IS association volunteering still viable? This is the question Peggy Hoffman, president of Mariner Management, posed in a recent webinar organized by the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) entitled, “Re-engaging Members as Volunteers in Across the Spectrum.” Mariner Management is a US-based association management company and consultancy.
Associations are run and/or complemented by members who volunteer and commit their time and resources to pursue the organization’s purpose, mission, and continuity. However, demographic transition, work mode and workplace changes, and technology shift, among other factors, are having a ripple effect on what member-volunteers now expect and wish to experience from their associations.
It is good to understand first why members volunteer. Studies by the American Society of Association Executives’ Research Foundation show that volunteering: (1) improves their career in terms of developing skills, gaining visibility and pursuing advocacy; (2) expands their network and circle of influence; and, (3) provides a platform to give back to the community. To trigger these member motivations to volunteer, associations should be pro-social, give meaningful opportunities, and do the asking themselves to their members.
There are four roles or tasks that have emerged (in the order of volunteering preferences): 1) coaches (resource persons, speakers); 2) content contributors (writers, editors); 3) community builders (leaders); and, (4) strategic volunteers (shapers).
Two main factors are driving volunteering satisfaction. From the association side, it is crafting well-designed volunteer roles that make meaningful contribution (e.g., quality of staff coordinating volunteer-members’ activities, receptivity of staff to consider members’ inputs, and quality of orientation/onboarding). From the volunteers’ side, it is about people who are best in their field and are composed of a diverse group that results to quality of leadership, ability to discuss and debate issues, and time and timing considerations.
According to ASAE Foundations’s ForesightWorks publication, “Drivers of Change: Forecasts and Summaries,” volunteering will be impacted by: the hollowing out of institutional knowledge as volunteers age and retire; a dissatisfaction with centralized hierarchies as younger volunteers are more inclined to organize from the bottom up; a blending of volunteer/paid staff positions due to improvements in technology and productivity; and, the shifting of how volunteering happens, e.g., micro-volunteering that lowers levels of commitment and smaller tasks.
Knowing all these information, how might associations act?
Peggy suggests to conduct an honest assessment of your system and volunteer efforts, develop a measurable definition of “effective” volunteering, ask members what subject matter expertise you need and create a focused opportunity around that, chart a volunteer pathway then pilot and test.
Volunteering no doubt strengthens member loyalty and long-term retention, as well as a means to achieve the association’s mission.
So, is association volunteering still viable?
The good news is that volunteering, as we know it, has not changed and has increased even during the pandemic. It is the model, structure, and management of volunteering that has changed.
Associations that will adapt to the “next normal” realities and adopt and manage a well-thought out volunteering model will make the most of what great benefit volunteering brings to the organization.
Octavio Peralta is currently the executive director of the Global Compact Network Philippines and founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives, the “association of associations.” E-mail: bobby@pcaae.org