Well, in my case, I’ve been involved in them, for most of my life.
I won’t go into detail, as that is sort of the way we work. We don’t really talk about our work at the level of press, radio, and film.
Otherwise, finding volunteer opportunities is usually fairly straightforward. Find a cause that personally motivates you, and look for organizations in that context.
The whole thing about “volunteer,” though, is that it is synonymous with “unpaid,” and that’s a dirty word, with this crowd.
Also, working with these types of orgs can be maddening.
When there’s no money to be made, ego becomes the currency, so status games abound.
And, when people don’t pay for something, they often treat it like crap.
That means that we have to find our own motivation, and have a thick skin. If we are doing something that we truly believe in, then it makes it worthwhile. If we aren’t motivated by the cause, it can be rather demoralizing.
In my case, I stay focused on the people that my work helps.
A lot less, these days, than I used to be, but I get around (unless “traveling man” is shortcode for a specific organization, in which case, I probably am not).
I won’t go into detail, as that is sort of the way we work. We don’t really talk about our work at the level of press, radio, and film.
Otherwise, finding volunteer opportunities is usually fairly straightforward. Find a cause that personally motivates you, and look for organizations in that context.
The whole thing about “volunteer,” though, is that it is synonymous with “unpaid,” and that’s a dirty word, with this crowd.
Also, working with these types of orgs can be maddening.
When there’s no money to be made, ego becomes the currency, so status games abound.
And, when people don’t pay for something, they often treat it like crap.
That means that we have to find our own motivation, and have a thick skin. If we are doing something that we truly believe in, then it makes it worthwhile. If we aren’t motivated by the cause, it can be rather demoralizing.
In my case, I stay focused on the people that my work helps.