Volunteers' Motivation Is Key

During our life in Central America, we became quite involved with two charitable operations in two different countries.

The first was a small group of volunteers who built a first aid clinic and clean water storage system for a small native village in Guatemala. The second was a charity serving the poor community in Mexico whose mission was to enable children who would otherwise be unable to afford school, to do so.

One of these organizations failed, the other succeeded. Both were informal, run by charter founders, and purposeful. The differences were how the leaders saw themselves in regard to the mission. In the first case, personality was subordinate to the goal of building the clinic. In the second, personality reigned supreme.

What I took out of this is that these organizations stand or fall, not on the basis of their funding, their organization, or the worthiness of purpose, but on the sincerity of volunteers. Simplicity of the mission and operation were also important, but secondary.

In either case, anything that was accomplished was by people who understood what to do, and just dug in and got the job done.

What’s the lesson in this for Canadian volunteer-driven associations? Recruiting must focus on the motivations of volunteers, rather than credentials or connections. Careful selection will make a big difference in performance whether they are governance or field volunteers.

Reg Watts, an AXI Associate, is the President of The StratQuest Group, a management consulting company with specific expertise in strategic management services to non‑profit organizations. Serving associations in all five sectors, StratQuest concentrates on market research and social research, strategic planning, and organizational review and renewal.