I Just Want To Help: Understanding the Problematic Roots of Volunteerism and Moving Forward With Compassion

The desire to help others can be a powerful motivation to volunteer, but when that desire is rooted in pity and paternalism, or a need to save someone seen as less fortunate, it can do more harm than good. Too often, organizations use language based in saviorism to recruit and motivate volunteers, especially volunteers coming from outside the community being served.

Jennifer Bennett, CVA from VolunteerMatch, along with Faiza Venzant, CVA from the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration, will lead a dynamic conversation exploring how the principles of white supremacy culture show up in our work leading volunteers and how we can disrupt them in order to ensure more equitable access to volunteerism.

Attendees will be encouraged to reflect on how they and their organizations currently recruit, motivate and deploy volunteers, and they will be introduced to the principles and characteristics of white supremacy culture and how they show up in volunteerism. They will also have the opportunity to investigate how volunteer engagement is currently limiting who is invited to volunteer, and how the intent to “do good” does not always create a positive impact. Attendees will leave with tools and language to move forward with compassion.