Tapping the Skilled Volunteer Pool

I've been trying to volunteer more. So far this year I've hacked away vines and bushes along a San Francisco sidewalk, planted native shrubs in the Palo Alto wetlands, and distributed food to needy families in Daly City. I've learned a lot about ways to serve the community, and the experiences have made me think about the way non-profits are run. I've seen some effective non-profits and some not-so-effective ones too.

Based on my experiences I have developed an idea. Given the state of our economy and number of people out of work, non-profits can improve their operations by tapping the pool of highly skilled workers who are unemployed. There are scores of marketers, salespeople, designers, financial planners, consultants, programmers and engineers are out there waiting by their phones, scanning job boards and wasting away watching Tivo. While finding a job should be their top priority, I think unemployed professionals would jump at the chance to help non-profits if opportunities were presented the right way. Here are some suggestions:

1. Make them easy to find
There are some great online resources for people to find volunteer opportunities. In the San Francisco Bay Area, organizations such as Hands On Bay Area and One Root have searchable databases that allow people to sign up for an event online. Other national organizations such as USA Service are pretty good too. Most of these events are focused on unskilled, but essential, work to help their cause. What if non-profits posted needs for professional services?

2. Offer projects
Demand for professional services should be packaged as projects rather than one-timers or open-ended engagements. Unemployed professionals are afraid to make long-term commitments, fearing time away from focusing on their job search, and one-timers would offer marginal benefit to non-profits. A specific engagement with a clear idea of time commitment and duration would help people balance their schedules and manage their resources better.

3. Build skills
Many unemployed professionals don't realize volunteering can build skills that make them more appealing to potential employers. Let's say a non-profit needs help in building out a fund raising plan. Highlighting the skills one could develop (strategy, negotiation, marketing) offers a clear motivation for volunteers.

4. Give recommendations
Once the project is over, offer to write them recommendations on their Linkedin profile. It's a fair value exchange. They offer skilled professional services for free, non-profits offer an added bonus to the volunteer's online resume.

What do you think? Do you have any ideas about how non-profits can take advantage of this skilled labor glut to help them improve their operations? Write a comment below.

Give Giving a Try

Last week I did something I've been telling myself to do for a long time. I spent an afternoon at a community center giving food to needy residents in Daly City, CA. It wasn't too labor intensive despite my empty stomach. And in this time of gloom, there's nothing more human than handing food to a family trying to make ends meet.

Volunteering hasn't come easy for me because I find many excuses not to do it. I'm too busy meeting contacts, rushing to prepare for interviews, or wasting time playing video games against my roommate (so lame). A couple weeks ago I decided it was time to stop talking and start doing. I contacted Second Harvest, a Bay Area non-profit that works with local community centers to distribute food to families in need. I found an opportunity and signed up to become a volunteer. Then I bit my tongue and resisted all temptations to bump it off my schedule.

The volunteer gig was located at Lawson Hall in Daly City, a small community center nestled next to the Cow Palace and Candlestick Park. San Mateo County supports centers like Lawson Hall to offer food assistance to residents working low-wage jobs and families affected by unemployment. Once a month, people who qualify for assistance can receive an allotment of food consisting of fruit, veggies, frozen meat, milk, pasta, rice and bread. Residents who volunteer at the center get first dibs at the food, and can take home any leftovers, which seems like a good deal.

When I arrived, an organizer named Jeff assigned me to a stations where I unloaded small cartons of milk and arranged them on a table. That's where I met a volunteer named Ada. She recently got laid off as an office worker with the county's park and recreation department. Losing her job was tough. Being away from her co-workers and the residents she served was tougher.

"I loved, loved, loved, loved that job," she admitted to me.

When we opened our doors at 4:30 I expected a mad rush to the tables and a quick destruction of my milk carton layout. Instead, families filed into the center with boxes and bags to collect their goods. At each station, volunteers handed a set allotment of food. Another volunteer at my station named Maria devised an efficient system where she grabbed the items at my station and loaded peoples' boxes and bags for them. By the time they got to me I just flashed a smile, murmured "los huevos," and handed them a dozen eggs. They got a kick out of hearing a few phrases of Spanish from the Asian guy, but would answer me in perfect English.

Many families that showed up were Asian, most from mainland China. A community organizer at the event named Jacki told me about that the growing number of Asians moving into Daly City has exposed a need for more volunteers with Asian language skills. I figure that might be a calling for me to get more involved.

By the time the last family trickled through the center, I thought of one word to describe the event—gratitude. As a newcomer and an observer, I could tell from the actions of the volunteers and the expressions of the families that gratitude flowed in both directions. The volunteers seemed grateful to give to their community, and the families received their gifts with open hearts. It's a concept that's so elemental to what it means to be a human, and something that affirms why we're here. So if you're sitting at home worried about your future or burdened by the pressures of the present, consider an act of gratitude. It's in your nature.