The Problem With Volunteers is That They Don't Get Paid

The problem with volunteers is that they don’t get paid. No, don’t laugh. I’m quite serious.

First let me explain that I have a long history with volunteers. I volunteer and have done so often. I have been in charge of volunteers. My mother was also a great volunteer and when she worked at a paying job for a non-profit, she had authority over the volunteers. Additionally, she had this habit of telling me all of her problems and frustrations. (Mothers, please don’t do this to your children!) So, all in all, I think I can say I’ve been there and done that.

Do you remember those studies done on the subject of leadership? There were a bunch of them with different groups and different ages. They all followed the same pattern. The researchers took all of the “leaders” from several groups or gangs and put them together. Then, they took the followers and put them together. At first, the leaders fought with each other and the followers twiddled their thumbs but eventually they settled down. With each of these groups, what happened is that some became leaders and others became followers. The end result was pretty much the same stratification as before. Then, they took all of these new leaders and put them together and all of the followers and put them in their own group. The same thing happened all over again. No matter how often they shuffled the groups, they ended up with about the same percentage of leaders in each group.

Have you listened to or watched pledge drives on public radio or TV? If so, I suspect you’ve heard that only about 10% of listeners/viewers donate. The stations give all sorts of recognition and gifts to people who donate and yet, the percentage of donors remains about the same.

If you’ve volunteered much in any sort of organizations, you will have observed that the same few people do almost all of the work. This is always the way it is. Genealogy isn’t different in this regard. Groups give all sorts of recognition and rewards and these are important but they don’t seem to increase the number of volunteers. What will? Maybe nothing. Maybe this is just the natural order of things.

There are volunteers who don’t get paid, there are professionals who do get paid, and there are executive volunteers who don’t get paid but have authority (power) over other volunteers. These are the definitions I’m going to use. They are not necessarily the best definitions, just the ones I will use. Getting paid means a person has value. The person may believe s/he deserves more pay, has greater value, but still every pay day there is evidence that this person’s labor is valued. Volunteers don’t get paid. They need a whole lot of ego satisfaction to make up for this, to prove they are valuable to the organization. It is nearly impossible to provide volunteers with proof of their value. No matter what is given to them, it is not constant or consistent the way employment is. Further, the professionals might feel they are superior to the volunteers. Their paid status is proof of this. They may be ever so nice to the volunteers but their condescension will come through. Executive volunteers are often elected which gives them higher status and feeds their egos. Being appointed to a position may expand egos even more.

So, the ordinary “grunt” becomes a lesser being. People who feel relegated to second class status are not very committed to the organization and do not feel inclined to work hard for it. The only possible solution would be to find a way for all members to feel of equal value. I’m not sure how to do this or even if it can be done. It requires a mental shift and it requires this of everyone.

We have to stop thinking of people as superior or inferior. The roles we play may be but the people aren’t. Society isn’t going to help with this. In an odd way, genealogy might. Doing one’s own research is a great leveler. Of course, some know more about how to do this than others but the newcomers can see that, given time and experience, they can be just as good as the old timers. What if the ones who know “abc” were all put to work teaching the newbies? The ones who know “def” could be teaching the abc’ers. The “ghi” folks can teach the def’ers. The teachers would all get their egos massaged by being “experts”. The newer members would learn a lot and graduate to teaching themselves. Maybe we don’t always need outside “experts” to teach us. Maybe we can do it ourselves and in the process, bond more tightly with each other.

This would reinforce the superior/inferior status somewhat but would also clearly point out how one could progress up the status ladder. It would be important to present the teaching as an opportunity and as something the person had earned by doing such wonderful genealogical research. Offer assistance to the shy ones but make sure everybody is involved. Getting every member involved is the first step.

Next, we would have to find the members’ talents and skills and pleasures and get them on the “right” committees to help with things that they can do and will enjoy doing and will feel a sense of accomplishment doing. Now, we’ve got them as volunteers.

The next part is very easy and very hard. Love them. I’m not saying, “Be nice to them.” I’m not saying give them this or that. I’m saying love them, appreciate them, respect them, admire them, and do all of this from our very core. Love is the best possible paycheck. People who feel loved and wanted and needed will work hard to remain members of the group.