Innovation and the volunteer
April 9th, 2006
Last week, Ben Martin pointed us to an excellent article in The NonProfit Times about volunteerism by Susan Ellis. In the article, Susan offers ten excellent principles for designing meaningful volunteer assignments. I found all of her points extremely compelling, particularly the last one:
10. Volunteering is inherently optimistic and future-oriented. No one gives time to a cause they feel will fail. In fact, the whole rationale for volunteering is to assure the success of a cause. So, while people may take a paying job that is relatively meaningless if the salary is enticing, the reward for volunteered service is accomplishment.
This also means that people volunteer with a vision of the future, often in hopes of a better future in which a problem or disease will be conquered, communities will be safe and inclusive, and the world will be in harmony. This may sound terribly mushy (which may be why such a value is not expressed every day), but it is ultimately true.
If there is a stronger argument for making innovation a priority in association work, I cannot think of one. Organizations that care deeply about innovation believe in it not merely (or even mostly) because it will lead to increased profitability, but because it is an important value of achievement that is deeply embedded in their belief systems. It is who they are. People are far more likely to volunteer for our associations when our values are truly consonant with their values. But if our beliefs do not include a genuine commitment to long-term accomplishment, how can we expect genuine volunteer commitment to the cause?
Far from being a distraction of the actual work of the volunteer, innovation must be a central element of the work of volunteers. After all, as Susan Ellis argues, “volunteers…have the right to be mavericks.” I hope many feel a duty to be mavericks. Associations need more mavericks who will put innovation front and center, for it is the deeply-engaged mavericks who will help unleash the energy and passion of others to surprise and delight us. In other words, when let them be who they are, we discover even more about who we are.
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Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, The Principled Innovator Newsletter, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover
Ben Martin and P.I.
Association exec Ben Martin, CAE is P.I.’s Architect of Participation. Jeff and Ben help clients harness the power of the Web through the strategic application of social tools.
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