In my workshop session today, we concluded that "volunteering" which has evolved and changed rapidly in the last ten years will again look very different in ten years. The way volunteers are coordinated and managed will change rapidly. For example:
We played with some quite radical scenarios for a volunteer program in 2021. For example:
- If "mandatory" volunteering continues to increase, this will change the way we recruit and screen volunteers.
- The increasingly sophisticated involvement by corporates in supporting volunteerism will impact structure of volunteer roles
- Social media will change the way we market volunteering, recruit and recognise volunteers
- The lifestyles of Boomers will change the way we offer roles
- The acceptance that many volunteers have very high level of skills will change the way we train volunteers.
We played with some quite radical scenarios for a volunteer program in 2021. For example:
- not calling volunteers "volunteers"
- not having managers of volunteers as we know them today
- using apps to recruit volunteers
- employing paid people to undertake "menial" or routine tasks and engaging volunteer skills to undertake high level work eg establishing marketing strategies or fundraising campaigns
As a group, we dont know which ones of those will happen but we did identify the skills needed for a 21st Century volunteer manager. What do you think of the lists? How many of those are in the people managing your volunteers? How many are you developing in yourself?
