Hot
Topic Archive
April
2006
What's
the 'value' of volunteering?
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
This
month's Hot Topic is not so much a well thought out
essay, but rather a quick series of random thoughts
and questions on the topic of how we might best view
the 'value' of different volunteer efforts.
During
the month I referenced an interesting opinion piece
by journalist Mirko Bagaric which had appeared on
a web site called 'On Line Opinion: Australia's e-journal
of social and political debate' and also in the 'Geelong
Advertiser' - see the article in it's entirety at
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4278
The
article elicited a great deal of response both within
the OzVPM Newsgroup and also more broadly via personal
e-mails that I sighted.
In
the article, titled 'Volunteering for the 'right'
reasons', the author (who is obviously not a great
fan of the Commonwealth Games) essentially argued
that the time people have spent volunteering for the
games is essentially a 'waste of time'. He suggests
that the long term benefits of assisting with a major
sporting event is potentially a waste of resources
- and that the time committed to the games might have
been better used had it been contributed to a social
service agency. He even goes on to suggest that a
better outcome may have been for games volunteers
not to volunteer at all, but rather stay at work,
earn extra money, and send it to Africa.
Now
while I could go on for ever about the inaccuracies
and assumptions the piece makes about volunteering
and a person's motivations for doing so, I particularly
wanted to take up the challenge of discussing whether
or not one type of volunteering does have more community
benefit than another.
All
volunteer activity has a result - an outcome which
arguably varies greatly from one volunteer role to
another. However, is it possible to say that the benefits
derived from one voluntary act is more important or
potentially better than another?
Let's
consider the following series of questions:
. A
volunteer fire fighter rushes into the face of danger
and extinguishes a blaze, in the process saving a
home and livestock. Is the act of this volunteer greater
(or more valuable) than the volunteer who drove the
fire truck to the scene or the administration volunteer
who via the radio navigated the pair to the correct
address? Which role produced the most 'value'?
. What
if putting the fire out didn't just save a property,
but also saved the life of a small child trapped inside
the burning house? Is the value of this scenario now
greater than that outlined in the previous example?
. Picking
up on the theme of the referenced article, let's ask
a question of volunteering in special events, the
arts, sport, recreation or areas of environmental
responsibility? Are these activities 'less serious'
(and therefore less valuable) acts of volunteering
than say working in a soup kitchen or amongst the
starving masses in some parts of Africa?
. Should
these types of activities continue to be encouraged
at all costs or should volunteer agencies discourage
involvement in favour
of more 'serious' volunteer opportunities?
. How
would the author reconcile his beliefs against the
fact that following the Games, Melbourne's sporting
infrastructure will be stronger than ever? What are
the flow-on effects of this on Melbourne's youth in
the years to come? Where does the value of these things
fit?
. Should
we attribute the same 'value' to a volunteer doctor
providing medical assistance at the Commonwealth games
as we would a volunteer bus driver at the same event
- ferrying athletes from one venue to another?
. What
if the qualified doctor was not working as a volunteer
in their medical capacity? Instead,what if s/he was
working as a volunteer transport driver? Does their
value decrease?
As I am sure
you may have guessed I am trying to deliberately stir
up some debate, because I do believe it is a question
worth exploring in more depth.
For instance:
. Why
is it that some areas of volunteering appear to receive
far more funding support than others? Is this merely
a perception issue or do government and other funders
actually believe it is more valuable to fund some
voluntary activities over others?
. Is
this directly related to what you might pay a salaried
staff member to perform the same tasks?
. Should
the value of volunteering somehow be tied into the
direct benefit others receive as a result of the activity
--- and how do you measure that?
. As
a part of these equations, how do you properly value
the benefits derived by the volunteer themselves (ie.
a volunteer who was suicidal now finds value in their
life through their volunteer work)
This is sure
an interesting conversation and worthy of continuing
- so let's hear your random responses to my muddled
thoughts!
It's
not too late to...
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- 06 OzVPM.
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