Two incidents came up to start this discussion again. The agency that had finally gotten back to me with a message of “hope to see you there,” and no instructions to RSVP for the orientation, canceled the meeting without notifying me that it was canceled. I showed up, but they didn’t. Lucky for me it was only a few minutes drive, so I wasn’t put out too much, but what if it was someone that drove more than 15 minutes?
A person in one of my knitting FB groups posted that she delivered a donation of 40 baby hats to the local hospital. The person at the desk looked at the hats, and after saying hmmm…., proceeded to let the donor know that the hats were not cute enough and she should have knitted matching booties and mittens or the hats are going to go to waste, and that she should have knitted them in an elf style. The donor, the person in my knitting group, felt like crap. She didn’t know what she should do after being treated to this spewing of “your donation is not good enough.”
On the one hand, maybe she could have called in advance to find out what the hospital needed, what type of donation to bring in so it fits their needs better. On the other hand, would it have killed the person at the desk to be polite and simply either say thank you or tell her that they are only taking certain types of donations and suggest another agency where she could donate the hats?
I had a quick conversation with a friend about the knitting donation mishap, and he mentioned that he never donated or volunteered to expect anything in return, and she should have found out in advance what the hospital needed before donating. In his mind, donating and volunteering should be a benefit to the agency, period.
However, if people with good intentions come in to donate and volunteer, being treated in this fashion is going to simply start the telling of the bad experience to 3-10 people (and in the case of social media, hundreds of people), and it will serve to give your agency a bad reputation to warn future donors and volunteers.
I do not fully agree that the volunteers and donors shouldn’t expect anything in return. It is a two-way interaction. People volunteer and donate for all kinds of reasons, with one being to feel they made a difference.
What are your thoughts on the treatment of volunteers and donors? Are we heading into a downward spiral in our relationships with volunteers and donors? Are both sides not honoring each other?
Seriously, I hope you weigh in on this one.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Those who “manage” volunteers should take their relationships seriously. Volunteers can be the best asset of any organization. In our campus art center, they are the first line of contact with many of our patrons. Happy volunteer ushers = happy patrons.
Every festival in our community can’t happen without volunteers. They are in short supply. Treating them badly could impact the ability to run the festival.
I could go on for too long how jilted I feel with the Girl Scouts, which is not a cookie selling business. Even though there are times I feel abused by the organization, I stay with it for the girls. When my girls no longer want to do it – neither will I. Do they wonder why there is a shortage of people willing to be girl scout leaders????
I do hear a great deal about shortages for volunteers. Everyone needs more donors too. We have to remember that the common denominator with all the volunteers and donors are the agencies. We can learn from our mistakes, but only if we are willing to take responsibility for our part in shortages. Thanks for chiming in, Silagh. It is always great to hear from you!