Volunteerism

The Express-Times has an article on the state of local Lions Clubs, which speaks to volunteerism today (read the article here).

The article notes the recent dissolution of the Bushkill Lion's Clubs and the decrease in membership at the Nazareth, Easton, and Palmer Lions' Clubs.

One person in the article believed the decline was due to selfishness on the part of younger people, another noted that corporate support of employees in service has declined, and a third indicated it was simply a matter of people not having enough time.

Time

There is no question time is a factor. We have a large number of people who commute to work an hour or more, which probably wasn't the case twenty to thirty years ago when service groups had record numbers.

People are also expected to work more hours than they did previously, or at least the workforce is expected to do more with less people, which results in individuals working more hours and often catching up via email and mobile phone outside traditional work hours.

Family

This could be coupled with time, but many families have both spouses working and those with children have additional activities, most of which require some element of volunteerism or at least travel. Youth leagues often have multiple practices per week and competitions. Parents are asked to volunteer as coaches, work the refreshment stand, keep score, and do everything else it takes to run a league. Probably no different than in the past, except that so many more kids are involved and there are so many more options than there once were.

Competing Interests

I don't have statistics to support this, but it does seem there is a foundation or support group for just about everything these days. Each one is supported by volunteers and each one is asking for help - both in time and money. Individuals can only support so many groups and organizations at any given time and while there are many good ones out there, you simply can't give and support them all.

Geography

I do believe companies are supportive of volunteerism on a local level, but at the same time they demand more of their employees in regard to production. So if a person is volunteering for a cause, such as Cancer, they are probably more likely to get support than they are their local lions club which is fifty miles away and in another state.

Selfishness

I don't believe selfishness is the reason. I do think these groups and organizations need to adapt. The article did note that some of the Lions' groups are looking at the web and creating cyber-clubs. I know personally, that I'd prefer helping a group when it is most convenient to me and not at a prescribed date and time to attend a meeting. There are so many tools available online today for these groups to conduct work that there probably are opportunities that are not being taken advantage of.

In my resolution post (read it here) I made a plea for people who belong to groups and organizations to let us know (by emailing me or making posts on this site) what is happening, what events are being planned, what help is needed, and when and where the event will take place as well as a post-report on how it went. Awareness is critical. Most of these groups are operating in the same way they did in the 50s and 60s and the social environment has changed. People communicate electronically and can work this type of communication into their hectic schedules because they can do so when it is most convenient for them.

This challenge is not unique to our local Lions' Clubs, it is a challenge for all associations. For associations to survive, they need to have a clearly understood value, they need to communicate that value, and they need to adapt their operations to their volunteers (or prospective ones).