Many years ago, I led a team of volunteers for what is usually called a CSR activity, but in our case it was just called Employee Volunteering, or Community Relations.
I noticed a trend among corporates and employees, to volunteer for social causes without really caring about improving the situation of the people they purported to help. Everyone just wanted to show that they were helping. The photos and entertainment was more important than empathy, caring and finding solutions.
I also noticed a pattern of people being forced to volunteer and then not wanting to return back to volunteering at all. Almost eight years ago, I had created this infographic to illustrate the problem to my seniors.
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| How volunteering is done by many |
If you point out a problem, you should also offer a solution. So the next infographic shows one solution.
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| A better way to volunteer |
A crucial part of the "better way", is the mentoring phase. Volunteers first need to be taught how to volunteer. In every sector, there are experts who know what the key problems are and how it needs to be addressed. They need your help, and they need it in specific ways. Don't use it as a chance to entertain your employees. Use it as a chance to actually help. It may be boring to do meaningful volunteering. But that's what really helps.
The Nav test can provide some more guidance.
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