Moms Rebel Against Volunteering
Are we burning out our volunteers? This has been a hot topic in the national news, and one that VolunteerSpot’s founder, Karen Bantuveris, has been privileged to participate in.
Moms in this New York Times article chose to quit volunteering cold-turkey to regain their lives and quell burnout from school volunteering. YES… While we respect and honor their personal choices, we think we can help solve one pain point in the volunteer equation – before volunteers hit the burnout spot. Completely removing oneself from volunteering certainly isn’t the answer – our schools and our kids need us. Getting more parents to help and setting limits is!
See our founder discussing how to “just say no” on CNN:
5 Things you can personally do to avoid over volunteering:
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Before you sign up – ASK – how much time will be involved, who will help you, what are the duties and due dates, etc.
- Be realistic about your time – if you can’t make it, possibly you can help in another way.
- Choose one committee job at the start of the year and stick to it. Nina Restieri, from MomAgenda, shares her strategy for balancing volunteer commitments for her four children’s schools: Buttoned UP Inc, Say no gracefully with rules.
- Choose volunteer jobs that align with your interests, passions and skills. If you have a green thumb, help in the school garden. For the artistic type, choose the artroom, etc.
- Re-evaluate mid-year. Schedules change as do work and home activities. Have an honest discussion with your room parents, teachers and PTA about what’s more realistic (and balanced) for you.
Of course use VolunteerSpot and suggest it to other busy volunteers, to ease the sign up process and get more moms in the door!
As a School Parent Group –
Ideas to help prevent school volunteer burnout
- Review the volunteer jobs and fundraisers – are they all necessary? Can any be eliminated or scaled back?
- Cast a wide net – ask more people to get involved, not just the usual suspects
(TIP: VolunteerSpot makes it easy to ask parents to help and boosts parent participation rates!) - Thank all volunteers for their efforts and contributions no matter how focused or elaborate – we’re all doing the best we can and we’re all volunteers with very busy lives. It’s okay if banners are hand-painted instead of printed, if the school bazaar doesn’t run exactly as last year, if we simplify the spring carnival or offer one less service.
Celebrate your good fortune in having parents turn out to support your school. Especially during the hectic holiday time, remember how busy everyone is and focus on the positive!
The only thing I would add is you need to make a personal assessment of how much time will be involved. Don't depend solely on the estimate you are told.
Many times over the years I have been told a volunteer task would not take much time (or significantly less than what will be required). Usually I knew better and based my decision on what I knew the time requirement would be.
They may not have experience needed to know how much time is involved or they may be afraid to tell you the "truth" out of fear you won't accept the task. Regardless, include common sense and your own knowledge when deciding whether or not to accept a volunteer task.
Posted by: Roger Carr | December 13, 2010 at 08:46 AM
Nice article! Great follow up to your stellar tv appearance! :)
Posted by: Tammi DeVille | December 13, 2010 at 05:57 PM