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Baby boomers are ready to roll up their sleevesBy James Edward Mills
"It's been working out really well," Torrance said. "The kids are responding to me and I enjoy it." Many volunteers of the baby boom generation, born between 1949 and 1964, will be looking for positions that offer personal satisfaction and the opportunity to use vital skills developed in working life. A new report indicates nonprofit organizations must be prepared to make more of these opportunities if they expect to recruit and retain the growing number of boomers likely to join the volunteer ranks. The study released by the Corporation for National and Community Service suggests that older adults who give of their time, a population expected to double by the year 2036, want volunteer positions that make better use of their skills as professionals. A district parts manager for General Motors, Torrance is used to a certain level of professionalism. Like many successful executives, he prefers that his talents be used effectively, even when as a volunteer. He said the organizations to which he dedicates his time and energy should be well managed. "I've worked with groups in the past that weren't very well organized," Torrance said. "I tend to shy away from those." At East Madison Community Center, Torrance feels his time is well spent. Though he is more concerned about providing a positive role model for the youth in his charge, he is pleased to work in an environment where his skills are appreciated. "I'm just glad to be able to give back," he said. "But where I'm at now I'm really pleased with how they run things." CNCS Chief Exec-utive David Eisner said volunteers like Tor-rance will become more common. In the near future, people willing to give of their time will be less interested in doing menial tasks working for poorly run organizations. "Boomers want to be engaged in more high-skill activities, things like management, professional services, mentoring, tutoring, arts and performance activities," Eisner said. "They're less interested in the more lower order things like contraction, meal preparation, clothing sorting and sewing. Those kinds of things don't have much appeal for the boomers." Jay Loewi is president of Quality Temps Inc. Also a baby boomer, he volunteers his time working with several charitable organizations in Dane County including United Way, Mad-ison Development Corp-oration and the Meriter Foundation. He said his time is best spent working with groups that make good use of the skills and resources at their disposal. "United Way from a strategic standpoint really gets it," Loewi said. "It's the right premise of being able to take a look at an issue and really see the root causes of that issue and then develop a strategy to solve it. From a business standpoint I like that." Eisner said that if they don't like how an organization is run or feel that their skills are not being adequately utilized, boomers have a tendency of "voting with their feet. If they're not fulfilled, we're seeing 30 percent of them not coming back the next year," he said. "So a huge goal has to be to lower that retention gap." Three out of 10 baby boomers drop out of volunteering each year. Though reasons for their departures vary, retention rates for volunteers are directly related to the type and nature of their assignments. Jobs that tend to keep volunteers include tutoring, mentoring and coaching, retaining from year to year 74.8 percent, 70.9 percent and 70.3 percent respectively. The study shows that baby boomers appear to have different volunteer interests than past generations. In 1989, 41- to 59-year-olds tended to volunteer at places of worship. Though that number remains high, there has been a marked increase in the desire to work with schools and youth services. Jim Venturini is an information technology manager for Tele-phone Data Systems in Madison. He also works as a volunteer coach for youth sports teams and delivers meals to the homebound. Motivated by his faith as a Christian as well as the opportunity to spend more time with his kids, Venturini said he's not exceptional when it comes to the generosity of his generation. "I have co-workers who volunteer in one or more aspects, either through the community or through youth sports," he said. "I guess a lot of those folks in or around my age range, early to mid-40s, are doing the same things. They have the same motivation whether it be for the enjoyment of the game or giving back to the community or helping others that aren't as well off." By 2020, Eisner said we could expect a 50 percent increase in the number of older Americans volunteering. "In the (2030s) we're going to see a 100 percent increase of people volunteering who are older," he said. "So it's really important for the nonprofits to get their acts together to be able to service and manage those volunteers." The organizations have to begin by establishing best practices around recruiting, screening, matching, managing, training, supervising and rewarding their volunteers. "Because if they don't get those best practices right, we know that the boomers are more discriminating than other generations have been," Eisner said. "Other generations have been willing to look at nonprofits and say, 'Well they're a nonprofit organization. We don't expect much.' But boomers will say, 'No, I want this to be a competent organization. If I'm not getting what I want, I'm going to walk.' " Fortunately, local organizations around the Madison-area do a good job of offering boomers worthwhile opportunities to volunteer. "Having volunteer opportunities both direct and referred that are substantive and satisfying is in our genetic code," said Ben Sprague-Klepzig, marketing director at United Way of Dane County. "We're not doing any specific outreach efforts different than we normally do. We reach out and we embrace all of our generational volunteers" And Martha Vukelich-Austin, president of the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools said intergenerational difference in her core of volunteers has yet to be an issue. Current programs offer many opportunities for her volunteer board members to be well engaged and active. "There's a trend to give more board training to allow board members to be connected to the organization," Vukelich-Austin said. "It also let's board members know that there is a commitment. That we support them as they support us." Though less prominent volunteer positions may not be in high demand in coming years, Vukelich-Austin said she hopes they can continue to attract welling helpers to stuff envelopes and administer other seemingly mundane tasks. "Those are the people that make the organization really hum. They're invaluable," she said. "It may not seem like very meaningful work but those are the tasks that make the organization work." James Edward Mills is a Madison freelance reporter. james@theoutdoorprofessional.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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