At various stages in their lives, a number of community minded citizens feel that they have something to offer their community as a volunteer. They may be approached by a friend or a neighbour, they make seek out volunteer opportunities, or they may be offered the opportunity to volunteer through a colleague. 

This is often how individuals are recruited to serve on a board of directors of not-for-profit organizations.  They are usually told “It will only take a few hours a month of your time.” 

Individuals who are contemplating offering their services to serve on boards of directors should ask a number of questions before making any commitment including but not limited to:

-        What do I know about Governance in the not-for-profit sector?

-        What skills and expertise does this agency require in its governance structure?

-        Can I contribute any of these skills or required expertise? What would my value added be?

-        Why does this type of volunteering appeal to me?

-        Who else is on the board?  How were they recruited?

-        What do I know about the agency’s history, its community reputation?

The demands and expectations of not-for-profit boards of directors have changed dramatically over the last 10 years.  It is not good enough to simply want to offer a few hours of one’s time by being a member of a board; this commitment goes hand in hand with many serious expectations. 

A former board member once said to me that the reason she became involved with a particular community agency was to offer some of her time to those in need – maybe to assist in fund raising.  The agency immediately offered her a position on the board of directors.  What she did not know was that the agency was in serious trouble – financial and otherwise. She was not prepared for the challenges she faced. She braved it out for two years and finally left the board not having contributed what she felt the agency needed.  She learned a very important lesson but felt frustrated and vulnerable in the end.

Susan Bihun

One of the things that I like about being a contract executive is that it affords me the time to do some volunteering. I need to admit that I’m one of those people who have difficulty saying “no”, so sometimes I get myself overcommitted. Someone asked me why I do all the things that I do, and my answer is much like it is for being a regular blood donor – I have O negative blood, the universal donor, so I was given this gift and I have an obligation to use it to help others. I feel the same way about volunteering – I have skills and abilities, and there are organizations that need these abilities to do their good work.

Because there is such a need for volunteers, it is easy to get into something which is not enjoyable. I think finding the right volunteer opportunities is much like finding the right job. First and foremost, you need to believe in the work of the organization. Second, you need to understand yourself – what you enjoy and what you’re good at. Do you want to be part of the committee that organizes everything? Do you like to be behind the scenes preparing things? Or do you like to be on the front lines interacting with the recipients of the programs? If you don’t think through this carefully and choose correctly, then you will begrudge the time that you spend with the organization and likely won’t give it your best effort, so you won’t really be adding to the work of the organization. As one of my friends describes it, the time that you spend as a volunteer should be “life giving”.

I really like the thinking behind the requirement that all high school students in Ontario must spend 40 hours in community service. It’s important that we instil the practice of giving freely of their time to our youth. I know of many teens who have done something merely to get their required hours or to beef up their resume, but I hope that there are others who have had their eyes opened to this important part of making a difference to society.

Sheila Hamilton