ON March 9, 2017, I wrote about “Association Governance Models”, and the two governance models for associations: the board-governed and -managed model (“volunteer-run” type), and the board-management delineated model (“volunteer-driven, staff-run” type). Whichever model your association is adopting, there will always be volunteers. But have you heard of “micro-volunteering”?
Wikipedia describes micro-volunteering as a task done by a volunteer or a team of volunteers, without payment, either online via an Internet-connected device, or offline in small increments of time, usually to benefit a nonprofit organization, a charitable organization, or a non-governmental organization. In essence, micro-volunteering is a form of virtual volunteering. It typically does not require applying, screening or training, and takes only a few minutes or hours to complete. It also does not require an ongoing commitment by the volunteer.
In the article The Mission-Driven Volunteer, Peggy Hoffman, CAE and president of Mariner Management & Marketing, and Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CEO and chief strategist of Spark Consulting, both US-based organizations, said “micro-volunteer, episodic volunteer and adhoc volunteer” are all similar concepts.
In the research publication The Decision to Volunteer: Why People Give Their Time and How You Can Engage Them by the American Society of Association Executives, micro-volunteers, or volunteers performing ad hoc roles, make up the largest percentage of volunteers at 59.5 percent. They also contribute 49 or fewer hours per year and most frequently in ways related to content, e.g., research, conducting literature reviews, analyzing data, preparing background information for regulators and press, reviewing proposals or teaching and mentoring.
Micro-volunteering is catching on, especially for millennials. Jacob Colker, cofounder of the San Francisco-based Extraordinaries, which delivers on-demand, on-the-spot micro-volunteer opportunities through mobile-phones, noted that “micro-volunteerism is perfectly suited for the millennial generation. They are used to text messaging, MySpace, Facebook, get-in, get-out, instant gratification. For them, going out and cleaning up a park is not necessarily attractive.”
Hoffman and Engel added: “Micro-volunteering provides one more key benefit: it is a gateway to deeper engagement with an association.” The Decision To Volunteer highlighted this, noting that ad hoc roles are often the entry point for new volunteers who become volunteer leaders. While it is not sure if micro-volunteering is merely a trend or a permanent change, the UK-based Institute of Volunteering Research said in a paper that “83 percent of micro-volunteers would recommend it to friends and family, and 95 percent plan to continue micro-volunteering in the future.”
For associations wanting to enhance their member-engagement strategies or attract volunteers, particularly the millennials, and help promote their advocacies, micro-volunteering could be an option to consider. Associations here may already be doing micro-volunteering initiatives, but are calling it a different name. Your guess is as good as mine!
Octavio “Bobby” Peralta is concurrently Secretary-General of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives. PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 (AS5) on November 22 and 23 at the Philippine International Convention Center, which is expected to draw over 200 association professionals here and abroad. The two-day event is supported by ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC. E-mail inquiries @adfiap.org for more details on AS5.