Commentary, resources & discussion re: nonprofits/ngos, communications, community engagement, volunteerism, effective humanitarian aid & development, ethics, women's empowerment & management ethics. Posts at least twice a month, usually on Tuesdays.
For all of this month, each week, I’m publishing a blog focused on working in international humanitarian affairs and community development. This is part three of that series.
I know that, for many people, their career, or their career dreams, of working internationally in humanitarian development, or even as a journalist, are on hold. In fact, I’ve recommended that people who are pursuing a career in international development to rethink those plans. But the world cannot function without international aid workers and without international journalists. And maybe everyone needs to have a reality check on what the work REALLY looks like.
I’ve been thinking of this for a while: what movies would I recommend to someone who wants to work in international humanitarian development, in foreign affairs, or in journalism abroad, to give them an idea of what conditions and challenges are like? Or what movies do I think represent what it’s like to work “in the field” internationally, as we say?
Below is my list, in the order the movies were released. Most are not uplifting. Most are quite dark and even depressing. None are idealizations of aid workers or journalists: the people featured are flawed and white saviorism is on full display in many of them (and often not in a kind way). But, to me, what they collectively do is let you know that “doing good” and living abroad in country’s in post conflict situations and experiencing instability and poverty is not as easy as you might think, and not everything you see on the TV news is to be believed.
Which are my absolute favorites? What if I could recommend only two? The Year of Living Dangerously and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
What would be your recommendation for films that are good representations of working abroad in humanitarian affairs or as a journalist – or even if they aren’t accurate, you enjoy them?
All of my blogs with career-related advice are here. What I have written lately may be in conflict with some of the things I’ve advised over the years. But I never saw this coming… Here are some highlights:
What I did in Afghanistan for the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, via the United Nations.
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
For all of this month, each week, I’m publishing a blog focused on working in international humanitarian affairs and community development. This is part two of that series.
Even in this climate of drastic cutbacks in foreign aid programs around the world, not only by the US government, many people want to work in humanitarian-related fields abroad. Many believe that such works means life-long employability, because they think international work is always perceived as a plus on a résumé.
I’m oh-so-proud of my work abroad, or my international work that I’ve been able to do while still in my home country, but my international work has not at all been the “wow” on my CV I thought it would be. In fact, sometimes, I think it has cost me some job interviews, and I am pretty sure it cost me at least two jobs I interviewed for. And the more I talk to others, the more I have realized that not all employers look favorably on work or volunteering abroad.
For years, I’ve gathered negative comments others have heard in job interviews with regard to their service abroad. Here’s a few that I think represent all that I’ve gathered. I’ve changed some comments slightly so that where they were said can’t be easily found with an online search.
I have been asked twice in interviews, almost with a scoff, “But why do you want to work HERE when you’ve done all this work abroad?” One of them followed up with, “Well, I just feel like if we hired you, you might run off at any moment to go back overseas.” Never mind that I had just bought a house – which I noted in both the interview and my cover letter.
I was giving a behavioral interview example using my time in the Peace Corps, and one of the panel interrupted me and told to instead pick an example from my “professional career”.
I had someone in an interview tell me it was a mistake to go off to Africa early in my career when I could be using my degree and learning the trade for the job I was interviewing for.
One interviewer just kept saying he feared I would be bored, because working at this local government agency would be COMPLETELY different than working abroad. I don’t think the interviewer had ever stepped out of his state, let alone the USA. And never mind that the work I would have been doing locally would have been almost identical to what I had done in other countries.
Two different interviewers implied I must not like the USA if I worked abroad. I wasn’t prepared to prove my patriotism in job interviews.
I have lots of advice for translating humanitarian work abroad such that it you present it in the same words as a federal, state, county or city job posting. But the reality is that, even if you were to follow that advice, you need to be prepared, if you are making the transition from international to local, that some folks don’t see how the work is oh-so-similar, and your work abroad may even make them suspicious of you, no matter how you phrase it. You may have to apply for far more jobs than you thought you would have to, to find hiring managers that see international work as an asset.
For sure, some regions are more friendly to international workers than others. In the USA, you are going to have a better reception from potential employers in the greater Washington DC and New York metropolitan areas, for instance, than you will in some other areas where there isn’t a large number of international agencies.
It’s such a shame that more local government agencies in particular don’t see international work as an asset among applicants. They are losing out on a tremendous amount of talent, ideas and experience.
All of my blogs with career-related advice are here. What I have written lately about working internationally may be in conflict with some of the things I’ve advised over the years. But I never saw this coming… Here are some highlights:
What I did in Afghanistan for the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, via the United Nations.
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
For all of this month, each week, I’m going to write a blog focused on working in international humanitarian affairs and community development. This is part one of that series.
If you’re a US citizen with the goal of working in international humanitarian affairs or community development, even disaster relief, in impoverished regions not in the USA, it’s time to pick a different career.
The US Presidential order withdrawing the USA from 66 international organizations, including many United Nations agencies, means US candidates won’t be considered for most international development jobs. When qualified applicants are identified for such jobs, hiring managers will then look at the nationalities of those applicants, per the funder’s preferences. And the USA isn’t funding.
I used to work for the United Nations, and I was on a fair share of hiring committees. In my department, I was often the person who went through the stack of applicants to pick only those who were absolutely qualified, because I was really good at it (I was amazed at how others couldn’t figure out how to rank people). But then someone else would go through that first round of finalists and remove a person or two specifically because of their nationality – a nationality that the government funding the position didn’t like. Or was at war with. And if there was a qualified applicant from the country funding the position, very often, that person got the job.
The current US Presidential administration has not only withdrawn financial support for international humanitarian work, the leader has said vile things about the people and leaders of dozens of other countries. This can result in targeted hostility toward someone from the USA even if they do not at ALL support the current administration – so many international organizations will just avoid any potential problems entirely and not consider job candidates from the USA.
Even if a new administration in 2029 starts reversing the disastrous policies of the current President and his staff, the damage that has been done now is long-term and will take MANY years to undo. Why should another country believe any plans of the USA? Better to partner with other countries. That means that, despite the fact that there will always be a need for international funding for community development, environmental protections, help for refugees, job development programs in underserved countries, etc., what jobs are available are, more often than not, closed to citizens of the USA, and I don’t see that changing for at least the next five years even if the current administration changes..
Studying international development is a wonderful experience, and I hate advising anyone to not do it. I have a Master’s Degree in international development management, and while it was difficult and stressful and consumed my life outside of work for three years, it also made me a much better professional in a thousand ways. It not only helped me in my work with international agencies, it also made me more effective in working for nonprofits in my own country, particularly small ones. It’s made me a better citizen of my local community as well as the global community – I really believe that. I applied for work with several government agencies here where I live in Oregon because I knew that my Master’s Degree, as well as my work experience in various development initiatives in various regions around the world, made me well-prepared for local government work – and, plus, I really wanted to do it. But I quickly found out that working abroad is not always looked on positively when looking for a local job – my next blog will be about that. So if you are thinking your international development degree will help you in other work – it might not (even though it should).
If you are in the USA< should you chance it and still pursue a career in international humanitarian development? Only if you have a very strong backup plan for if it doesn’t work out, and only if you are ready for the long haul in terms of actually getting into the field – like, 10 years from now.
Also, if you have a UN Association in your area, or an affiliate of the World Affairs Councils of America, join it, and go to their meetings. Come together with others in your own community that think globally. At the very least, you will know you aren’t alone.
And, finally: I hope I’m wrong. I really do. But I’m trying to be realistic, no matter how much it hurts my heart.
Some organizations want to evaluate ROI (return on investment) regarding volunteer engagement by comparing the cost to the organization for a particular volunteer activity (staff time to support the activity, materials, etc.) versus how much that volunteer activity brings in in terms of financial donations or revenue generation.
I don’t think that’s a good evaluation method, in part because you do NOT know, for sure, which volunteer activities have resulted in donations. For instance, there may be no way to prove that, as a result of a group of employees from the local Amazon warehouse volunteering at an event, the nonprofit that was supported received a donation from Amazon two months later. There may be no way to prove that, as a result of regularly seeing social media posts featuring photos of volunteers engaged in activities to support a nonprofit that a person decided to donate financially to that nonprofit.
If you use this matrix at your organization, let me know in the comments or contact me! Let me know how it worked out and what you had to change to make it work for your organization. And if you think there’s anything I should add, or clarify, also let me know!
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are refugees. They have fled dire situations in their home countries (countries that most of them did NOT want to leave) and they are now in a different country, either trying to figure out how to stay there or trying to get to somewhere else, often to join family or good friends. I can’t help them with much: I’m not a lawyer and have no legal training. But I can help with tracking down information they are looking for and debunking things they have heard (usually something about how easy it is to get into some South American country).
I have been pleasantly surprised and grateful regarding the web sites of a variety of countries for their clear information, in English, about exactly how someone can legally migrate to their country. Even tiny countries that aren’t at all wealthy often have very clear, up-to-date information on their web sites for anyone thinking of coming there under any circumstances. These web sites have been incredibly helpful in my efforts to help friends and acquaintances to get accurate information and to avoid scams.
The same CANNOT be said of the web sites of UNHCR , the United Nations agency that is supposed to be the leader in protecting refugees – people forced to flee conflict and persecution, as well as those denied a nationality. UNHCR web sites based in various countries all over the world are NOT focused on providing critically-needed, up-to-date information for refugees. And that is inexcusable.
UNHCR country web sites are often focused primarily on enticing donors rather than helping refugees access the critical information they need:
the information refugees would be looking for is either hard to find or not there at all,
many pages that are supposed to have information for refugees are horribly out-of-date,
the information for refugees that is there is usually is NOT the info refugees want most,
and the sites are so full of jargon I can’t understand the information and English is my first language!
An example of what I’m talking about: UNHCR Pakistan: this web site is NOT focused on refugees. I wish it was an exception, but it’s not. I have an Afghan colleague now in Pakistan trying to register as a refugee, but the UNHCR office is closed! There’s NOTHING on the web site saying it’s closed.
Each and every UNHCR web site in ANY country should have a link called “Help for Refugees” on the home page as prominent as any link to donate. That link should be on EVERY page and be as prominent as any link to donate.
And when someone clicks on that “help for refugees” link, they should be taken to a page that has this information (or links to such):
How and when to register with UNHCR in that country.
Notices about office closures.
UNHCR office hours.
Statement regarding who is considered a refugee.
Rights and obligations of asylum seekers in dealing with UNHCR.
A list of the first things someone should do upon arriving in that country as a refugee.
How to apply for refugee status in that country.
How to contact the UNHCR office in that country.
Where UNHCR offices are located in that country.
Where or how to find shelter in that country (if this information changes frequently, then tell refugees how to find the most up-to-date information themselves).
What NGOs are in the country that help refugees, or how to find them (NGOs that can help with education, legal matters, shelter, dealing with the police, etc.).
Information regarding working in that country.
How to avoid scams that target refugees.
Tips for staying safe (including for children, for women, how to avoid traffickers, etc.).
How to research rumors (and why it’s so important to do so).
Why requests for asylum take so long to process.
The dangers of lying or misrepresenting information to UNHCR or any immigration authorities.
A list of reliable news outlets.
UNHCR, you would reduce the amount of phone calls and visits to your offices if you made the aforementioned information available and kept it up to date on your individual country web sites. You would prevent at least some of the harm that refugees experience because they are targeted for crime and otherwise exploited. You would help stop harmful rumors before they get too widespread. And you would be fulfilling your mission!
Have you ever asked refugees themselves what information they need most?
Do better, UNHCR.
And for those who wonder why I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are refugees, or who desperately want to be such: it’s because I have worked for the UN and talk about that work, as well as other humanitarian-focused work, online in various online communities and via my own social media channels, and because I frequently write about refugee-related efforts:
The hype regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) is out of control, including regarding mission-based organizations. There are blogs, webinars, YouTube videos and more, all singing the praises of AI for nonprofits and NGOs. Various companies, nonprofits and consultants are falling over themselves to say that AI can do ANYTHING a nonprofit or NGO needs done: raise funds, manage volunteers, talk with clients, administer programs, manage all incoming calls, all with little or no human involvement.
Yet, these promoters are rarely specific. “You can use AI to research grants!” Okay, how? Tell me exactly what that looks like and how it’s different than just typing in keywords to an online search engine?
“You can use AI to screen volunteers!” Great. How? Tell me exactly what that looks like and how it’s different than just requiring certain fields in a volunteer application to be filled out or require a certain number of characters in that field? And is the goal to eliminate all human interaction until the volunteer shows up for the scheduled volunteering gig, because it’s that personal, human interaction that often seals the deal for a volunteer to show up at all.
So many of you are breathless about your use of AI, but you aren’t being specific about what that REALLY looks like. Specifics and obvious, real-world benefits are what lead to tech adoption.
Back in the 1990s, when the Internet started going mainstream, I started my own web site as a place to be specific about how the Internet could be used by nonprofit staff, specifically those responsible for outreach and those responsible for recruiting and engaging volunteers. Lots of makers of software and computers were making claims about what these tech tools could do for nonprofits, but they offered no specifics and no detailed guides, probably because they were talking in theory, not actual practice. As a result, a lot of nonprofits were dragging their feet about switching from index cards to track contacts to software that would manage clients and donors – they relished their personal relationships and saw tech eliminating something fundamental to their fundraising, outreach and program management success. A lot of nonprofits balked at the idea of creating a web site when they weren’t using any web site themselves: if a web site wasn’t the primary way they got info, why should they care? Of course, the reluctance of government and corporate donors to fund tech equipment, Internet subscriptions and training for staff also had something to do with many nonprofits not adopting computers and the Internet for so long.
I was one of the first people to start talking online and in workshops, in low-tech PLAIN language, about practical, real-world applications of online and computer tech for nonprofits. I could see the digital divide emerging between nonprofits that were adopting tech, especially online tools, and doing so much more with less, and those that still hoped the Internet was the CB Radio of the 1990s. But those latter nonprofits were providing critical services, and I did not want to see them die due to lack of understanding about emerging tech tools. In my work, I emphasized not only the practical applications and the specifics of tech use, but also that I would never propose the Internet or software as tools to replace humans; I always emphasized the application of tech tools with the goal of increasing meaningful human interactions, to increase support and help for humans, both clients and volunteers, and to free up time for staff so that they could spend more time in real-time work with clients, donors, the press, potential partners, other staff, etc.
In all of this work, I also never stopped emphasizing the human aspect: when I talked about online mentoring, I noted that success was NEVER about the tech tools, but about the HUMANS involved and how well they were trained and supported.
As a result of my approach, via my web site and via workshops, I regularly got comments like, “This is the first time I’ve ever understood why I should care about the Internet at my job” and “I finally know what questions to ask software salespeople.”
To all of you promoting AI for nonprofits: you have to be as specific as I was. For instance, be clear about why using AI would be preferable to just a web search on Google or Duck Duck Go. In fact, in my opnion: it’s not AT ALL preferable, and if you use AI to make suggestions about small-budget fundraising events for an animal shelter, you should still go to the search engine of your choice and look for fundraising events for an animal shelter, because you will find even more ideas. YOU should know the full range out there, and no AI tool provides that.
And also to all of you promoting AI for nonprofits: you need to be clear in warning nonprofits NEVER to take an AI-produced product, whether it’s a graphic, a press release or a social media strategy, and use it as is. AI makes mistakes (link goes to one that was very personal for me and would have been traumatizing). AI hallucinates and FREQUENTLY puts incorrect info into the written text it produces. AI not only claimed Ananda Valenzuela was speaking at an upcoming conference, it doubled-down when she tried to correct it. AI also doesn’t adhere to standards of accessible or even GOOD design: you can use an AI tool like Canva to produce your event flyer, but a HUMAN still has to make sure it adheres to standards of good design (like appropriate color contrast).
One final note to all of you promoting AI to nonprofits: the energy needs of AI are threatening to overwhelm the power grid. They are increasing our need for electricity at a time when we need to be DECREASING that need and RAISING energy prices for regular folks. You had better acknowledge this, full disclosure, when talking to nonprofits, many of whom are trying to adopt greener ways of doing business (and some of whom are focused on addressing global climate change specifically).
Yes, I use AI. One cannot use anything is on a network of any kind, or even a stand alone new computer, without using some form of AI. My spell checker and grammar checker tool is considered an AI tool, because, supposedly, this tool “learns” from me. I use Canva sometimes. I was once charged with writing a poem that might be a part of a fundraising campaign, and after I wrote my poem, I then asked AI to write a poem, giving it the same parameters that I was given, just to see how it compared. The AI poem actually wasn’t horrible. Mine was better, of course, but if all I had had to work with was that AI poem, with some tweaking, it would have been okay. But just okay. But I never trust the AI summary at the top of an online search – I always go looking for the source. WIkipedia remains a far superior resource for explanations and summaries, IMO.
Think of AI-produced material as something that a new employee from the corporate world or volunteer fresh out of high school, someone who might be able to use the latest computer tech to play video games and watch TikTok videos but does not understand that not everyone has the latest tech tools, not everyone has great eyesight, not everyone uses their hands to navigate web pages, not everyone speaks English as a first language, not everyone understands your soon-to-be dated jargon, etc. You are always going to have to correct and refine the material AI produces, just like you would that new employee or volunteer.
Why am I not taking up the challenge myself and researching and compiling real-world, practical examples of specific ways nonprofits and NGOs are using AI?
I do not have the finances to do yet another mostly-unfunded project. I was paid when I managed the Virtual Volunteering Project. I have not been paid for any of the research and resources I’ve produced for my own web site, nor for the Virtual Volunteering Guidebook (when it comes to the book, which I paid to publish, I barely broke even).
I think it should be NOT ME. It’s overdue for someone else to take up this let’s-talk-plain-language-about-tech challenge.
I am much older now and would like to focus on other things.
I really hope someone out there is reading this and will take up the challenge.
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
Within one week, I saw three different job announcements at three different mid-size or large nonprofits that, altogether, were what I did part-time at a small nonprofit for the last three years. And much of the activities in each of these roles are, altogether, what I have done at nonprofits for the last thirty years.
What each job listed for qualifications was so specific that the organizations are going to end up excluding MANY qualified people – and, probably, the best person for the job. Despite my extensive professional background, despite being expertly qualified for some positions, I don’t even bother applying because so many people don’t see a journalism degree as something desirable now.
When your small or medium-sized nonprofit is looking for someone to be a videographer or photographer, who you are going to pay a salary FAR below the market rate, what you need from job candidates is work portfolios, not a degree in videography or photography. Same for a web designer or a graphic designer or a communications manager and many other positions. And for education, what you may need most is graduation from a recent certificate program, not a full-fledged BA. You need people who can do the job, and since you cannot afford to pay people with the training and experience you are demanding, you need to adjust your expectations.
There’s a better way to attract and screen candidates for roles where the person will produce communications pieces – and will do the job you need done:
(1) Ask applicants to note in their résumés or applications where (in what professional and volunteer positions) they used the tools or produced the projects or demonstrated the skills you are asking for. If your job involves setting up press conferences, or designing web sites, or managing web sites, or designing brochures, or distributing brochures, etc., ask applicants to note in their résumés or applications where they have experience doing that.
(2) Note that you will be asking later for online portfolios from the top 10 candidates, what you will want in those portfolios, and approximately how many weeks you will contact the top 10 candidates to ask for those portfolios. Note how many people you will choose to interview from those top 10 candidates and approximately when those interviews will take place. If someone doesn’t already have the material for a portfolio, they aren’t going to apply – and if they do, they now know they need to make sure their portfolio is full of fantastic examples of their work.
And if you are going to demand that the person use certain specific software – Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, InDesign, Final Cut Pro, etc. – then you had better say what YOU are going to provide the selected candidate. What kind of laptop or desk top are you going to provide? Running what software? What kind of camera are you going to provide? Do you have a quiet room for creatives to create and edit? Are you committed to web accessibility and will give your web designer the tools needed to make that happen?
Be flexible in asking for a degree. I know amazing photographers with English degrees. I know very talented videographers with music degrees. I know kick-ass web designers with philosophy degrees.
And, finally: what you see as an entry-level job may be, particularly for seasoned professional in their 50s or 60s, a way to work for a few more years, work at a pace that is better suited to their life now than the senior and executive positions they held in the past, and apply a vast amount of skills and experience that your organization may be in much more need of than you might think. If you are thinking, “Oh, but what about health problems they might have?”, then also consider that it’s likely that candidates in their 50s or 60s aren’t starting families in the next few years, aren’t going to quit to pursue other, better job opportunities, and aren’t going to move across country to get married. And they are no more likely to have home-care obligations than a 30 something.
If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
Upon the election of Donald Trump to a second presidency, many nonprofits became wary about how they talk about their work, even their mission statement. Even before the election, many nonprofits rushed to remove any mention of the phrase diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI, or ANY of those words on their own, from their web sites. Now, as the Trump administration threatens to revoke tax-exempt status from nonprofits supporting racial justice efforts, it’s made it further difficult for many nonprofits to communicate at all about their work. This article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy focuses on specific nonprofits who are having to significantly alter their messaging – or put a pause on public communications altogether (note that you must register on the site to read it, but registraiton is free).
This is an issue I’ve been researching, talking about and training about long before the current presidency. Because this campaign against nonprofits has been a long time coming.
I first wrote about the political right’s desire to undermine the credibility and support for nonprofit organizations in 2011, in my blog Could your organization be deceived by GOTCHA media?, where I showed examples of how any cause can become politicized, and any organization can become a political target. My favorite example of this is the successful and horrifying elimination of the wonderful Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), per right-wing misinformation via doctored videos. Now, there’s a new example: a selectively filmed and edited film about childcare centers in Minnesota run by Somali immigrants that have received federal funding has caused a firestorm in the media, implying that these childcare centers, and Somali immigrants were misappropriating millions of dollars. What’s less well known is that these efforts are being funded by GOP Megadonor Leonard Leo. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families conducted compliance checks on nine child care centers embroiled in controversy and found that the centers were “operating as expected.”
I hope your nonprofit won’t back off of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. I hope your nonprofit won’t alter its mission statement. I do hope your nonprofit will:
Talk to your board of directors, staff and lead volunteers regularly, repeatedly, about why your nonprofit exists, why it does what it does, and why it has the values or commitments it does. Make sure they know how to talk about all of that from a place of confidence.
If this hasn’t been on a staff agenda or a board meeting agenda yet, then get it on there ASAP. If you had a meeting about it last year, you’re overdue to have one this year. Get busy.
Instead, r/Volunteerism is a place to discuss volunteerism philosophies, ethics &, debates, discuss support for volunteers & all aspects of volunteer engagement/management.
Want to recommend your book or blog on volunteer management? Go for it! Want to promote volunteerism – as in “I think volunteerism is necessary for a prosperous society”? Yes. Want to criticize volunteerism, as in “I think volunteerism is a scam and exists primarily so governments and corporations don’t have to pay people for necessary work and here’s why I think that…”? Yes. Testimonials regarding volunteer experience are also welcomed on r/Volunteerism, but not for the primary purpose of recruiting volunteers for one organization.
NO RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS &
NO “WHERE DO I FIND VOLUNTEERING”.
Reddit4Good is a list I made more than 10 years ago and have updated regularly, of subreddits focused on some aspect of volunteerism, community service, philanthropy or doing good for a cause. It includes a list of places on reddit that allow you to recruit volunteers or to ask “Where can I volunteer?” As you will see when you look at it, there are PLENTY of places to on Reddit to recruit volunteers or ask where to find volunteering.
But there is – or was – no where on Reddit that has a focus like r/Volunteerism. And there needs to be.
You may recall that, for many years, I moderated another subreddit, r/volunteer, and that I rebuilt that subreddit over more than a decade into one of the most popular online communities on Reddit. I noted in this blog all of the effort I undertook to turn the community into something of value, particularly for young people who wanted to volunteer and, no matter how many volunteer matching platforms and apps get launched, still need a great deal of guidance about volunteering. I think that via that online community I’ve finally gotten through in a big way to lots more people regarding why trying to be a volunteer can be so hard (because most organizations have zero volunteer management training, don’t have a person dedicated to volunteer engagement, and can’t get funding for such because foundations and corporations refuse to fund “overhead”). But, sadly, a small, angry, vocal group of new members on that subreddit wanted the community to have minimal rules and minimal rules enforcement – never mind that it was that strict moderation that vastly improved the quality of the content over the years and made the subreddit so popular. I wrote why I decided to walk away as moderator from that subreddit without a fight. And I have no regrets that I quit a project that I had made so, so popular.
But I am still on Reddit. Reddit is MUCH more than one community. After having left the other subreddit for about two months, I went back to have a look at how things were going. And it was so sad: the same “where do I volunteer” posts over and over and over. Unvetted organizations with questionable credentials recruiting international “volunteers.” And worst of all: no more posts or debates about volunteerism ethics, voluntourism ethics, volunteerism trends, volunteer management policies and tools, safety, and on and on. It’s now a subreddit just like the more than 20 others that are focused somehow on volunteering – nothing special about it all, and very little of value.
Well, it’s now just like all those other subreddits except one: a silent group called r/Volunteerism. I had put this subreddit on an early version of Reddit4Good, and had described it as an “anything goes” subreddit, just like most other volunteerism-related groups. And then I didn’t look at it for years. When I did, as 2025 ended, I realized that it hadn’t had a new post in seven years and that it didn’t have a moderator listed. After a week of thinking about it, I followed the steps to claim the subreddit and, voilá, the group is mine. Well, moderation is mine. It belongs to Reddit. But I claimed it for one specific purpose: to restore a place on Reddit to discuss volunteerism beyond the FAQs.
Another reason I wanted there to be a place to discuss volunteerism, not just “Where do I volunteer?”: I have been hired three times as a consultant, twice with a mega large, well known social media company, because of my participation on Reddit, specifically because of how I moderated and facilitated r/volunteer. Not going to lie: I would love for it to happen again.
And so, all of you volunteer management researchers and consultants out there, all you leaders of volunteer management associations, all you program managers at the volunteerism-promoting organizations like Points of Light and the Corporation for National Service, here is your chance at redemption. You ignored r/volunteer, probably the largest community focused on volunteering, for years, and now I’m not sure your posts would be welcomed there, given its new focus. But you could post your press releases and event announcements and conference results to r/Volunteerism. Not much of an audience there now, but give me time… I’m awesome at growing Reddit audiences.
Nonprofits produce communications products, online and in print, from web pages to social media to brochures. Whether that product is designed by a professional designer or is designed by someone who has never had a design class, there are certain qualities those products MUST have. And while there are a plethora of online resources that provide excellent guidance on accessibility and usability for online products, like web pages and apps, there is a lack of guidance for how to make print products and graphics associated with social media relevant / necessary, complete, informative, legible for a majority of viewers / readers and understandable for a majority of the target audience.
This new page on my web site provides simple, easy-to-understand guidance for both designers and those who have the final say on something being published.
And before I get the comment – yes, it’s pretty clear from the simple, almost primitive design of my web site that I’m not a professional designer. But when you work in communications for nonprofits, you often have to design flyers, posters, brochures, web sites, etc. My designs are plain and blocky. My designs won’t win any design awards. However, my designs adhere to all of the aforementioned suggested qualities, and that means they work: I am amazing at recruiting volunteers, at getting attendance to an event, at getting participation in a program, at getting traffic on a web site, and on and on.
Even if you are NOT a professional designer, you know what your nonprofit needs. You know your audience, which likely includes seniors and people over 40 who do not like to be called seniors but also can’t read 9 point fonts.
If you have benefited from this resource, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
