Responses
to October 2006 Hot Topic
Tales
from the dark side...
Response
posted on 30th October 2006 by Kate Munro, Consultant,
New South Wales, Australia
Well
DJ - I think the wonderful thing is that it is an
Irish man pushing the envelope - pity we can't all
sit down with a guiness and have a good old chin wag
about this!
I
think the bigger picture for all of us is why do organisations
have Volunteers involved in the first place - NFP
or FP. Having recently been made redundant after 17
years of passionate management of Volunteers in a
hospital setting I feel that so much lip service is
paid to the value Volunteers bring to the organsiation
-as my CEO (he was my manager) on facing 93 of my
Volunteers to tell of my postion being deleted commented
" I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence
and intellect of the group"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! need
I say more...well I could but wont.
Those
of us who are committed to meaningful Volunteer management
have always had the challenge of how to communicate
the real reason organisations have Volunteers involved
and to have that communication be understood and how
sad that your colleagues find the need to hiss (don't
they know you !) Its about the human being who chooses
to offer their skills, talents, time, compassion,
need to gain work skills etc etc and how they will
be taken care of by the organisation that matters.
I
ask each of you to ask your paid colleagues to tell
you why you have Volunteers involved and their answers
will give you insight into how to ensure they know
the real reason - be prepared for some shocking replies!
You
have not gone over to the dark side my friend but
have just slipped in to another stream and hit a few
rapids!! - hold on tight.
Response
posted on 14th October 2006 by Michelle Hodshon, Manager
Volunteer Services, Adelaide, South Australia
Whether
it be profit or not-for-profit organisations, it comes
down to the individual who is prepared to give their
time, skills and experiences to the benefit of other
human beings, is this not what volunteering is all
about...
Response
posted on 7th October 2006 by Zoe Pelteki, Manager,
Volunteer Services, Calvary Health Care Bethlehem
Inc, Victoria, Australia
Firstly
lets not forget Volunteers are a resource!
They
provide qualitative and quantitative benefits to the
organization, clients, patients, staff and community
they provide their valuable time and energy to. Unless
the organization they are giving to is a not for profit
or government operated facility, I say NO to volunteers
being used in a profit making, privately owned or
share holders based organization!
Response
posted on 7th October 2006 by Anastasia Magriplis,
Manager Volunteers & Special Employment Projects,
Lifeline Community Care Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Congratulations
DJ for bringing out into the open one of the areas
of discussion that we as a sector need to have. With
the privatisation of many of our social services it
is becoming increasingly important for us to at least
have an open mind to be able to adapt to the new playing
field. This is especially true of the health sector
which is undergoing pretty major transformations under
the current regime! The motivation of volunteers,
the roles that volunteers undertake and the support
of ethical volunteer management practices are probably
the most important issues that need to be discussed.
By alienating professionals and in turn volunteers
in this area we are probably not taking the best approach
we (as a sector) need to take to ensure that volunteering
remains driven by what is needed in our community.
I'm not sure that there is too much difference between
a "For Profit" hospital or health service
and a church based private service that reinvests
it's profits into staff and services. I say bring
on more discussion about our "Sacred Cow"
issues to that we can continue to challenge ourselves
and set up true, achievable and evolving benchmarks
for our sector.
Response
posted on 6th October 2006 by Rob Jackson, Founder
& Moderator, UKVPM's (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKVPMs
), London, England
Thanks
DJ for putting your head above the parapet and being
prepared to share your thoughts. This kind of debate
and discussion is what advances our sector –
dismissing volunteering in for-profit sectors without
thinking through the issues only serves to limit our
own thinking, something we frequently accuse managers
in Volunteer Involving Organisations of doing when
they dismiss our efforts to develop volunteer opportunities.
Personally,
I think we need to move away from thinking about not
for profit agencies as not for profit. The distinction
is not in our desire to make a profit but in how the
agency uses that profit – for the benefit of
shareholders or for the benefit of stakeholders (i.e.
Clients, communities served etc.). I have yet to find
a not for profit agency that is truly striving not
to make a profit because the truth is that to do so
is to start down a road to financial disaster.
Response
posted on 6th October 2006 by Stacey Gossip, Volunteer
Coordinator, Mater Health Services, Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia
I
say...why not have volunteers in a 'for profit' organisation?
Volunteering is about motivation - people wanting
to help others without wondering who's picking up
the tab. If you want to lessen someone's loneliness
or workload what does it matter where the funds for
their care is coming from. The fact is people could
use some extra care and attention regardless of what
organisation come under (profit and non profit).
I
think the problem is that we have this deluded view
that volunteering for a non-profit organisation is
somehow more noble or 'right'.
Like
a profit organisation would have the money to pay
a team of psychologists to come in and sit and chat
with their patients every day. Or drive them to an
appointment. Or give them a massage.
You
can't pay people to care. As a Psychologist I know
this to be true!
I think it's nice that in this mostly self centred
world we live in there are still people willing to
be with another person in whatever capacity they need,
without expecting something in return. Likewise, I
think most people are touched to be attended to by
someone who is giving their time to them without a
cost attached.
Response
posted on 5th October 2006 by Susan J Ellis, President,
Energize Inc, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
With
the flames lapping at my feet, DJ, I agree with your
point of view! Whenever I try to explain this, I get
the same hissing sound! In fact, many years ago I
wrote a book about volunteer centers for the United
Way of America. In it, I noted that a volunteer center
needs to answer the question of which audiences they
do and don't serve. I put in a list of considerations,
including "will you serve for-profit settings
that involve volunteers?" When I got the manuscript
back for a final review, the UWA editorial staff had
summarily cross out that line, with a margin note
"there are no volunteers in a for-profit setting."
Needless to say, I argued that one -- and won. The
original sentence remained in the book.
Back
in 2000, I wrote a Hot Topic for my Energize Web site
on "Volunteering in For-Profit Settings: Exploitation
or Value Added?" (http://www.energizeinc.com/hot/feb00.phpl).
It's a bit dated, but it might add to the discussion
here (including what site visitors said to me back
then).
Thanks
for raising this topic -- which we need to address
without knee-jerk negative reactions.
Guess you don't need a Halloween costume???
Response posted on 5th
October 2006 by Nicole Milazzo, Coordinator, Volunteer
Services Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Qld, Australia
Like
DJ I also downloaded the Volunteering Australia presentation.
My volunteer information sessions are ever-evolving
and I questioned how I might go about wording that
part of the presentation in relation to our organisation
being part of the government - neither NFP or FP.
I took out the NFP wording and didn't give it too
much more thought. As a government girl and as I have
got my footing over the last year or so in the volunteer
sector I have never felt quite comfortable with the
NFP only argument for volunteering. It takes an article
like DJ's to create some interest and dialogue about
such an issue, so I hope it sparks a lively debate.
I would agree with DJ that things need to be looked
at on a case by case basis and it would definitely
be ugly if a line of volunteers in NFP vs FP was drawn
in the sand.
To
be honest I didn't even question the fact that when
DJ moved organisations he was going to a For Profit
- even though I knew he was moving to a private hospital?!?...
so as he mentioned there must be many health care
facilities out there that have been bought and taken
over for profit. Something for me to think about.
Thanks DJ.
Response
posted on 4th October 2006 by Sandy Hilder, Volunteer
& Consumer Participation Coordinator, Toowoomba
Health Service District, Qld, Australia
I remember being
horrified when I attended a volunteers awards function
last year - the coordinator of a for profit agency
proudly spoke publicly of the amount of hours his
volunteers put in, then converted it to $ - saying
the agency would have to find this to keep running!
However, DJ raises some very good points- these volunteers
are doing so for the right reason and are just wanting
to contribute to the community. The agency concerned
in my case does provide a much needed service, and
I now refer volunteers to this agency if I cannot
place them.
The risk is that some organisations and companies
may exploit volunteers - do we need a "volunteer
watchdog"????!!!
Good
article DJ!
DJ's
Response to Sandy: I like your response.
In my opinion we ourselves as Volunteer Management
professionals need to be the Volunteer Watchdog, ensuring
volunteer services are never exploited or misused!
Let's
hear what you think!
Its
not too late...
Let's
hear what you think!
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