If war breaks out would you volunteer?
75 percent of Israelis would agree to volunteer for relief organizations during a war. One and a half percent of them also believe that volunteers are ‘freiers’ (suckers)
Seventy-seven percent of Israelis think that people who participate in volunteer activities are socially sensitive (and one-and-a-half precent feel that they are ‘freiers’ or suckers), reports a survey conducted by the “Yad Sarah” organization for a conference on volunteer management.
Most respondents, according to the survey’s results, would volunteer to take part in the efforts of relief organizations, should a war break out in Israel. Thirty-four percent are convinced that they would, and 41 percent think that they would participate in relief activities. In addition, 64 percent report that when it comes time to choose a place of work, the extent of the company’s financial contribution to the community and the organized volunteer projects of its workers positively influence their decision.
The results of the survey are being publicized in preparation for an international conference that will take place next week at the organization’s Leir Institute for Volunteer Management, and will deal with the processes of attrition and renewal entailed in volunteer management.
“Frequently, volunteer managers find themselves between a rock and a hard place when they have to balance the accompanying difficulties in motivating volunteers with the demands of the organization where they work”, explains researcher Sigal Friedman-Gamliel.
“In contrast to managing employees, managing volunteers exacts a higher emotional price from the volunteer managers. As a result of the continuous demand to accommodate the needs of the varied volunteers, they find themselves in constant exhaustion”.
According to her, “many organizations rely on volunteers to carry out a significant amount of their activities. The volunteer managers have a responsibility to find the golden mean between their motivation and their appreciation and worrying for their welfare. Over time this situation can become very tiring, and can bring about an unconscious insult to the volunteers themselves.
Therefore it is important to create a business-like approach in the relationship”, Friedman-Gamliel adds. “It should leave room for emotional needs, but its foundation should allow one to erect borders, to create a distance, and also to enable criticism of the volunteers, if the need should arise”.
“Volunteer management entails a significant amount of emotional investment” conclude the people at “Yad Sarah”, whose conference will be hosting Susan Ellis, an international expert on volunteer management. “Behavior patterns such as being overly nice, giving emotional rewards, or unclear directives, are all factors that cause attrition. But you can get out of that trap, and create renewal and vitality in the volunteer’s activities.”
- “Volunteer management Conference - Keeping The Spark Without Burning Out”, Tuesday, June 19 starting at 9 am, Bayit Vegan Guest House , Jerusalem. For details click here
