Which Type of Volunteer Are You?

By City Of Good  /
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Every charity needs volunteers, and these everyday heroes often make up the backbone of charities during the entire year.

Calling out to all volunteer managers: knowing the profile of these everyday heroes will often help your volunteer retention rate and even grow your volunteer base! As they say, happy volunteers = happy charity. After all, today is International Volunteer Day (IVD) and there is no better occasion to appreciate them for all their hard work throughout the year.

Hence, we present to you a definitive guide on how to identify the different types of volunteers, and ways to say a big THANK YOU to them:

#1. The #FOMO One

01 FOMO2

This volunteer is the one who has their CIP (now called Values in Action) hours fully and overly subscribed when they were in school. In their company, they are the ones organising the latest volunteering initiatives for their colleagues. They sign up for every activity and even know the volunteer managers’ plans of starting new ones. They are most likely found in every volunteer chat group available and has a Fear of Missing Out on new Volunteer opportunities. Whenever there is a new opportunity, you can find them there, catching up on all the latest buzz on charity trends and hustling.

How to thank them?

Always keep them engaged by sharing with them your charity’s initiatives and keeping them informed of the “newest” updates. Listen to them, let them share their insights and ideas on how to change the world with you; chances are that they would love to be of help to the charity as well.

#2. The Sampler

02 TheSampler

This volunteer has just begun their volunteering journey, and not decided on one particular organisation or cause to deepen their commitment yet. They are much like buffet-goers or speed-date participants, wanting to sample and try out a myriad of different causes and charities before settling down for The One.

How to thank them?

Thank them for starting their journey to give back with your organisation, and remind them that you were their First (charity) ? Give them some resources on how best to give back and help them understand the cause and your charity a little better!

#3. The Leader

03 TheLeader

The de facto volunteer leader, he or she is often given the role of helping the other volunteers to “check in” or mark their attendance using Giving.sg’s dashboard during volunteering events. To all volunteer managers: did you know Giving.sg has a dashboard view for volunteer leaders for volunteer leaders to help you manage volunteer attendance? #hacks.

You will also find the Leader helping to conduct volunteer briefings and guiding the newer ones how to interact with the beneficiaries and run events.

How to thank them?

At your organisation’s appreciation event, recognise their efforts publicly and thank them. These are the unsung heroes that wouldn’t mind a little loving. Take the chance to let them kick back, after organising all the different volunteer events, and admire the fruits of their labour.

#4. The People lover

04 PeopleLover

This person is who you would expect having the loudest laugh with the elderly at befriending events, or bonding with children, forming the biggest circle at a student care centre’s party. They thrive on building relationships with people at all walks within the charity, be it beneficiaries, volunteer managers or even the director. To them, the biggest satisfaction derived are the friendships built and deepened as a result of the volunteering opportunitie

How to thank them?

Make it a fun activity, and let your appreciation be people-centered! Have opportunities to let this group of people continue building relationships, be it ice breaker games or a meal out as a volunteer group together.

#5. The Collector

05 TheCollector2

This volunteer is always seen at every event. Their aim is to collect them all – to collect every volunteer t-shirt and souvenir that can’t be bought with money, but with their precious hours. They wear their many volunteer “finisher” tees with pride and gusto and will spend hours telling you about the different charities they have volunteered with.

How to thank them?

Give them a “limited edition” prize or appreciation token to thank them for finishing the year with your organisation, and emphasize that it’s one-of-a-kind of its own, just like this very volunteer.

Which volunteer are you? Take our Giving.sg quiz here and have fun with it!

Disclaimer: We’re just kidding!

This light-hearted article was written to celebrate all our volunteers and thank them.

All jokes aside, every volunteer is so important to us at Giving.sg, and we would like to wish YOU a very happy International Volunteers’ Day!