You've no doubt heard the phrase, "90% of the work is done by 10% of the people." I know I've been part of the 10% many times -- in church, at school, in organizations that support my kids' activities. Inside the 10%, a sort of smug superiority can breed, bringing about an "Us v. Them" mentality. As in, We who attend all the Meetings and drop Everything to Do All the Things are inherently better that the absent Them, who clearly not have their Priorities in Line, else they would be more like Us.
I have three kids, as you probably know, ages 17, 15, and 11. I volunteer, trying my best to give my of my time and talents in an equal share to all the activities my kids are involved in. I'm a band mom, a choir mom, a soccer mom, an art mom, a color guard mom. I've been a dance mom, a Cub Scout mom, a baseball mom, a basketball mom, a swim mom. I've also been the director/advisor who has been in charge of various activities. I understand how important parent support is, and I've always been a supportive parent.
You get the idea. I'm no slouch.
At the same time, I don't identify with the smug members of Us that judge those who can't get to meetings. After all, there is only so much time in one day, in one week. We're also hobbling our way out of a pandemic, and though some would like to ignore it, there are people who are still immunocompromised and afraid to mix with strangers. There are still people who are healing from the emotional and mental stress of the past 2 years and adding One More Thing just seems impossible.
I've been thinking recently about why more people don't volunteer these days. Where are those 90%? Why don't they show up? I've already mentioned some possible pandemic-related reasons, but we were starting to see a decline in volunteers prior to 2020. One organization I am part of is facing a new season without most of the officer positions filled. Pleas for help are send out to mass membership on a regular basis. No one is stepping up.
While I believe there are factors specific to that organization that are in play, I think there are two main reasons people don't volunteer as much any more. And no, actually, I don't think simply having the time is one of them. We have time, and frankly, we are masters at wasting it-- Americans spent 1300 hours on social media in a year, according to this article from Forbes. We have time -- we are just making decisions about how to spend it.
* First, people are desperately seeking meaningful connection and purpose in their lives. If your meetings are cold, impersonal, or cliquey, why would anyone come back? Why would they prioritize their time to include such an experience?
* Second, people will devote time, money, energy, sweat, tears, blood -- to a cause they can understand and get behind. Just last weekend, students at Penn State University raised over $13.7 million dollars to fight childhood cancer.
I recently attended a meeting in which I asked some (I thought) reasonable questions about what the organization I've already mentioned above had planned to do with tens of thousands of dollars in the account. The treasurer and leader of the group gave logical explanations of future plans and expenses. I suggested that we increase communication and transparency so that those who aren't more regularly involved would understand the importance of becoming involved. In return, I was belittled and scolded and chastised. One person nearly threw their back out, huffing and puffing over the audacity of my suggestions and questions. There was a wagging finger involved, guys. This was serious business, evidently.
(Silly me, I thought when someone said, "Does anyone have any questions?" that meant I was free to ask questions. Lesson learned!)
When the financial goals were explained, it made sense to me to articulate those to the group at a large, so they could get behind a cause. But, I now realize my seeking a solution was a threat to the smug members of the 10% who want to feel superior to the 90% who can't make it to every meeting (as I was chastised for). So that means we don't have a clearly articulated cause for people to get behind, and judging by the way I was treated at the meeting, we don't have the meaningful connection people are seeking.
(To be very fair, I believe the majority of the people present appreciated my contribution. I saw many nodding heads, and several people talked to me afterward, affirming my decision to speak up.)
Instead of having a "Well, it's about time you made it to a meeting" attitude, we need to have a "I'm so glad you are here" attitude, if we want people to return, to chip in, to move the needle beyond the 10% volunteer force.
I did a little bit of research to see what others are noticing about the drop in volunteerism, and I came across this article published on PTO Today. Turns out, what I'm seeing at a local level is fairly universal: "Researchers agree on six motivators [for volunteering]. People volunteer to make a difference in others’ lives; to support an organization, community, or cause; to learn something new; to develop personally or professionally; to feel better about themselves; and to meet people."
If we truly want to increase the number of volunteers in an organization, we need to drop the "Us v. Them" mentality and take a hard look at why people aren't coming out. Are we demanding too much of people? Are we meeting too often? Are we communicating effectively? Are we encouraging a positive, welcoming environment, or are there too many people on personal power trips? Are we sharing leadership? Does every voice truly matter? Are we leading with our shared values, or are we allowing personal agendas to muddy the waters?
In order for true change to occur, we need to be able to ask the hard questions of ourselves. Otherwise, we fiercely guard the status quo and continue to get the same results.
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