Volunteering as a Young Professional
I’ve volunteered for as long as I can remember. From planting flowers for grounds beautification as a Daisy in Girl Scouts to serving on fundraising committees as a young professional, volunteering has been one of my favorite things. With that being said, it’s really important to be well rounded in how you give your time. Here are some tips on how I manage it.
Stick with things you’re really passionate about.
As decent human beings it’s so easy to want to help every person and every cause, but there’s only so much one person can do. Take stock of the causes and issues that matter most for you. (Ex. I’m really passionate about women and girls, as well as literacy.) Once you know what areas you’re really interested in, you can focus on finding volunteer opportunities in your top two or three. Organizations are always looking for dedicated volunteers. Once you’re committed to one you don’t want to leave them hanging because you found another opportunity that you’re more passionate about, so putting thought into it beforehand is an important step.
Understand your schedule.
If you have a Wednesday night group to go to or you travel for work every week then be aware of your schedule’s limitations as you consider all of your volunteer options. The first group that I joined as a young professional was a women’s volunteer organization. The numerous opportunities for weekend volunteer projects and committee meetings that I could call-in to were flexible enough to fit my unpredictable work schedule. If you know that you can only volunteer on weekends, pick an organization with weekend options. If you want to do a weekly Tuesday night to keep your weekends free, there will be an organization that offers an option for that too.
Know the volunteer time commitments.
When I started volunteering after college, I started with one thing. It’s a good idea to ease yourself in while you figure out how much time each opportunity will take. A committee that meets every other month leaves plenty of time to add something else in, but a weekly commitment might leave you stretched too thin to add another. My first year with the women’s org only had about two commitments every month. Six months after I started that I added a young professionals committee with Girl Scouts for another monthly to bi-monthly commitment. Give yourself plenty of time to figure out how full your plate is getting. Or how full you want it to be.
Balance your volunteer “portfolio.”
As much time as you are giving to an organization, you are allowed to want to gain something from it too. Sometimes a volunteer experience might not quite meet your expectations and it’s time to move on or into a different area. For me, I’ve recently taken on a fundraising leadership role in my women’s org. Previously I had a small role on the fundraising committee for both the women’s org and the Girl Scouts YP group. I was already starting to feel like I was missing out a bit on the volunteer part of volunteering after having been relegated to fundraising in two organizations. I joined a United Way YP group with no set commitments and plenty of Saturday morning opportunities fill that void. Now that my fundraising role in the women’s org is significantly bigger, I’m going to change committees within Girl Scouts both to try something different and to avoid conflicts of interest. Organizations need volunteers, but more importantly, they need volunteers who are excited to be doing the work.
Don’t be Afraid to just Give Money.
As millennials, we generally have plenty of time and not so much money. But that may not always be true. Just like everyone else, we have commitments that leave us without enough time to keep volunteering for every cause that we believe in. That’s when it’s time to part with some cash. It can be painless though. And sometimes it can be fun. There are two ways I usually give money. The first is that when I get a little extra, I give a little extra. Get a tax return? Give ten percent. Get a year-end bonus? Write a check to my Alma mater. The second is going to fundraisers. If I’m planning all of these events, I hope that people will do me a solid and show up to them. I like to return the favor. With so many YP groups planning things like happy hours and trivia nights there plenty of fun and not expensive options to show your support.
