MELADY: A new volunteerism

OPINION:

There was a time when churches, synagogues and nonprofit charitable organizations depended to a great extent on volunteers. They contributed their services at all levels, from stuffing envelopes to advising on policy. They were generally cheerful members of the organization, and the net cost to the organization was very insignificant. This type of volunteerism was rooted in our Judeo-Christian culture.

What has happened to this historic volunteerism? It seems to have disappeared. Why? In the past several years, there have been news accounts concerning churches and charitable organizations reducing their staff in order to balance the budget. Observers following the media were startled to learn that some of the people being “let go” were highly paid executives. “What happened,” some asked, “to the volunteerism, where through love and respect for Judeo-Christian ideals Americans contributed their services?”

There would always be plenty of coffee, and a square meal at the end of the day was a bonus. In the past several decades, professional career services of well-paid experts developed. They were employed by churches, synagogues and charitable organizations. The salaries were very good, and they always had benefits like pensions and heath insurance. This all became public when the revenue flow began to level off and decrease.

The very recent recession and the general “tightening” of the economy in the past decade resulted in these institutions reviewing their policies. How did they drift away from volunteerism and replace it with paid staff and in some cases compensated executives?

The pressure to reduce the staff operating budgets is forcing the leadership of these groups to re-examine their policies. At first glance, it seems discouraging because the volunteers of the past, especially women, are now professionals and in this new era of full equality tend to have careers like their husbands. They have careers and thus want to be paid at the “going rate.” Therefore, unlike many of their mothers and grandmothers, they are not available for full-time volunteer service.

There is a significant growth in the one-year and two-year intern programs of universities, whereby internships are arranged for students in their professional fields that benefit them and also provide significant assistance to the institutions. This normally requires the institution to provide guidance to student interns so that their service is mutually beneficial. We are both associated with a nonprofit educational institution where student interns are valuable members of the staff making important contributions to the daily life of the institution.

The internships are meant to be platforms to help them dive into their careers, and thus should be approached as a modern apprenticeship from which the apprentice is briefed with intangible knowledge before moving on to being his or her career path. The financial cost to the institute of the interns is very negligible. Today’s students are often extremely talented in Internet research, new media and website management. Students are now required to be evermore equipped to access, create and distribute information. In exchange, these students learn management, decision-making, and general office social skills from senior staff and professors. Not only is it mutually beneficial, but priceless, lifelong mentorships can be formed.

There has been a significant increase in the number of men and women who retire from government and military service in their 50s. They retire normally with good pension programs, and frequently, health insurance is part of their retirement package. While a good number of these retirees are looking for professional employment opportunities where they will be compensated at the full professional level, there are, however, a growing number who would be pleased at this point in their lives to find the opportunity for service in a vocation that is bigger than themselves. They are willing to be compensated at much lower rates than currently being paid by many of the churches and nonprofit groups. Furthermore, for the most part, the retirees do not require pension and health insurance benefits because they are already part of their previous retirement package.

Even those who retire at more traditional ages (65-70) are looking to continue an active life. They often do not desire compensation, but simply want to remain engaged in meaningful activity. By establishing agreements with them for part-time work, sometimes by paying for expenses such as parking, organizations can attain experienced and reliable help, especially when an aspect of their work can be assigned in this way.

These developments present a good opportunity for the churches, synagogues and nonprofit organizations devoted to charitable activities, such as working with orphans and the handicapped, to re-examine their policies in regard to staff. There is the clear and somewhat brutal fact that the operating costs for executives and senior staff are exceeding the level that can be supported in the current economy. This difficult fact is that ways must be found to continue the services, but reduce the operating cost. It would also be good to re-establish the long cherished Judeo-Christian tradition of volunteerism. We can hold onto the core values of the past by making adjustments to new circumstances.

Thomas P. Melady is a former U.S. ambassador to Burundi, Uganda and the Vatican. J. Cushman Laurent is an assistant to the senior diplomat in residence. Both are associated with the Institute of World Politics.