avoid when you go out to volunteer.
• Spreading gossipn • Micromanaging othersn • Not following through on commitmentsn • Forming cliquesn • Bringing a personal agenda (especially a negative one)
• Monopolizing meetingsn • Not attending meetingsn • Being late for meetingsn • Spreading yourself too thin, taking on too muchn • Subversive bullyingn • Emotionally abusing paid employees or other volunteersn • Being too sensitive and taking things too personallyn • Not staying informedn • Putting down or knocking the organizationn • Looking the other way when problems happenn • Speaking for others without their permissionn • Not doing your bestn • Participating in unethical activitiesn • Participating in illegal activitiesn • Participating in immoral activitiesn • Wasting the organization's timen • Wasting the organization's moneyn • Wasting the organization's resourcesn • Staying involved after you have lost interestn • Creating problemsn • Complaining and griping about everythingn • Being judgmental of other volunteers and staffn • Being negative all the time.

And to take it one step further, here is a list of 28 things that you should try very hard to do at all times.

• Smilen • Find reasons to be thankfuln • Ask what you can do to helpn • Respect people's privacy and confidentialityn • Be a good ambassador for the organizationn • Work out conflicts respectfully and peacefullyn • Speak only for yourselfn • Show up a few minutes early and stay a few minutes late to meetingsn • Follow e-mail etiquette guideline - DON'T ABUSE E-MAILn • Stay a few minutes late to meetingsn • Take on only the tasks you can manage within your schedulen • Leave your ego at homen • Ask for help if you are feeling overwhelmedn • Have a positive attituden • Show your appreciation of othersn • Be a part of the solutionn • Be honest and ethicaln • Don't make mountains out of molehillsn • Stay within the bounds of the lawn • Keep your defensiveness in checkn • If your toes are being stepped on, pull in your feetn • Lend a hand, even if it's not your job, if you have the timen • Stay in communication and stay informedn • Be resourcefuln • Don't be afraid to share your ideasn • Get your friends involvedn • Say thank you to the organizersn • Leave the organization if you start to hate itn • Report problems before they become too big

If you do these things, I think you will find that everyone will have a much better volunteer experience and reciprocal wellness will, once again, come out of hiding. Who knows, you might even take the time to write your own volunteer appreciation poem and share it with someone who deserves it.