Poll:Volunteering

[ocean view]

My volunteer gig is helping in the Finance dept at our food bank one afternoon a week. The paid staff is small and many of their volunteers are good for data input and clerical tasks, but not more than that. I get to do analysis, audit other’s work, reconcile accounts, recommend process improvements. I love it. It’s a win/win for both of us. I get to play in excel and they get some experienced help for free. I never felt appreciated or valued in my working years like I do now. They also never bat an eye when I take a week or three off for our travel, even at year end.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollystomper I volunteer at a couple of local community groups on their finance boards. My main activity is "the guy who fixes the spreadsheets". I like to play with math and figures, and am amazed at how much it still frightens people to deal with them. Some of these spreadsheets were built in toturous ways that I have been able to replace with basic formulas and "amazing" (to them) functions like importing external data instead of manually keying it in. On average it takes me less than a day a week, and the nerd in me finds it fun.

I have found this too with my spreadsheet work with people outside my (former) working world. I was around average at my old office when it came to worksheet skills. Many of the younger coworkers began with good worksheet skills and were sometimes already better than me. But to those on my co-op board, being able to automate much of the elections process and quorum determination with fairly simple (to me) spreadsheets simply amazed them. And getting these tasks done quickly impressed them.

In my school Scrabble work, the spreadsheet I developed to keep track of all the game results and determine the pairings for each round was more complex, but still fairly simple (for me) to handle. Being able to use that spreadsheet to quickly determine the next round's pairings under some time pressure often amazed the teacher/coaches.

And the nerd in me found both of these tasks fun.

[FreeBear]

Wow, some of these unpaid gigs seem like lots of w*rk! We mentor 20 somethings at church. Honestly, it’s just hanging out over coffee or a meal and chatting about life. We attend most of the church social functions and often cook for pot lucks. This is a bit of a challenge since l’m somewhat introverted and dislike schedules. We also “guide” for a local outdoors club. All this social stuff is very rewarding but still time consuming. I can’t imagine doing administrative stuff like others do here. Now that real w*rk, but unpaid!

[blueskyk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby I don't mind helping out, but I don't want to be responsible anymore and don't want to attend meetings.

I add to this criteria that I do not accept keys to anything. I only want to be a worker bee, and a very independent one at that...slide in, do my thing, slide out.

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby I don't mind helping out, but I don't want to be responsible anymore and don't want to attend meetings.

The people in my church are mostly NOT good at controlling meetings. No timed agenda, letting discussions get off-topic, etc. As a volunteer, I've politely walked out after things dragged on too long and said, "I have to get going". The most recent was a "short meeting after church" that had gone on for an hour and 20 minutes.

I really like the monthly Finance Committee meetings because there's a "hard stop" after an hour due to a subsequent meeting that many have to attend. I can just go home.

[rick55]

Volunteer firefighter 20+ years at my local vfd.

[SpinDoctorTX]

I just finished my first & last case as a CASA (court appointed special advocate for a foster child). It was rewarding, but quite draining- about 20 hrs a wk & cost of gas (no reimbursement/ 3000 miles tracked in Optima). Plus I worried a lot about things I could not control and you'd have sudden commitments for court & other meetings that I'd have to move my schedule around to accommodate others. I will still volunteer there but event related only. DH's going through some serious medical issues, so now I'm his special advocate.

Previously we were volunteering for a rescue organization cleaning cat cages at Petsmart. I'll probably do that again at some point, but now I am on vacation from volunteering outside of the home.

[replyguy]

I have had foster beagles come and go since I retired 5 years ago. Some are easy,
some not. It's rewarding to help them find a new home and they make me laugh.

[HGTVFanatic]

I have tried to volunteer but no luck. I get on volunteer boards online but they require expertise that I don’t possess. I tried to volunteer twice at an elementary school but no calls. I thought schools always needed help but I guess not. I especially wanted to be a chaperone for field trips since I wasn’t able to do that when my kids were in school due to work. I then tried Habitat for Humanity because I like helping people and getting my hands dirty but no response from them either. I was very disappointed especially since I donate money to them. Reading is my passion and I’ve always felt terrible when I hear about adults that can’t read. I discovered a literacy program that needed volunteers to teach. I was excited until I was told about the huge time commitment. This would interfere with our RVing adventures. Again disappointment. I wanted to do CASA but don’t know if I can emotionally handle that. I knew someone who did CASA and the child she was advocating for begged to go home with her. I need to use my brain! But I could never do what all of you do — spreadsheets, committees and running HOAs. Nope. Don’t know where to go from here.

[JoeWras]

I've done the nonprofit boards and the church meeting stuff. I'm pretty much done with that. Too much like w*rk. And church meetings are the worst, as described above. Done.

I'm now down to blue collar work in hurricane relief or Habitat builds. Get my hands dirty, meet new people, etc. I do it one day or 5 per month, my choice. I don't want it to become w*rk.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HGTVFanatic I have tried to volunteer but no luck...

This is a problem that many organizations have! You are not alone in running into this.

As for board service, you have to make connections somehow at a base level. You'll eventually get invited if you present yourself well. Might take a year or two of keeping that connection. Generally, you don't just sign up for a board. I've done quite a bit of handyman kind of work for a few organizations and they eventually graduate to asking me to serve on the board. No thanks! Just let me fix the toilet. I'll be happier. And BTW, I've served on a board quite a while ago where we invited a somewhat random person we didn't know well. That was a disaster. Turns out we invited a domineering politician into our midst.

One of our local organizations (I'd rather not name them just yet) had an urgent call for volunteers. I followed their directions. An auto reply came back and said, "You'll be contacted shortly." Nope. Tried again. Nope.

Don't ask for volunteers if you can't give them a straight answer. Very Bad Form.

Now, as for Habitat... They have really gotten organized compared to years ago. Typically, you go to their web site, sign off on some liability stuff, and sign up for a slot. Then you show up, they check you off, and you get to work. At least that is the way it works in the two Habitats here in central NC. Easy.

I poked around in Maryland, where you may be, and I see a dearth of work on their schedules. I only see Restore work. (No thank you.) You may have just tried to connect at a dry time.

[FinancialDave]

I have done volunteer tax work for AARP / Taxaide for 7 years now. It takes about 40 hours of prep each year and then 15 hours a week during the tax season.

[Canoeboy]

8 months into ER, nada. Have been focused on cleaning up my fixer-upper, hauling brush, junk, etc to the dump. Have signed up to become a certified Master Naturalist and expect to start training in the Fall. Expect about 10 hours/month after that. Look forward to engaging in a field I’m passionate about with like minded people.

[kgtest]

Just signed up for the state fair EAA booth. I think over 2MM people attend, usually over 100k a day. I will be helping the kiddo's build things like rockets and spreading the good word on aviation. Went to the local airshow, and Oshkosh with the boy this year, he had a great time.

Volunteering does not need to be a one-sided deal. For me, the key is moderation as is everything. I've done things like volunteer as Santa Claus, Food Bank, Salvation Army Bell ringing, and other various veteran's related events/causes.

My hope is to find some sort of Veterans volunteer gig at the fair for next year, sort of networking through the EAA volunteering this year. Plus, maybe hoping to meet fun people and support the aviation community! DF and my BIL might sign up, we shall see. I think I get free admission as well which is like a $15 value.

[FIREarly]

I am not retired and volunteered 8 hours per week for 3 years at the Dept of Veterans Affairs. It feels amazing spending your time with veterans and helping the country. You do not know the value, network, and positive vibes/spiritual thoughts/feelings when doing this.

If you have not volunteered try it and you might be surprised how much you like it.

[FreeBear]

Took a couple of young kids out kayaking on the big lake. Normally we just tolerate “guiding” as part of out “community service”, but it was actually a blast! We don’t do meetings, training, leadership, or administrative nonsense though because I get bad flashbacks!

[friar1610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby ?..and don't want to attend meetings.

I've steadfastly refused to attend meetings in connection with my volunteer activities over 15+ years. I recently weakened and attended a meeting for the ESL organization for whom I tutor. Guess what? Meetings haven't gotten any better.

[EastWest Gal]

I finished a six year term (well, 2 -3-year terms) as President of a local band and am President of a local music club. I play music in some community bands but that doesn't count as volunteering. My life is an open book right now as I just really retired. I want to do fun things and have low stress for awhile. I've earned it.

[lem1955]

I've always served on non-profit boards, even when I was working full time. They satisfy my need to feed my soul. Now that I am retired I have a paid ~20 hour a month job doing financial work for a Preservation organization and serve as a volunteer on an environmental philanthropy board. Neither takes a lot of time but both are very gratifying.

[eytonxav]

When working I was a city CERT volunteer and citizens on patrol COPS volunteer. Being retired, I now serve as as HOA board member and president. The later is not nearly as rewarding as the prior volunteering efforts, but being in a relatively new community, making the community more attractive after board control by the developer has provided some sense of accomplishment.