Pop-up volunteers: Who sent you?

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.

So you want to volunteer! But no one is answering your messages? Are you baffled that organizations that have heard from you for the first time don't immediately take advantage of your generous offer to volunteer?

Discussions about volunteering (or employment) are almost always from the perspective of applicants. It may sound uncouth or insensitive to present, as I am about to do, the view from the other side of the application.

As background, I have two decades of experience in two different countries as a volunteer, board member and, since 2013, co-founder of a non-profit organization in South Korea that has had more than 1,000 volunteer participants. There are three main reasons why I (and other organization leaders I have talked with) don't immediately embrace everyone sending an email, application, requesting a quick Zoom call or asking to swing by to say hello.

In a nutshell: lack of connection, commitment, and accountability.

First, about the lack of connection. Years ago, former Congressman and federal judge Abner Mikva's recounted trying to volunteer for a presidential candidate in 1948. "Who sent you?" was the response from the committeeman. "Nobody sent me" Mikva answered. "Well, we don't want nobody nobody sent" the committeeman said dismissively.

In other words, what is your connection and who recommended you?

If you turn out to be a lousy volunteer, whoever "sent" (recommended) you would have some explaining to do. The recommender loses credibility with professional peers and the volunteer loses a future reference, unlike a situation with a pop-up volunteer with no connection and no consequences.

Two, lack of commitment. I occasionally see comments from people online about organizations not being "ready" for volunteers. Read more deeply, they usually reveal themselves to be pop-up volunteers expecting organizations to be prepared for them immediately, like a fast-food restaurant.

When I was the volunteer International Cooperation Advisor for a school for North Korean refugee adolescents, some days we would have 14 volunteers show up, then the next weekend, two, then another weekend, seven.

Already being aware of how unreliable volunteers can be, after being an unreliable volunteer in my younger days, I committed to the school for one year (I volunteered for almost three years). School leaders would know that every Sunday morning I would be there with other volunteers I had rounded up. Volunteers are needed, but can they understand how difficult it can be for organizations to plan around an unstable workforce with no commitment?

Three, lack of authority or accountability. One of the easiest things to do in life is to walk away from an unpaid activity. The reality is that volunteers who are eager to start can be just as eager to leave or stop showing up.

A staffer getting paid has skin in the game, they may even commit to the level of treating job responsibilities as their personal turf. Of course, there are plenty of paid employees who are unreliable, incompetent, don't care, or are spinning their wheels waiting for a better opportunity. With volunteers, those problems can be multiplied.

A tenuous connection, lack of commitment and lack of accountability from people who pop up ready to help suddenly. Is anyone surprised many emails from pop-up applicants go unanswered?

What can volunteer applicants (and some of these lessons can be applicable for job seekers) do differently? First, research the organization, write a tailored cover letter, and follow application instructions (it is amazing how many people don't). Share your references/recommendations up front to demonstrate your professionalism, highlight your ability to commit, and demonstrate that you remain on friendly professional terms with previous supervisors.

Second, if you do get chosen, then act like you are a paid staffer by doing more than necessary. Have the mindset that this current opportunity is part of your life-long connection to the people and organization/cause. If it is a growing organization, then get involved with fundraising or other activities to help the organization grow.

Most organization leaders or managers concerned about the long-term health of the organization probably won't be interested in pop-up volunteers with no connection. So far, everyone my non-profit has hired started as a volunteer who did more than required or was a former student.

Third, I recommend that volunteers "adopt" organization leaders or supervisors as mentors. When the day comes that you leave, your supervisor or the organization head will be able to write you a glowing recommendation letter, rather than trying to remember who you are. Your departure could be celebrated as an organization success story rather than a betrayal.

In that case, if you are asked by others "Who sent you?" you can have a team of adopted mentors proudly saying they did.

Casey Lartigue, Jr., co-founder along with Eunkoo Lee of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR), is the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and the 2019 winner of the "Challenge Maker" Award from Challenge Korea.