This is the concluding part of Etiquette of Volunteering, which was my previous post. This Guest Post by Bhavana of Tilling the Earthwoman fame addresses other relevant issues related to volunteering. She amazes me with her warmth, patience, vast experience and wealth of knowledge that she is willing to share so openly. If you have ever considered volunteering, this is your person and place for all the answers you need. If you haven’t read the first part, read it here.
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Etiquette of Volunteering-II
In my last post, I wrote about regularity, the reality of NGO functioning and the need for cultural sensitivity in volunteering. Please read that post here. In this post, I focus on winning trust and fundraising as a volunteer.
How to Win Trust
I have learnt through many failures that the first step to enacting change is to win the trust of the community that you are working for. You cannot show off your knowledge, your “liberated” status, your clothes, or your lifestyle. Instead, you become humble and adapt to their clothes and lifestyle without giving up your core values. In-your-face statements don’t help. What helps is listening, empathizing, caring, and doing hands-on work. When you are allowed to become a friend of the community, then you can suggest changes. But again, your suggestions maybe accepted or not. You need to persevere.
To that end, my inspiration is Elango Rangaswamy, the former Panchayat leader at Kuthumbakkam, a model village in Tamil Nadu. A Dalit panchayat leader, he related to me how caste divisions still exist in Tamil Nadu and how he overcame them. At his first Panchayat meeting as its head, instead of bragging about overcoming caste barriers, he silently sat down on the floor while others who were of higher castes sat on chairs. They were stunned and requested him to sit on the chair. Similarly, he gently nudges folks to include women in the meetings—not just as symbolic numbers, but to listen to their voice and include them actively. He tells me—in development work, one needs to take everyone along.
When you enter into volunteering, please do not expect change to happen in your term or sometimes even in your lifetime. Change is slow, painful and complex. Sometimes change happens years after you leave. But know this that every push, every sweat has made its way to make that change possible.
Volunteering also requires shedding of ego and willingness to do the most menial of tasks. It helps if you use volunteering as a detox process and spiritual growth. I had volunteered with Hands of the Carribbean to conduct a fundraiser for the Haiti Earthquake of 2010. The fundraiser was moving splendidly till the washroom toilets had a leak and water flooded the entire area. The plumbers were not easily available. The only way to save the show was to undertake cleaning work ourselves. Two of us took the mop, bucket and drained the water and cleaned the toilets to make it usable again. I was soaked with toilet water at the end of it and could not stay for the event. But I left very happy.
Fundraising
Most NGOs that are doing real work need funds. That’s where they need volunteers. I have noticed that many people shrug from asking for donations. I have overcome this hesitancy over the years. First, sometimes I offer services in exchange of donations. I have cooked for many fundraisers. I have also learnt the art of increasing the value of your cooking. A couple who are good friends of mine in United States “auctioned” an evening at their house—Indian dinner served on fine cutlery followed by a Bollywood movie, complete with explanation of contexts etc. It is a lovely and innovative idea. You can create your own version—an Italian dinner with dessert and wine followed by a nice European movie, complete with explanations.
I have also used my writing and speaking skills to fundraise. While on field post-Tsunami disaster, I sent email updates (I did not know about blogging at that time) to my friends which were circulated widely. Some of these updates resulted in actual commitment of funds for the efforts. After returning to United States, I used my experience to give moving presentations at fundraisers on the situation on the ground. In India, I have been presenting before many business community get-togethers to bring awareness and fundraise. Over the years, I have become more cheeky and more demanding on instant commitment at the end of the presentation.
Secondly, I realized I was not asking money for myself. I was asking money for a good cause which I believe in. So I do not need to be ashamed. A fundraiser friend of mine also told me how she often invoked the “Bhavati Bikshan Dehi” concept of the Buddhist monks where the monks beg for their food as a way to humble themselves. Both these notions work for me. And today, I do not feel the least little bit ashamed in knocking on doors to seek funds.
But if I have fundraised for an NGO, I make it a point to follow it up to see if the money has been used properly and prefer to see documentation in this regard. I am often harsh and insistent on this point and I never fundraise for a group whose systems of reporting back or accounting is weak. The money needs to go to the beneficiary—there must be results.
Volunteering is a wonderful way to mature as a person. As much as you give, you also receive within. You become calmer, less depressed, and more joyful. You also become more skilled in interpersonal and networking skills, in team work and in managing rapidly changing situations. I have become a better person because I volunteered.
If you are not already volunteering, please give it a try. It is worth your time!
Image courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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