from The New York Times:
Older Workers Bring New Purpose to Volunteer Work
Spurred by the tight job market or often career-change aspirations, older workers with specific goals for donating their time are remaking the face of volunteerism. Call it giving back with an agenda.
Executives at nonprofit organizations around the country testify to the new worker demands, many of them from baby boomers used to pushing for what they want. The execs are hardly complaining – volunteerism is on the rise and it’s the older population that’s behind it.
… But nonprofits say it’s boomers, now ranging from age 45 to 64, who are driving the trend of looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities as they near retirement. That’s a big change from earlier generations, whose volunteers, many of them women without jobs, typically haven’t arrived with specific demands.
”Baby boomers know what they want to do and will only volunteer in that capacity.”
Instead of mailing letters or doing basic office or administrative work, boomer volunteers at nonprofits are serving on boards, identifying new clients, helping with marketing and fundraising and even taking on management roles.
The trend of Baby Boomers arriving at nonprofits with specific demands to be engaged for their skills, also resonates with the generations X and Y. This shift from what Colleen Kelley refers to as round hole, round peg volunteer management to a more people and skill centered approach is mandatory if organizations want to successfully engage the skills and philanthropy of Baby Boomers and beyond. Current research from Fidelity and VolunteerMatch, indicates that people who volunteer give ten times more to their organizations than non volunteers (http://content.members.fidelity.com/Inside_Fidelity/fullStory/1,,7799,00.html)
To accomplish this paradigm shift to a culture of volunteer engagement, organizations will need to move volunteerism to an organizational priority for capacity building. Staff will need to be trained to engage the skills of volunteers. Volunteers will be in critical self directed positions that help the organization to build capacity beyond what staff alone can accomplish instead of being marginalized to work that is always dictated by staff.
Jewish organizations have much to gain from this work. If these investments aren’t made, Baby Boomers and the generations that follow will go to the organizations where their skills and leadership abilities will be valued and authentically utilized.
Jill Friedman Fixler
author of Boomer Volunteer Engagement: Collaborate Today, Thrive Tomorrow