“Giving something back” post work – mixed messages

I would like to thank Tom Troland for sending me this item from the New York Times. Tom has also sent me some fascinating research from McKinsey that I will be covering in the next couple of weeks.

The NYT article is titled: “Geezers Doing Good “and relates to how some people, from the examples in the article, mainly the wealthy and highly educated, are doing a “Bill Gates” and starting a new full-time career of doing “good works".

Things seem to be different in Europe. I have already written about the difficulty in getting boomer aged people to volunteer/give and now Martijn de Haas has sent me a translated item from some Dutch research – thanks Martijn.

This research was done by Movisie, an organisation for social development.

In their factsheet 'Social commitment from the elderly' it shows that the time spent volunteering by 65-plussers has decreased from an average of 2.2 hour per week to 1.8 hour.

Older people have always been the biggest suppliers of unpaid work. One out of three people aged between 55 and the 74 years deliver a voluntary contribution of an average of six hours per week on social and society work. The research concludes that seniors have increasingly become busier with paid work, watching grandchildren, caring for family members, social activities, and hobbies and watching television.

It is to be expected that the baby boomers will spend less and less time on volunteering in the future.

I am not sure if this is a European/US difference or is a difference between the very rich/not so rich. I suspect that later.

Looks like organisations reliant on the contributions (both cash and time) from older people are going to have to come up with some innovative ideas. Maybe one idea is to pursue a wealthy boomer benefactor? Dick Stroud

Getting Boomers/50-plus to volunteer

I have done some work for organisations (mainly charities) looking to capture the energy and spare time of the new cohort of older people. Most UK charities rely on the age cohort that is now 70+ for the mainstream of its volunteers. The big question is how to make volunteering something that somebody in their late 50s early 60s wants to do.

This is an interesting article about a US conference called: "Boomers and Civic Engagement: Opportunities and Challenges". In the UK there are more challenges than opportunities.

Here are some of the comments/conclusions:

Boomers don't seem to have a sense of obligation or duty to volunteer. Instead, boomers might choose to help and want to be recognized and appreciated for their efforts.

Volunteering should be positioned as a fun experience. One of the ads that was used to illustrate this approach used this tag line: "Volunteering: Think of it as a face-lift for your spirit." I understand the sentiment – not sure about the effectiveness.

Many of the target age group are too busy to volunteer. This is certainly an issue I encountered in the UK.

If you are interested in new thinking about capturing the elusive Boomer volunteer then this article is worth a read. Dick Stroud

Volunteer - what me?

nfpSynergy is a UK research consultancy for not for profit organisations (e.g. charities, housing associations and public bodies).

It publishes some interesting reports and research. I was particularly interested in its latest research about volunteering. (Who volunteers? Volunteering trends: 2000-2007).It is free registration.

The above chart provides the results (by age) to the question: “Have you given time as a volunteer in the last three months, to a charity or other organisation, or in your local community?”

How interesting that 54-64 year olds is the only demographic group where volunteering has decreased. This helps explain the problems I had, when working with a volunteering organisation, to drum up enthusiasm with this age group. Methinks this is a cohort effect that is going to continue as this group ages. I wonder why this is happening?

Maybe it's a generational factor? Many of this group rejected all of the traditional types of structures and still do? Obviously, it will differ by lifestyle.

Beware anybody who thinks they are going to harness a well of goodwill towards volunteering from this bunch. Dick Stroud

White collar volunteering – who will stick the stamps?

I find this report about volunteering depressing.

The Corporation for National & Community Service has produced a detailed document about the future of volunteering and the impact of the retiring Boomer hordes.

Now here is the rub. The type of volunteer work Boomers do has a big impact on whether they stay with it over time. Retention from the first year of volunteering to the second year is highest when they're involved in professional or management activities, such as strategic planning, marketing or volunteer coordination. Nearly three-quarters of boomers performing those typically white-collar duties returned the following year, as did 71% of those who volunteered in music or other performance activities.

Seven out of 10 who tutor, mentor or coach also stick with it into a second year.

Those involved in general labor and rote tasks such as driving, construction and meal preparation were least likely to continue volunteering the following year, with only 56% persisting.

This is the volunteering equivalent to the problem of trying to find a plumber.

I can find mentors, creative writers, planners, coordinators, strategists, marketers, researchers galore but somebody to mend a leaking tap or install a new electric plug is like gold dust. I have this image of volunteering organizations festooned with committees – advisory boards – management groups and inspiration outreach workers, all populated by deadly serious reitred Boomers, whilst a few poor dorks are left to do all of the real work. Dick Stroud