Hello, welcome to my new blog, All Willing Hands. This is a space where I will muse poetic about volunteers, the concept of volunteerism, and my thoughts on the work of managing volunteers.
My name is J and I work as a volunteer administrator at a science museum in the beautiful town of Portland, Oregon. Those of you who are familiar with museums in Portland will no doubt know of which one I speak. I have worked there for barely a year as of today. Before this I worked in the volunteer department at an art museum in downtown Portland. During both of these jobs (and currently) I also help with the volunteer needs of a historic cemetery. I have been involved in volunteer management since April of 2006.
As of the writing of this post I have been managing volunteers for thirteen years. I like to think that it is a profession I do well but in truth am still learning and I strive to improve my skills. I have made mistakes and I have had successes and I have lots of thoughts on how to best work with unpaid staff. The purpose of this blog is to work out some of those ideas while I exercise my writing muscles. I can only hope that it might be of some use to others who take on the job of juggling volunteers.
So what does this mean, all willing hands? For me it is a summation of a personal philosophy on volunteering and volunteer management. It is about honoring peoples’ desire to be helpful and pitch in on a project or idea. It is about recognizing that everyone can take ownership of a better world by improving their own little corner of it. The philosophy of all willing hands believes that the benefits of collective effort go beyond the task at hand and that each person has unique gifts that they bring to the proverbial table.
Ultimately all willing hands is about the redemptive qualities of volunteerism and that, no matter what mistakes may have been made in the past, a person can come to a more harmonious relationship with themselves and the rest of the world by giving their time and effort to an idea that improves the community.
And as idealist as all that sounds I imagine I’ll get into some of the nitty-gritty logistical stuff as well. I am reluctant to put any kind of labels on what this site will be. I am going to keep writing as my fancy strikes me. I’ll talk about my challenges and my triumphs in my own work with volunteers as well as ideas and concepts I come across.
I suspect that over time I’ll grow and some of my ideas will change and evolve. I’ll share that with you. Let’s explore this crazy chaotic job called volunteer administration. At all times feel free to send me your questions or insights. Even though I work with lots of people my tendency is to be introverted and solitary but if you call to me I will answer.
I don’t know what this blog will be but…
All Willing Hands 