Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The 2010 Canadian Survey on Giving,
Volunteering and Participating found that, for more than a decade,
young people have volunteered more than any other age group.
It's hard to believe. In fact,
fifty-eight percent of Canadians
aged 15 to 24 are involved in volunteering.
This puts young people well above the national average of forty seven percent.
And that's how many people in Canada volunteer. Forty seven
percent of our population gives back to their communities in some aspects.
If we engage youth effectively, we can keep
Canada's volunteer sector strong, because
us old people, and I'm including myself, are not going to be around forever.
As many of Canada's seniors retire
from their volunteer positions, youth will have a vital role
in playing in building strong, strong communities from coast to coast.
We developed a picture, this actual survey
developed a picture on the characteristics of
today's volunteers,
and we discovered the barriers and challenges
to effective engagement. And we learned that
today volunteers have goals.
They're driven by results.
They want to see that their volunteering is making a difference
to the organizations.
They're mobile, they're self-directed,
they have multiple interests,
and we need, as organizations, to find out what their interests are and how they
can help us
make our organizations better. And they're seeking
short-term opportunities that are going to use their skills.
In the past, it was so often that we had volunteers
that gave years and years and years of volunteering to an organization.
Nowadays people are looking for short-term
activities that they can do, they can do with their families, they can do with
their friends.
And so that's why, we as
non-profit organizations, need to make sure that we provide those opportunities
for them.
The study also gathered
advice on how volunteers can better engage today's
volunteers, and we're going to talk about that in a few minutes.
We found differences in the needs of youth,
families, baby boomers,
and the workplace volunteers. And I want to touch on workplace volunteers
because
more and more organizations or companies
are now encouraging their employees to get involved
in volunteering. For example, when we had the Ontario Summer Games here,
every member of KPMG,
every employer, employees, I should say,
were involved in some aspect
of the games by volunteering. So you're going to see more and more organizations doing
that.
So what
are some in the gaps that we find with volunteers?
Many people or many organizations
are looking for group activities but few organizations can
provide that. Many people come
with professional skills, but
when they want to volunteer, they're looking for something that is not what
they have done for
eight or ten hours previously, to come and work within their organization.
For example if somebody is an accountant
you know they're not necessarily looking to help you with finances within the
organization.
They're looking for something totally different.
Organizations are expected to define the role of volunteers
but many (many programming problems with the computer here)
but many volunteers want that
flexibility to create their own opportunities and schedules.
Many organizations want long-term commitment and, as I said
earlier, many of them are looking for
short-term opportunities, and
organizations and non-profits can find ways that,
if they're planning an event and it's on a weekend,
and they're looking for volunteers, that's where the
volunteer perhaps will start working with your organization,
and the trick to it is, if they have a really, really good experience with that
short term weekend event,
then you probably are going to get them back in the future.
And many organizations focus on what they need.
Many volunteers come with their own goals to be met.
It's critical that organizations give youth positive youth
experiences. Doing so can teach the value of civic participation
and, in turn, can lead to lifelong involvement among
the youth. Two-thirds of volunteers said they have had at least,
one bad experience
and some of them said their skills are not being used,
poor preparation by the organization, in other words, they're not ready for these
volunteers to come in
and help them in their organization.
We also have organizational politics
and, of course, too much bureaucracy.
And they find that that's very hard to deal with
if they're there to volunteer.
The survey that talked to participants gave advice on
how organizations can improve the way they engagement volunteers,
and, many of these things apply to whether it's a youth
volunteer or if it is a senior,
or if it is the workplace volunteer.
They all have the same similarities.
Organizations should build
meaningful relationships with their volunteers.
Take the time to know them. Sit down and talk to them.
Find out what it is that they want from their volunteer experience.
You should understand where volunteers are in their life cycle.
For example, are they still going to school
and have demands about classes and homework
and areas like that? Are they just starting their career
and their focus is making sure that they have a good start to their career?
Do they have two young children at home, but they still want to give some time to
volunteering in the community?
Do they have family members who are sick
and need to have time with them as well as giving back to
the community? So you should
make sure that when you're sitting down with volunteers, you find out what their
goals are
and with the skills are that they have to bring to your organization.
Human Resources should include volunteers
because some policies and benefits would apply equally to the volunteer
as to your staff.
Today's volunteers have erratic schedules.
Volunteers of all ages have multiple demands.
They include work, school, families,
and organizations need to make sure that they have flexible
times for the volunteers so that you can accommodate them.
Organization should be sensitive to gender,
culture, language, and age.
A welcoming and inclusive environment attract volunteers.
While many volunteers use technology and social media,
volunteers want to find more information online.
How many from organizations that are here
have the ability for volunteers to go onto their web sites to find information
about how they can volunteer?
That is vital, especially in this day and age
with our youth. So how can we bridge
the gap between youth, and when I talk about youth, I'm talking about
people who are 15 to 24 years old,
and what are they looking for in volunteering?
A new Canadian research study provided the most current national data
about the changing culture and Canada's volunteer sector
including information specific to the nation's
youth population, and this is one of the first
surveys that they have done that really targets
our youth.
So how do we bridge the gap? We need to find out what youth
want in their volunteer experience,
and what are the issues that you have been finding satisfactory volunteer roles,
and what can organizations do to enhance the volunteer experience.
In talking to high school students who have mandatory
hours that they have to cover and, I said, what made it a good experience
for you
when you were working within an organization or
a club or wherever and, they said,
Barb, it was the experience of feeling that
what I had to contribute was valued
and they listened to some of my ideas.
And what was one of some your worst experiences?
Well they seem to always get the youth to either
clean out the storage cupboard or clean the washrooms,
and they said that's really not using my talents or my skills.
So make sure that when you're dealing with youth, make sure they have a good
experience and you'll get them back.
Youth represent a particular important demographic
because they are the future volunteers.
They are the future of volunteering.
The day is going to come when I'm too old
or too decrepit to volunteer,
and the same thing is going to happen to you. So we need to make sure that we
cultivate
those youth volunteers,
that they're going to keep coming back and they're going to make sure that
the future volunteering in Canada
is sustainable. Because without them
we're not going to be able to sustain
a lot of organizations. A lot of organizations
function because they have volunteers helping them
or working with them. Because, they could not afford, especially in the
non-profit
organizations that I'm aware of, they cannot afford to pay the number of
volunteers that they have
to sustain their organizations.
For example, Meals on Wheels, without their volunteers,
they would never ever be able to afford
the program that they have there,
and it's the same with pretty well almost every other non-profit
organization
in this country.
Youth see volunteering from a variety of perspectives
and their motivations for volunteering are professional,
social, and personal in nature.
If they volunteer, they figure that
they're going to get some skills that are going to help them later on in life.
Often volunteering is seen as contributing to their job search,
by providing an opportunity to network,
to improve their skills, and raise their profile among potential employers.
I know a number of youth members that I have been associated with or
have talked to
have said: "You know, Barb, I got this job because
for the last four years, I've been volunteering occasionally with this
organization,
and a job came up when I was ready to
get into the workforce, and they offered me this job"
...because they knew the abilities, they knew
the skills of this particular person. I know, for example, another person
who volunteered for four years while going to university
and ended up with a job because they saw the dedication of this person
who was coaching in the high schools, ended up with a job
after they came out of Teachers College. So it's really important that we we keep
these volunteers and help them
in the end. Some youth
cited the social importance of volunteering and the satisfaction derived
from seeing the benefits of their work
with others. Many young people in Canada are introduced to volunteering though
mandatory programs within the schools.
And it's not just the high schools, in some programs at colleges and university
that require
their students to get involved within the community by volunteering.
While volunteering was generally seen by youth as an opportunity to meet
different kinds of people,
many new friends and socialize, many wondered why they should be
volunteering for free when they might be able to get a job and get some
actual money.
This outlines the importance for volunteer organizations to provide
incentives
for attracting youth to volunteer opportunities.
Organizations should try to make the experience fun
and rewarding for young people, so that they will be more likely to continue
this engagement
in the future, as their life circumstances change.
And I should say that, I talk about youth engagement,
not necessarily volunteering by our youth, because we want to engage our
youth in volunteering.
So what are the characteristics of youth volunteers?
Well they're very career-focused, flexible,
and receptive to new ideas, believe it or not.
They're more open-minded.
They have grown up being exposed to greater diversity
than previous generations, so they're open minded to new ideas, new ways.
They're energetic and they're enthusiastic
and they have a high level and vitality,
much more than I do at my age.
They're technologically savvy.
They respond to innovative online communications
and recruitment techniques.
I think my generation is the one that, you know, fill out the paper form, give it
to the organization.
The youth today are quite willing and I
encourage organizations to get on board to make sure that they have something
where people can fill it out
right online for them.
They prefer peer camaraderie.
As social beings, youth enjoy meeting new people and participating in
volunteer activities with their friends.
Now if you get a group of them involved, they're much more willing to do
something than they are
to do on their own. Of course they are affected by mandatory community service
and, in a lot of provinces and territories, now
this has become part of the everyday high school and college and
university situation.
They see volunteering as a bridge, something that
supports their job search, skill developments
and networking. In a few minutes I'm going to talk to you about a really neat
program
that has just come out from Volunteer Canada, and some of the organizations
are already trained, non-profits are trained on it already,
that's going to help you maybe encourage your young people who are
looking for jobs.
You're gonna be able to help them with that.
They're sensitive to perceived age discrimination.
They prefer volunteer tasks where they feel respected
and have given some responsibilities.
Just remember that because they're young doesn't mean that they have
got the ability to be responsible for some activities within your organization.
Youth often feel it's up to them to present their abilities and
actively seek out volunteer opportunities
that match their skill sets. For example,
if they're really keen on sports,
a lot of them will seek out opportunities to
help coach,
which is something that a
lot of sports organizations are looking for.
Many volunteer in areas that allow them to improve
their skills
and gain access to training.
Again, I think it's just as important that our youth
are trained as well as our more "experienced" volunteers.
Youth feel that organizations are very effective and have systems in place to
match
volunteers to opportunities. In other incidents you say they have to create
those opportunities
themselves. The organizations are not set up
to let to deal with the youth.
So, what are some other barriers for for youth?
Lack of time, inability to make a long-term
commitment, and I keep saying, you know you need to give them opportunities
for short-term
opportunities. That is vital because they just don't have the time.
They're not being asked, they're not being asked to volunteer.
And I think that's part of our mistake.
And they're not sure how to get involved. They're not sure where they can go to
be involved with
an organization, because they see
the seniors and all of the other group volunteering but they don't
really see how they fit into the actual organization.
A lot of them feel that their opinions and their insights are not valued
and I think so many times we, ourselves,
belong to an organization where change doesn't happen very quickly,
because we've been there for so long, and we say oh well we've done it this way
and it works, without listening to the youth as the new volunteers,
to say,
have you ever thought about trying to do it this way?
The other thing too is that organizations perceive that youth need
service
and help instead of seeing the youth as having something to give back
to the organization.
While many youth volunteers felt they weren't given enough responsibility in
their role,
some thought they were thrown into a situation that was well over their head
within the organization. So we need to make sure that the organization
is really clear about what they're giving to the volunteer.
So what are some things that interest
youth volunteers?
The youth are looking for something that is going to help with their
education.
So they're looking for an organization that has something to do
with education or research,
sports and recreation,
and, social services was the last one that they wanted to get involved with.
And they also are interested in international,
as youth see themselves as world citizens,
and tend to define community as being
global in nature. Where in my generation
community meant "Sudbury"
or "Ontario." It didn't mean the whole world.
They're very, very interested
in organizations that support environmental issues,
which I think here is something that this group would be
quite interested in getting your youth involved.
They're flexible enough to accommodate their own commitments for school work,
friends and family. And how many times have we
said: "We won't ask her because she's too busy or he's too busy."
Ask them. They're going to tell you whether or not they're able to help you.
With volunteer job descriptions, you need give youth a clear
understanding what they will do,
and the broader significance of their participation.
Why is it so important for these volunteers to be helping you in your
organization?
And the other thing with youth is to make sure that, when they're volunteering,
ask them to include their friends because they are a social group
and they want their friends there to help them.
So what are some examples of youth-friendly volunteer task?
Tasks that can be done virtually such as maintaining
your social networking pages.
I know that the organizations that I belong to don't even let me come near that
part of it because
I'm not even on Facebook, so.
Give suggestions on how to design a website,
doing research, or writing a theme song for your organization.
Those are all fun things that youth like to do.
Activities that can be done in pairs or groups. I can't
emphasize highly enough that you need to make sure you get their
friends in
because they don't like doing things on their own. They want to be with other
people.
Some of the things that I came across that
other youth had done was some animation work on the computer,
helping in a homework club, cleaning parks,
making presentations in high schools,
or participating in planning days.
It was mentioned that I was a member of girl guides
and, over the years, I've had the opportunities to do
a lot to planning for special events,
small and large, and the one thing that I always made sure was that
we had volunteers from the youth
on the planning committee, because what I think would be really good,
they turn to me and say: "Barb, that's a stupid idea.
Kids are not going to like that anymore." So it's important that youth are part of
the whole planning group.
Opportunities that allow the youth to learn job-related skills,
is another area, to gain
the skills that they're going to need later on in life.
So how can we improve the volunteer experience?
Promoting volunteerism where youth will see it,
such as your social media group, youth centers,
community centers, in their high school,
all of those areas that youth are going to see your opportunities.
Volunteer Sudbury has all kinds of
volunteer opportunities that we can get the youth to volunteer with.
Building meaningful relationships.
Getting to know that volunteer. That's going to keep them coming back, because
they're going to think,
or they're gonna know, that you care about them.
That it isn't someone that is coming in to do their 40 hours of community service.
You really care about what they are doing with your organization,
and that the talents that they have are benefiting your organization.
But you need to develop that relationship,
and it doesn't matter if it's a youth member or
a baby boomer or whatever,
they need to know that what they're giving to your organization is valued.
Capitalize on technological options,
offer greater online engagement of youth such as the web sites with volunteer
listings as Volunteers Sudbury does,
and the matching programs, and volunteer opportunities that can be completed
virtually.
Being
sensitive to differences.
Respecting gender, culture, language and especially age.
Being careful to avoid the perception of
age discrimination and recognizing youth that have a unique skill that you're
going to be able to use within your organization.
Being respectful about the tasks and roles that are assigned to youth.
Avoid automatically giving youth jobs
that are what I call the grunt jobs, the grunt work that
you know the low man on the totem pole always seems to get those particular
things.
Offer benefits and incentives such as volunteer appreciation parties,
perhaps a concert, a bus ticket
for a youth who doesn't necessarily drive, but you would like to see them there at
the event
and maybe they can't afford, they don't have a car to get there.
Communicating feedback to youth volunteers regularly
and constructively.
Everyone of us wants feedback on how we're doing
and the youth in particular want that. Don't let them go six months and
with them doing something wrong that isn't suitable to what you
want them to do.
Clearly outline the purpose of the proposed youth volunteer activity.
So, make it very clear to them what it is that they are
supposed to be doing.
I hear from people that say: "Youth,
they never come back." Well, what are we offering them?
What are we offering them that is going to make them come back to you?
Youth are looking for challenging and interesting roles within our
organizations,
and they want to see the results of their work.
They're busy, their schedules are busy
but, at the same time, they want to give back to your organization.
For student volunteers, a letter of reference is often used as a carrot that
helps carry out
their commitment to your organization.
So, what are the 10 ways that are going to make
your organization youth friendly?
Check your expectations.
Youth have to deal with stricter rules than most adults,
whether this involves school, parents, even the law,
and this on top in the things we want them to do.
Many tasks and timelines for young volunteers
have to be realistic, recognizing
that they have a very busy schedule.
Don't overburdened them. Make sure that what they're doing
is what they have time to do.
Use the buddy system. I think you see the consistent message I'm trying to say to
you.
Make sure that you have people there that are going to work with them.
Entering a new environment is kind of scary for anybody.
It doesn't matter how confident you are, when you enter a new environment,
you're a little bit nervous about what you're doing,
and so it's important that, when you have people coming into your organization,
you have a buddy, someone that's got the experience
that is going to show the ropes, that are going to help them get through the
first little while
of being involved in your organization.
Wouldn't it be great if their buddy was another youth member,
or that if it's more of a senior
volunteer within your organization, it would be great if you had a
couple
of youth members together.
Help us get to places. It's pretty rare that we have access to a car,
as they say, whether you need us and if you need us, it's important that
we can get there -- how you're going to get them get there.
Maybe they need a ticket for a bus ticket to get there.
Maybe someone can pick them up. Maybe there are ways that you can have
these events when when they're available.
And make sure that the location is
okay for your youth. In particular, don't necessarily have it in a bar.
Especially youth, they won't be able to go there.
Include your parents, include our parents
in the whole cycle in this thing.
If they have support from parents, then they're going to be more likely to get
out
to events and parents are going to be able to
perhaps drive them to the event.
Cut out jargon. Every organization has these little acronyms
that we haven't got a clue that they're talking about.
So it's important that if you've got jargon
that you make sure that you explain to people what this means,
because it might mean one thing for one organization and something different for
another.
Keep things moving. Youth like to see tangible results fairly quickly
as this validates them from getting involved and encourages them to keep at it.
Start your meetings with ice breakers to ensure that everyone knows each other
and feels comfortable in asking for clarification.
Try to maintain momentum throughout the time period that you have them
and, if you can, interject a little bit of humor now any again with them.
To release tension and restlessness, schedule the breaks
for them as well and include recreational activities.
Get flexible. Youth recognize that most environments
involve certain rules and structures
that they get lot in this at school and at home
but a vital part of being a young volunteer is exploring new social
structures,
testing attitudes and renewing social and organizational practices.
Surprised them by letting them surprise you.
You'd be amazed how much they are capable of doing for your organization.
Recognize the changing nature of work from a face time to a flexible time
model and see how much
you will get out of these volunteers.
Number 8, if you feed them,
okay, as we all know, the youthful energy has to come from somewhere,
for long time periods that they're involved with you, provide youth with some
real substance, other than coffee in danish.
If you go out for lunch perhaps invite them along
or have an in time lunch with them so that they can bring their
own lunch in and be part of the group. They need to
feel part of the whole.
Don't be a control freak. I know that's hard as adults when we're dealing with youth,
that we want to keep our little thumb on them to make sure that
they're doing it right.
But don't be a control freak. Support
is indispensable to youth but don't be heavy-handed.
Micro-management can make everyone feel like they are considered
untrustworthy and incapable, whether it's youth,
baby boomers, seniors, whoever.
Give us room to breath, they say. Be respectful and provide the same
information and support mechanisms for youth
as you do for your senior volunteers.
If you match the support with clear and realistic expectations,
youth tend to work things out just fine.
Celebrate. Everyone likes to be flattered
and youth are no exceptions. Recognizing
their role, validates their efforts
and rewards all their contributions to your organization.
Small gifts, write-ups on the website about them,
there are all kinds in ways that you can freely recognize these volunteers.
A simple thank you to them is just as important
as some elaborate award.
You can find the return on your investment, like in
engaging youth in the first place, to be huge.
So, if you prepare your organization for them,
you'll start reaping the rewards of meaningful
youth
infusions, and now that your organization
has begun preparing to offer youth
meaningful positions, you can strategize how to use technology as a tool
to reach them to engage them in the long term.
Thank you.