The Volunteer Economy of Charlotte Mecklenburg

The Volunteer Economy of Charlotte Mecklenburg

VOLUNTEER SUPPLY

Meet the volunteers. They are no amateurs. One even jokes about how the other is “a volunteer in a bag” – she is equipped with a small bag to help out at a moment’s notice at full efficiency and efficacy. They do not take volunteering lightly or with a grudge, but whole-heartedly and with a sense of fulfillment. These women met at a coffee shop to discuss why they invested so much time, energy, thought, enthusiasm to unpaid work.

For full disclosure, these five women make up a rather homogenous group of middle-class currently stay-at-home mothers to school-age children; they do not deny this is a privilege, although they have planned and made conscious choices to make this situation possible for their families. These women were also in professional jobs before they became full time mothers; they made a very clear decision to leave behind jobs to be at home full-time.

…Until they realized there were needs in their community and they had unused skills. One of the ladies in the group, Elyse, had left her house at 6:45 a.m. that morning and was planning to be home after dinner tending throughout the day to numerous activities related to public schools she fights for on a practical and policy level. Another woman, Laura, had just come from photocopying at her children’s public school for an hour and then left early to play scrabble with a senior citizen at a Medicaid facility. Karen W. had just returned from a mission trip to help rebuild homes in rural USA and had been President of a homeowners association for several years, and Becky was dealing with frustrations with a non-profit substance abuse “start up”. I am the eternal environmental concern compulsive volunteer, as well as the occasional neighborhood volunteer.

The specific reasons for dedicating their time, energy and skills to unpaid activities were cited as: “budget cuts in the public sector”, “support of those whose pay does not match what they offer society”; “getting caught up in the process”; “identified a need (in the community)”, “can’t help but want to make things better than they are”; to believing in “service”, as well as faith in “serving”.

These women have been through the spectrum of volunteer work, from scrubbing classrooms and photocopying for hours for teachers, to making high profile public presentations and reports; as well as nudging and swaying policy makers on local and State level. These women have been around the volunteer block, to the point where they have their own volunteer-need awareness and are very specific in what they want for themselves and for society in their effort. Whereby, the focus is more on the effort making sense for and improving society  - and the person is just the vehicle to achieve that. All agreed to no more “thankless” volunteer jobs…

The discussion would have made any hiring manager drool; these women discussed how in their volunteer work they had found and used skills they didn’t know they had in their paid jobs; their current efforts reach beyond horizons they didn’t know existed; part of the ideal of contributing to society was connecting to a team of other volunteers – they have no interest in going solo; they felt fulfilled in their missions, tasks, decisions, creativity, and executions. And most important of all, was that their schedules were flexible, so they could have time for their families. These are smart ladies with a specific purpose and agenda, as well as a clear perception of how to achieve them.

And these women are also part of an increasing trend according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

According to a survey by the Corporation for National and Community Service, 2011 was the year with the highest number of volunteer hours donated nationwide, while monetary donations sunk during the recession. One in four Americans volunteered through a formal organization totaling 2.9 billion hours. Charlotte Mecklenburg placed 18^th among the 51 largest Metropolitan Areas with 30% of residents volunteering. In comparison, 32% of San Francisco residents and 18% of New York City residents volunteered in 2011. The top volunteer activity in Charlotte Mecklenburg was collecting and distributing food (at 28%), followed by fund raising (at 24%) and then collecting and distributing clothing (at 20%). Nationally, the top volunteer activity was fund raising.  

The organizations through which people volunteered in Charlotte were primarily religious institutions (at 40%). In San Francisco, it was mainly through educational institutions (at 33%); in New York, it was primarily through both religious and educational institutions (both at 28%). New York City’s top volunteer activity was by far fund raising at 28% followed by food distribution at 19%.

With these current statistics, especially for Charlotte where nearly one in three Charlotteans volunteers, it is hard to believe that Robert Putnam’s 1995 book “Bowling Alone: America’s declining Social Capital” would find any validity. The sample of our volunteers and the national data indicate quite the opposite.

VOLUNTEER DEMAND

The Charlotte Mecklenburg volunteer-scape is vast.  There are numerous organizations that rely on volunteer efforts to exist and operate. This article will highlight only a few volunteer niche areas and organizations.

There are of course the charitable needs of Charlotte Mecklenburg that need to be met. As mentioned above, the bulk of Charlotte Mecklenburg’s volunteer hours went to distributing food. There are a handful of prominent charitable organizations in the County that help in covering these basic needs of food and housing for the underprivileged. These organizations also partner with churches to offer well-planned, organized, and consistent support to these people in need. For example, the Urban Ministry cooperates with churches to offer “Room at the Inn” which provides shelter and beds for the homeless in rotating churches. The Urban Ministry is one highly organized organization with national recognition. It relies on volunteers to operate, and offers many volunteer options for individuals and groups with a sense of sophistication that give a true sense of community, as opposed to a sense of give-and-take.  

Not to downplay the seriousness of the needs of the community, to make it seem like the needs have come close to being met, or to make it sound like light heartedness on the part of those offering volunteer hours, but the list of charitable volunteer opportunities goes on and on in Charlotte Mecklenburg. 

And volunteering is not limited to charity, of course.

Charlotte Mecklenburg public schools (CMS) receive much support from volunteer efforts, typically by the parents of students. Waddell Language Academy, an ethnically and socio economically diverse school with a student body of approximately 1,300 students, has on average 10 to 15 volunteers sign up each day, with probably at least 2 to 3 more not signed-in volunteers per day, totaling 690 official volunteers for the school year of 2012. The volunteer activities range from photocopying, to decorating, tutoring, proctoring – whatever the needs of the classroom are.

On a whole, CMS received in the 2010 to 2011 school year a total of over 250,000 volunteer hours. Most of the hours went to PTA activities, safety and PE (193,385 hours); tutoring came in next with 41,628 hours and then mentoring with 15,146 hours.

Another typical area for volunteering is with environmental organizations. These are not as prominent as charitable organizations, but they rely on volunteers who have a strong commitment to the cause. So, whereas these environmental organizations might not match the volume of other volunteer efforts in Charlotte Mecklenburg (charity) or the density of others (parents in public schools), they have their weight when it comes to quality of life developments and public policy changes thanks to very specific and targeted efforts. A few that come to mind are the Catawba River Keepers, the Clean Air Coalition and the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance (CABA). The first two have one or a few paid executive positions, but rely heavily on organized and skilled volunteer efforts to reach their goals of - simplistically put -reversing pollution of our air and water. With their small resources but fervent efforts, they are accomplishing changes in policy on local and State levels.

CABA is a 100% volunteer group that since 1997 has been advocating for more bicycles on public roads. Not only do these volunteers individually want to broaden their impact on the community, but CABA’s goal as a whole is to make elected officials aware of the positive economic impact of greenways and bike paths, as well as making the public, who will elect the public officials, aware of the benefits of bicycle infrastructure within the community.

There are more volunteer niches than this article could ever think of covering – left out are for example hospitals, public civic boards, Arts Councils, large private and religious Foundations, illness and health awareness campaigns, other by-invitation only organizations, 5k charity races. This article covers just a few of basic local middle class volunteer interests and charitable community needs.

DEMAND MEETS SUPPLY – OR NOT

While the volunteers mentioned in this article have found their volunteer niches, anyone entering the volunteer-sphere will not have to operate in a vacuum. Not only are there enough not-for-profits that rely heavily on volunteers, but there are even volunteer match-making organizations. There are websites that offer matching volunteers with needs. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which is a federal agency that engages Americans to serve, has a tool on its main webpage to match volunteer interests with needs nationwide in any zip code. United Way is also an organization that operates on local levels to match local charitable needs with volunteering “urges”.

United Way is a national organization that operates locally, by matching community needs with volunteer efforts. One of its focus’ is to raise the high school graduation rate within the next 10 years; based on this mission, it is focusing to match volunteer efforts with unmet needs at schools. To maximize efficiency and “volunteer satisfaction”, it offers a range of volunteer opportunities, in type of work to time committed to continual vs episodic.  United Way currently operates mainly with corporations who send in groups of volunteers.

Goodwill is also a “brand name”. As with United Way, a volunteer coordinator matches community needs with volunteering.

These not-for-profit organizations do not rely opportunistically on volunteer work. For one, they have hired volunteer coordinators who not only match needs with desires to volunteer, but have guidelines as to most effective ratios of volunteer vs. paid employees.  Kilby Watson, Community Engagement Manager at Goodwill, opened my eyes to studies on volunteer resource management for not-for-profit organizations that suggest these guidelines and many other effective ways of getting the most out of volunteers.

Non profit organizations that function effectively have learned from studies how best to manage volunteer hours, as well as what type of work can be done by volunteers and what work requires paid workforce. As a result, the well-defined needs of their organizations are being met by volunteer supply.

On a societal level, however, the need-for-volunteers demand curve of course will never meet the volunteer supply curve. The whole graph with the supply and demand curve should be put on a wagon of a roller coaster that has a vibrating device and that hits turbulences. But since the volunteer market is by its nature very flexible and therefore adaptable to acute and also long term needs.

IS VOLUNTEERISM POLITICALLY CORRECT?

The night after the Vatican blew white smoke from its chimney to announce that Pope Francis had been elected, politician Rick Santorum proudly declared in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN that the fact that a “humanitarian” Pope had been elected, indicated that the typically Republican and conservative agenda that churches shall take care of social needs of society was now reinforced. Liberals cringe at such a statement; they would argue: why should a portion of the population who happens to be good hearted enough and have time to donate manhours make up for the cracks in the government which should be here to serve its citizens, especially those who are temporarily in need? This is also a more common European perspective.

Within my empirical sample, however, volunteering has little to do with political or religious standing. Even according to the data from the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteering spans across the spectrum of the political colors.  Citizens of San Francisco (more likely to be non religious) volunteered a merely tad more than citizens of Charlotte (more likely to be affiliated with a church).  And one could note that volunteering has gone up since President Obama was in office (could also be related to the economic recession), and he was actually criticized by the opposing party during the 2008 US Presidential election campaign for being "merely" a community organizer, and continues to support citizens “serving”.

Left or right, religious or atheist, according to the survey, there is one common denominator: volunteers are more likely to have dinner every day with their family (75% in Charlotte Mecklenburg – somewhat less in the big cities San Francisco and New York City), to talk to their neighbors and to have some confidence in corporations and public schools, rather than not. So, volunteers are not necessarily motivated by their political views. And neither does the amount of volunteering in a town or country show its political colors, but rather its democratic and civil health. Liberals and Europeans may not fear that volunteering is a sign of cracks in society.

As Michael Behrent, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Department of History at Appalachian State University explains, “The idea that welfare should be based on volunteering and charity has plenty of European roots, it was common for Europeans to consider this the best way to deal with poverty. (For example) Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Memoir on Pauperism” is typical of a European critique of “dependency” and celebration of volunteerism (which is part of the reason it has been embraced by the American right). The idea of volunteerism should not be knocked (by the American liberals or Europeans). It is closely tied to the idea of a civil society – i.e. that the health of a society and especially, the health of a democracy, depends on the extent to which there exists a robust civic life outside the realm of the State. These ideas, after all were very important in Eastern Europe during the 70s and 80s, and were critical to critiquing the nefarious effects of those state-centered cultures”.

And further, “ These are the reasons one should not bash volunteering ; yes, it’s terrible when it’s used as a way to slough off ways of handling more serious social problems, but it’s also closely tied to sociability, civil spiritedness, and healthy democratic habits.”

The ultimate symbol for freedom for some Americans is the right to carry arms. This is a loaded belief that is constantly part of the public and political debate. Personally, after observing the US for 15 years, I believe volunteering is the genuine and understated symbol of freedom for the American middle class. It is intrinsic in 30-40% of Americans to be involved in this choice of where they want to and can improve their society. The more curious volunteers become more involved, learn to understand the processes of institutions and organizations, know who are the decision makers, become part of the QA/QC and maybe even become part of the decision process.

An overnight field trip had been cancelled at a CMS public school with a strong socio economic mix of students. Melissa jumped up to rearrange – as a volunteer - another overnight field trip. Because it would not be an official CMS field trip, there would be no scholarships for economically disadvantaged students. This meant that Melissa would not only have to find an alternate venue, but come up with money to fund the trip for a portion of the student body. She had been volunteering at the school for two years and within the school system for fours years and was not only a well known parent-volunteer at the school, but was familiar navigating the public school administration. With all her background knowledge within the system and creative ideas, she started a fund raiser that spanned over 2 weeks, involved a handful of parents and more students, and half a dozen fund raising campaigns which a in all their modesty will hopefully raise enough money to send 10 students for free on the overnight field trip. Melissa was able to accomplish her goal, of course thanks to her energy and desire, but also because she was part of the school team as a long time volunteer. It was also a cause she chose to pursue with needs she identified and within a system she was familiar with, but also as an outsider flexible enough to set her own agenda effectively working with given bureaucracy.

Similarly, Becky and Elyse are always on the frontline when it comes to crisis management in CMS public school; they work with the ideas of parents, needs and experience of teachers and administrators and bring these to the elected officials and public board representatives to work out common solutions. They are almost always 100% effective in bringing results that satisfy society and all parties involved

These volunteers are stellar examples individuals operating in a civil (well almost always) and demographic society and taking their ideas to shake up, then stabilize, and improve the system - and educated their elected officials.

It seems that volunteering is politically correct and politically imperative. However, I also wonder if there is extra stimulation to volunteer from the fact that the USA’s legal system is based on common law and is therefore a litigious society. Environmental groups in the USA spend a lot of time studying the environmental problems and the related non-existing rules and laws that, if they existed, could improve the health of the environment. Because these are non-profit and non-governmental organizations, they rely on funding from donors and volunteers. In countries with civil law and strong environmental laws, it is more likely to find environmentalists working for a government agency enforcing the already existing environmental regulations that were put up at the beginning of the pipeline.

Volunteering is intrinsic in Americans but for many – for example environmental “idealists” – it is part of being a stewart for the environment and a citizen with a conscience - volunteering is "politically imperative".

American individuals are not the only ones who intrinsically dedicate time and effort to volunteering and are aware of the benefits. This concept has made its way to Corporate America.

ECONOMIC VALUE – TRICKLE DOWN

When I interviewed Leslie Rink, the Volunteer Center Director of United Way about Charlotte corporations’ involvement in charitable efforts, she explained that “volunteering is a way of doing business for corporations in Charlotte.”

Even William Sparks, PhD, Director of Leadership Initiatives of the McColl School of Business, makes all MBA students of his Leadership class volunteer at least eight hours and make a presentation on how this effort affected them personally as a future leader. Dr Sparks explains, “I personally believe it greatly benefits the students, many of whom have had personal transformations by volunteering and giving back.” He continues, “Together with Pamela Davies, then Dean, now President, she and Hugh McColl from Bank of America, discussed the Business School’s philosophy and crafted the 3-C Model of Leadership – Competence, Character and Commitment to Community. The belief was that a great business must be committed to something greater than profit and that you can’t build a great city (which was a big cause for McColl) without a commitment to the larger community and those less fortunate”.

Part of this Commitment to Community and correlation to share holders’ wealth is maybe one of the reasons several corporations offer their employees full time salary when they take time off to go volunteer. Or maybe letting their employees out in the community to volunteer just boosts the company’s image, which helps their sales. This is something the five volunteers I sat with at the coffee shop discussed and remained somewhat skeptical or at least open ended about. But it is on the radar of corporations – as a quantitative factor.

Attempting to quantify the economic value of volunteering has been done by United Way, which currently values one hour of volunteer work at $20.65. That means that alone in Charlotte Mecklenburg schools, for the school year 2010 to 2011, $5 million were provided in volunteer efforts. Based on the data from the National and Community Service with a total of 63,131,712 volunteer hours donated in 2011 in Charlotte Mecklenburg, this adds up to $1.26 billion worth of volunteering.

Just multiplying the total hours of volunteer work with an hourly rate does not come close to giving a quantitative picture. Trickle down and multiplier effects should also be taken into consideration.

For example, Karen L. is a volunteer summer swim team representative of a neighborhood swim club part of a Charlotte League. She has proven over several years to be a true professional in running these operations. In addition to managing volunteer staff of at least 50 parents (all with their own set of emotions!) to whom she delegates specific tasks from snacks to judge training, coordinating swim coaches, finding sponsors, controlling several hours of practice a day, being in charge of 6 six-hour long swim meets where every minute is precisely controlled and the 50 parent volunteer tasks planned, she has also generated business for small business owners for ribbon, trophy and swim suit sales, swim competition software, catering for swim meets, training sessions for stroke judges, and of course coach and life guard salaries. So there is an additional multiplier if not trickle down effect on the local economy, by one volunteer coordinator of a neighborhood swim team – not to mention all the benefits of 150 healthy athletes! And all that, as she says, because, “When I see a 13 year old swimmer pump her fists in joy because she made it to the All Stars, I know I want to volunteer as a Swim Team Rep!”

Others take volunteering – and specifically the fundraising portion of volunteering -to a whole new level and make their own business out of it. Tammra Granger, started “GoPlaySave” coupon books, which she sells on consignment basis at almost 100% to groups that are doing fundraising for community or charity purposes. These books sell for $30 a piece; the book contains 300 pages worth of coupons from “merchants” - stores and services- in the City of Charlotte. GoPlaySave gets half the money of the books sold and the other half stays with the organization for its fundraising. At first a little confused and disturbed by this business model, I now see how a little bit of creativity, a lot of knocking on merchants’ doors and being part of their marketing plans, can give fund raising a fun (and typical American) boost.

So there are many angles at which it would be possible to show a huge economic bang for the volunteer non-buck – in regards to personal growth, supporting people on a path back to economic independence, filling in for lack of budget in the public services (maximizing the tax dollar), wealth maximization of corporations, shifting public policy, a healthier more democratic and civil community, as well as trickle down effects on local economies.

VOLUNTEER SOCIETY

But the benefit to the economy or the indication of a free, democratic and civil society isn’t the whole story.

In Charlotte there are more than 900 home owner associations (HOAs). HOAs seem to have come along with urban sprawl. HOAs function almost 100% on a volunteer basis. In addition to maintaining the common areas of the neighborhood, these HOAs try to offer social activities for the neighborhood. These seem to be in a decline with the revival of downtowns, more public spaces and chances for sporadic encounters. The question is: do some of these volunteer organizations, by the nature of what they offer and for the reason some join, to some extent make up for voids in our sense of community in our hyper individualistic society and sprawled cities?

Karen N –in addition to raising five children and starting a business- has several decades of volunteering under her belt including helping people without families find a home after being discharged from hospitals; or cooking and serving dinners regularly at “Room at the Inn”; or hosting international guests as part of State Department Programs (the latter she doesn’t even consider “volunteering” but “learning”!). For her it is part of a desire to be of “service” but she also wonders if our society is more fragmented, so some of us make up for less family ties by taking care of the community and taking “things we would do naturally within a family” to the level of an “official volunteer activity for a community”?

Here are some unanswered cultural questions to my readers: Is our need to have neighborhood picnics all set up by volunteers to fill the void in sense of community? Can Americans just not help it? Or are they fascinated in the “rah rah rah”  and color themes of fund raisers? Or is it really about staying "on top" of our democracy?

I wrote this due to a sense of fascination for the volunteer spirit, the occasional hypocrisy, but mainly the creativity, the knowledge, energy and commitment I have seen that comes with it. I have also noticed, that it is always the same 30-40% who volunteer. It must be a mix of DNA and upbringing - what else could it be that our sample of volunteers confess to feeling more fulfilled in their volunteer activities than in previous jobs and dare I say, notice that they are agents of (good) change for our society.