Volunteers are Central

Nonprofits need volunteers, let's not forgot that

Photo: Laura, smiling and standing in front of a Moisture Festival sign wearing a rainbow boa while volunteering.

We should all volunteer. There are so many reasons to do so. While at NAWA around late 2021, I wrote this:

Volunteering is good for your health

We are all struggling right now. Pandemic effects range from serious mental health issues to general malaise and low energy. What can help us shake free of the numbness and get us out in the world? Volunteering in the community is one way to invigorate ourselves, affirm our humanity, and improve our mental and physical health.

There is the best sort of shadow economy going on in communities across Washington—about one-third of Washingtonians are volunteering, donating time and effort valued at $5 billion per year! It’s a big and diverse movement to care for our neighbors, help our children succeed, honor our elders, and steward our parks. No matter what your interests and skills, there is a place for you in this movement. Joining will provide a sense of purpose and belonging.

Volunteers are needed right now. Nonprofits are working hard to help communities recover—providing “bread and roses” to individuals and families who have been through a great deal. Demand for assistance is up, while the number of volunteers is still down. Your local food bank, tutoring program, PTA, environmental stewardship project, or community theater would love to hear from you. Now is the time to boost the health of yourself and your community by stepping forward to volunteer.

In 2025, Volunteering still has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Jan Masaoka just wrote a great article for Nonprofit Quarterly titled Why Are We Ignoring One-Sixth of the Nonprofit Workforce? Jan has a talent for metaphors, and likens our neglect of volunteers to the way that we ignored the important pollinator role of bees until bee populations began to collapse. I am old enough to remember when the nonprofit sector was commonly called the voluntary sector, and I share her belief that volunteers are central to nonprofits’ health.

Society overall does not seem to value and promote civic engagement and volunteerism in the same way it did when I was a young adult. Why? I think there are some trends that have contributed to this:

· The emphasis on self-care. Self-care rhetoric is primarily about resting, enjoying a hobby, or other self-focused pursuits. Could these activities be crowding out volunteering?

· As Jan also notes, nonprofit staff are accustomed to being devalued as well and may assert their value and professionalism by differentiating what they do from volunteers.

Either/or thinking is the enemy here. Self-care is truly important but should complement and not substitute for community care. Nonprofit staff are skilled professionals, but there are important roles for both paid staff and volunteers in most nonprofit organizations.

All of us are facing difficult news and I’ve heard from so many people wishing that they “knew what to do.” I ran into a friend who shared that they were feeling powerless in the fact of current events and then began buying groceries for an elderly neighbor who was unable to go to the store. This weekly act of service has clearly been a balm to their soul at a difficult time. The humanity of volunteering and connecting with others is very much needed—let’s all do it. And nonprofits, don’t forget about the value volunteers can bring to our work.