Re: Volunteer TW Services (was: Ethical Questions)

[Jill Burgchardt <jburgcha -at- PESTILENCE -dot- ITC -dot- NRCS -dot- USDA -dot- GOV>]

As several others have noted, nonprofits need to be sure of their
volunteers. Formally or informally, the good organizations will screen
you as you screen them. I've never walked into an organization and
started out by doing writing for them.

I volunteer for a children's group. I evaluate potential volunteers by
their children. What's their attitude toward responsibility? Do their
manners reflect well on the organization? Do they get to every
practice on time? Do they ever miss a practice to go off and do "fun"
things? Do their parents expect them to be excused for non-emergency
babysitting? This method is very reliable. It's also necessary,
because the volunteers I work with have tight, unmovable deadlines. If
volunteers don't have children in the group, I evaluate their
commitment on low-risk tasks before I assign them high-risk tasks.

Writing, especially grants or anything that's part of a public image,
is high-risk. That's why I'd encourage anyone who wants to write on a
volunteer basis to pick an organization you believe in. Be willing to
work where you're needed to prove yourself. Even that's not a
guarantee that you'll get to do writing eventually. However, you'll
probably pick up on barriers before you invest too much of your time.
If the organization is full of resume-builders and internal politics
or has high turnover among their few paid staff--watch out. There are
enough good organizations that need volunteers (and writers) that you
don't need to waste your time on the poorly run ones.

Jill Burgchardt
jburgcha -at- pestilence -dot- itc -dot- nrcs -dot- usda -dot- gov