Since the launch last month, C@rma has proposed close to 10 volunteering opportunities. However, I keep receiving the same questions again and again. So, I thought it would be useful to develop further the concept of volunteering and more specifically Skill Based Volunteering.
The International Labor Organization is defining volunteering as: “activities or work that some people willingly do without pay to promote a cause or help someone outside of their household or immediate family“.
Skill-based volunteering is hence a very specific, time bounded, not paid mission that someone does using his or her skills or his/her brain to help a social cause.
Why would someone spend time doing something and not get paid for it (I receive that question a lot!)? I believe the volunteer is actually getting much more than financial compensation but lets start by the beginning.
Volunteering is not remunerated financially because NGOs, most of the time, CAN’T PAY for that particular service.
Volunteering missions have the power to tremendously increase the efficiency of the activities of the NGOs but they are not considered essentials by the NGOs meaning these organizations would prefer to spend their scarce resources on other things like giving training, buying food and clothes for children or on printing needed materials. These missions are considered more as “nice to have” rather than “have to have”. With a volunteer, they can have a better website thus spending less time juggling with figures for audit purposes, making meetings shorter by having an external facilitator, and avoiding students calling them all the time because they don’t understand a specific form….It would be great to have all of this but it is not essential!
So, this explains why it is not paid, but still, why should I do it, if it is not paid? I believe it can enhance your soft skills: taking care of a school finance is a totally another story than doing it in a bank, you are dealing with different kinds of people having a totally different way of thinking and this forces you to change, to adapt, to realize others’ ways of seeing things can also be very true.
It can also give you another kind of experience; take this engineer in R&D who wanted to see how he would perform in a sales or more strategic mission-it is a good way to try something new.
And last but not least, you are meeting incredible people and supporting extraordinary causes.
Do you want to know more and see if you could support one of these causes? Check our homepage https://4carma.com. The service is totally free for both parties.
Here is what our volunteers are saying about why they wanted to volunteer:
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(Burcu Uzer – translated from Turkish) |
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(Tevfik Durmusoglu) |
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(Hatice Kaya- translated from Turkish) |
"I volunteer to develop an internet game for Deniz Temiz Dernegi / Turmepa . Through that I can apply my knowledge about games/gamification an we will also contribute towards keeping seas clean through a new and enjoyable way. Motivating individuals by using game elements is a method that may pioneer social impact. While working on this project with other volunteers who know this method, we will have the opportunity to get to know Turmepa better."
“For years, I’ve been trying to help organizations create their futures. I believe that the ultimate satisfaction for anybody doing what I do is to channel this experience to contribute towards the common good of society. 
“I wanted to volunteer for Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi because it is very nice to share knowledge in the field I have been trained and gained experience. It is a great feeling to be a part of this process and to see that we have achieved something."Next time, I will answer the questions of the NGOs about why C@rma is asking so much information just to post a volunteering role. Stay tuned.
Sandrine