At Pilotlight we love nothing more than a chance to meet with experienced and talented business people to discuss the hot topic of skilled volunteering within the charity sector. But the mere mention of volunteer work often conjures images of fence painting and shaking buckets outside the supermarket, and while these are valuable and much needed volunteer roles, many experienced executives feel frustrated by these opportunities.
The desire to ‘give something back’ is no doubt there, but finding a fulfilling and meaningful opportunity to do so seems to be the challenge.
Another common assumption is that skills gained and honed within the commercial sector will not be useful or translate effectively to the charity sector, and that as an individual with no charity sector knowledge or experience, a common question is: “how could I possibly add value?”
Neither of these could be further from the truth, and when we bring senior business people and charity chief executives together, and manage the sharing of skills, we see the benefits this brings to both.
Skills from the commercial sector bring another dimension of expertise to help charities survive and thrive. By coaching a charity CEO and transferring vital commercial skills and knowledge, the focus is on long-term development of the organisation and the individual. Despite this type of learning being essential to the sustainability and growth of small charities, it is something which is rarely funded.
And the benefits run both ways. What many of our members value most at the end of working with a small charity is that they have learnt coaching and mentoring skills and how to really listen. For those that are accustomed to rapid transformation and things happening at a very fast past pace in the commercial world, it’s a steep learning curve to sit back, listen, ask questions and not offer a solution on a plate. All skills that they are then able to take back into their own workplace.
With cuts to charity funding from government, commercial skills within the charity sector will be ever more important to ensure the survival and sustainability of many charities delivering vital services to our communities. We all have a responsibility to add to the sum of what we take from our communities and transferring valuable business skills to the charity sector is one very effective way of doing this.
So what should you consider before getting involved, and what are the key things that can be learnt by engaging with a charity?
- Determine how much time you have to offer and be disciplined about sticking to this. Many people feel unable to say no and are frustrated if too much is being asked of them, but if you’re clear about your commitment from the outset this can be avoided.
- Think about whether you’re looking to apply and use your commercial skills to offer strategic help to a charity or whether you’d like to help by rolling your sleeves up on some practical task.
- Consider carefully the types of organisations and causes you’d like to support and if it’s important to you to focus on a local community project or whether you can spread the net wider for the right volunteering opportunity.
- Think about what you hope to gain from being involved and make sure you are clear with the charity about this. If you want to learn and develop your own skills then be sure to find an opportunity that will bring you satisfaction. The engagement is extremely powerful when both sides feel they are benefitting in some way.
