Volunteerism: What It is and Why It is Important

Volunteerism is an act of offering services for the benefit of other people, societies, and other organizations for free. Such a manner of behavior is unselfish and seen to be an inherent characteristic of human endeavor, which is evidenced by the fact that it was evident in different societies in history.

The practice of volunteering could be traced from the ancient civilizations and up to this present generation that aids resolve diverse hindrances and problems the society and the world is facing at the present time to help generally.

The purpose of this article is to take a step further to explain volunteerism and how important it is in current society.

What is Volunteerism?

On its basic level, volunteerism is the act of planning and executing to provide service to others for a certain cause without monetary reward. Volunteers are people with completely different experiences and skills, or rather with different approaches to problem-solving.

Volunteerism constitutes many activities and tasks some of them to be service delivery to the society within several sectors of the society such as social services, education, health care, environment conservation but it includes. In nonprofit organizations, community centers, hospitals, schools, and other places to render a positive societal impact, there are volunteers.

Such volunteer work can be done on a regular or rather full-time basis, in the capacity of a committee or a board of directors, with various organizations including community, non-profit making or charitable organizations.

There are some people who do only take it as an extra activity in their lifestyles while some people find employment while doing volunteering activities at the same time. Also, volunteerism can be from one day or a week up to a lifetime and can include several acts and activities.

Types of Volunteerism

Volunteerism can be broadly categorized into the following types:

1. Individual Volunteerism

This type has to do with the volunteer conscience performed by one single person. This may occur occasionally without prior arrangement and out of the good aim at assisting people in crises or the volunteering may be arranged by different channels. An example of individual volunteerism is a person who on his or her own decides to spend some time washing the park or assisting in a community event.

2. Organizational Volunteerism

Organizational volunteerism is the one where volunteers take part in an organization or a group like non-government organization or charitable corporation. People who may be working with in such organizations might be engaged in different things like fund raising, campaigns, lobbying or executing projects. Organizational volunteerism can be explained by the following organization – United Way; this is an organization that unites individuals and companies that volunteered to help families and individuals in their communities.

3. Corporate Volunteerism

Corporate volunteerism refers to situations whereby corporations encourage and support their employs to volunteer during their off-working hours and sometimes even allow them to volunteer during working hours without deducting their wages for the time they have used for volunteerism. Moreover, the type of volunteering that this is the good kind – it increases an employee’s personal satisfaction and sense of belonging, and it also improves the company’s public image as a company caring about the world their little hands will inhabit.

4. Digital Volunteerism

Modern technology in volunteerism has triggered digital volunteerism to take form more often than conventional volunteering through physically being in an organization. To virtual volunteer we cannot see it, we have to go in virtual but you know to virtual volunteering we need to use technology to support and help in some sort of volunteering without being here. Some of the work that can be done by digital volunteers includes teaching online, content creation, moderating group page, other activities involving typing work and analyzing them in favor of various cause or organizations.

5. Skill-Based Volunteerism

Volunteering involves the use of one’s professional skills and expertise in whatever area of one’s practice when one gives service, in the context of his organization or cause. Such a volunteering can extend to legal services from lawyers, financial advice from accountants or assistance in creating and managing a non-profit organization website from IT personnel.

6. Global Volunteerism

International volunteerism is a kind of volunteerism across borders, where people or groups contribute to achieve problems in the different frontiers. Anything from climate change to deforestation, human rights and social justice issues are all issues these people are dealing with. Global volunteerism can be directed towards operating within the community and engage in global campaigns and projects.

The Importance of Volunteerism

There are many benefits which non-profit volunteerism brings to several aspects of people’s life and help individuals and communities to improve. Some of the key reasons why volunteerism is important include:

1. Solving Social Problems

The time and effort that volunteers put into helping others to solve critical social needs like poverty, homelessness and inequality means they assist in responding. Therefore, they contribute to the welfare of the whole community and therefore, they promote cohesiveness of members in each community.

Volunteering allows people to understand the problems that Their fellow neighbor have, feel sympathetic and compassionate to them so they should be and feel that they are in the same team.

2. Promoting Self-Development

Volunteerism is a wonderful way to gain personal development because it assigns new tasks and proactively exposes people to new experiences outside of their comfort zone. Volunteering activities will improve your passion and interest, self-esteem as well as increase your passion and purpose in life.

However, volunteering provides an opportunity for individuals to interact with people that possess the same feelings, ideas, and beliefs as they do, something that provides one with a platform to make new friends or business partners.

3. Prescribing Harmonious Relations

Volunteerism remains a central element towards unity and social solidarity because it makes people from all cultural backgrounds work towards one cause. Volunteers are people from different ages, status, and having different ethnic, cultural, and religious orientations.

When volunteers can cooperate to achieve a common goal, they dismantle diverse hindrances and develop channels through which they can engage with each other in a positive way and accept other individuals. This can go a long way in promoting the right type of society embracing diversity and equity.

4. The Promotion of Democracy

The democratic process must depend on volunteerism since it is a process that allows the community to participate at all levels. In so doing, volunteering enables citizens to come with their perspectives, more so their ideas and professional input in the decision-making process and design due respect to minority voices.

In addition, by being volunteer based a society or a particular community can be defended from top-down control in a form of regulating by means of governmental institutions or large companies, based on principals of non-transparency, non-accountability, and no public interest.

5. Contribution on Economic Development

Volunteerism can also have positive socioeconomic impact by generating employment opportunities and assisting in the development of home-based economies as well as relieving pressure on governments and non-government organizations.

For instance, volunteers from the tourism industry can be relied upon to offer various beneficial services to the consumers; and assist them in making the right decisions. This can foster higher income from tourism and employment for the people residing around the companies.

Also, volunteering is an asset to the non-profit organizations as it can assist in cutting the number of persons employed and other expenditures by offices and establishments.

6. Serving As a Channel About Social Innovation

Volunteers’ initiatives function as a laboratory for social innovation since it is through volunteering that people can try out a certain idea, get to know other people and develop certain solutions for existing societal issues.

Volunteering activities may result in pre-identification of unserved demand, generation of ideas and replication of successful approaches to similar needs in other, bigger societies. This may in turn call for enhanced technological, programmatic, and policy innovation to improve welfare in society.

Conclusion

Volunteerism is one of the most effective means of effecting change and enhancing the wellbeing of societies and individuals, reducing social problems, strengthening people and communities, as well as banned in unity, enhancing democratic values and institutions, economy, and innovation.

In the profession where there are diverse issues and opportunities to deal with the world as it is today, surely volunteerism is a valuable lesson to live by. Supporting volunteer activity therefore can teach people and communities how to give of their effort towards the wellbeing of all people, so long as all people work together.