Volunteering as Part of Foundation Strategy

“How will volunteers support this initiative?”

Simply posing that question to potential grantees would cause organizations to think about the role of volunteers in their work, and might even open minds and opportunities, according to
Shirley Sagawa of the Center for American Progress.

Volunteers, you might say? That’s nice. Actually, no, Sagawa counters in her book The American Way to Change: How National Service & Volunteers Are Transforming America.

“Service is not nice -- it’s necessary,” she writes. “I believe that we will not solve [America’s biggest problems] until every agency incorporates service into its toolbox and every American makes service a part of everyday life. Together, we can solve the seemingly intractable problems holding back this country from achieving its full potential.”

Sagawa, called “a founding mother of the modern service movement” for her role in helping create AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service while working in the Clinton Administration, calls it “unfortunate” that many philanthropists overlook volunteering and service as a strategy. She says they do so based on faulty perceptions, including the idea that volunteers cannot have an impact on a problem.

Among other things, her book lays out specific things philanthropy can do to help make service part of everyone’s solutions toolbox. Of course, foundations such as the Ford, W.K. Kellogg and Rockefeller foundations have been critical in shaping the field. But more needs to be done, especially since the growing field could easily double in size quickly. “This is indeed the rare case of, ‘if we build it, they will come,’” Sagawa says.

So philanthropy should help build it: Help strengthen the infrastructure for connecting volunteers to opportunities, and help increase awareness about the value of volunteering. More specifically, beyond asking about the role of volunteers in every initiative, Sagawa calls on funders to consider setting aside a “volunteer premium,” or an additional 10 percent of a grant amount to be used to involve volunteers. Offering dedicated resources for the task would make it easier for cash-strapped nonprofits to add this to their toolbox.

Bigger picture, philanthropy should focus on helping recruit for and train volunteers in a given community, Sagawa said at a book launch event at the Center for American Progress. Philanthropy should focus on helping reach such an untapped resource, since it will have lasting impact -- and it will also have a spillover effect, by helping a new volunteer better understand a particular community or social issue. At least in theory, a volunteering resident will be better informed and more constructive in her criticism, since she can see how to make a difference in improving the situation. In fact, many social innovators are inspired to action through volunteering or participating in service programs.

Throughout the book, Sagawa stresses that service helps everyday Americans connect with one another and find purpose in their lives. Thus, the impact of service on civil society and the way citizens engage in their communities cannot be downplayed. Sagawa writes that volunteering and service reinforces connections to the community and strengthens personal and civic values. As such, it can be a path that leads to deeper engagement in democracy -- meaning service should be factored into work in civic engagement.

Especially over the past decade, increased requirements for volunteering in schools and among youth have been leading to a transformative change, with service becoming an ingrained habit, according to Sagawa. The passage last year of the Kennedy Serve America Act, which Sagawa calls the largest expansion of national service since the Great Depression, only fuels the need for philanthropy to help “leverage the true potential” of service and volunteering.

Sagawa makes a persuasive case that a more strategic use of volunteers and service can help propel community development and social change. And many times, all you have to do is ask.