The voluntary commitment shown by lots of people enables society to work effectively. Many organisations today nevertheless struggle to find volunteers. This is often attributed to demographics and an increasingly individualistic outlook: in other words, there are fewer young people and they now have greater opportunity to structure their lives in line with their own ideals.
“Even if that were true, recriminations are not going to make people start volunteering,” points out Jakub Samochowiec, Senior Researcher at the GDI. He carried out a case study to explore “how structures can be made appealing to people.” Four organisations that successfully support occasional and non-binding volunteering were analysed:
- Critical Mass – a global movement of cyclists
- Gärngschee – an initiative supporting people living in poverty
- Haus pour Bienne – a cultural and educational centre
- OpenStreetMap – an open source community producing maps that are free to access and use
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Dr. Jakub Samochowiec is a senior researcher and speaker at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. He explores societal and technological developments and their interplay. He is particularly interested in the stories we tell about the future and the underlying views of humanity and power dynamics. |
Low-threshold entry and easy way of starting new projects
The common factor shared by all the organisations analysed is that they are very easy to join without any hurdles. At Critical Mass, for example, anyone can turn up at the designated meeting point on the last Friday of the month with a bike and ride with the group. No registration is required. At ‘Haus pour Bienne’, all programmes are open to everyone, free of charge and do not require registration. Organising a small event yourself or launching your own programme is also very straightforward. ‘Gärngschee’ allows anyone in the Facebook group to put unwanted items up for collection - free of charge and for people living in poverty.
All four organisations also make it easy for people to take on greater responsibility. A key feature in Samochowiec’s view is: “This is not just achieved through integration into existing structures, but also by launching new projects. The ‘parent project’ sets out a collective mission, predefined etiquette and values as well as the opportunity for mutual dialogue - like in an ecosystem where everyone finds their own niche.”
Two examples of this flexible approach:
- At ‘Gärngschee’, members came up with the idea of putting together school starter kits, which was openly discussed and then simply trialled.
- ‘Critical Mass’ made an off-the-cuff decision to hold a joint bicycle repair workshop the day before an event.
Generally speaking, no agreement is required to launch new projects. “People simply vote with their feet,” explains study director Samochowiec: “If the new project is not appealing enough to other members, they simply don’t participate.” This means the positive spirit of volunteering is maintained far beyond the point of entry.
Self-check guide
The complete ‘Hier und Jetzt Engagiert’ (Volunteering Here and Now) study commissioned by the Migros Culture Percentage is now available to download free of charge at gdi.ch/en/publications/studies (German only). It also contains a guide to enable organisations to carry out a self-check:
- How do we get people to start volunteering?
- How do we foster relationships?
- What opportunity do we provide for taking on greater commitment?