Citizenship 2.0 – Harmonizing the Next Generation of Volunteers

Today, many active community leaders argue that no single sector – public, private or nonprofit – is capable of solving our modern day challenges on its own. A new dialogue is needed, and a more powerful focus on citizen involvement is required to collectively address these issues. Anil Patel provocatively explores the role that volunteerism plays in the context of the ‘greater good’. A newly coined concept of ‘Citizenship 2.0’ explores a more holistic approach to the challenges and opportunities relating to civic responsibility through the lens of volunteerism.

I began my journey full of passion and energy to achieve a goal, but as the Framework Foundation’s Timeraiser went from dream to reality, I began to feel like television icon, Captain James T. Kirk, of the famous 60s sci-fi show, Star Trek. Like Kirk, I was setting out on a challenging mission, with a faithful crew aboard my ship, traveling through vast and endless space toward a faraway place. And like Kirk and crew, we were driven mainly by emotional energy and a deep desire to make a difference in the world.

Though the Timeraiser has been incredibly successful – more than 20,000 volunteer hours have been contributed to the not-for-profit sector by Timeraiser participants – the emotional stress of the mission has been at times overwhelming. I often felt we were going where no one had gone before, and all without a map of the galaxy. When I recently expressed my feelings to a mentor, she said: “If being Captain Kirk isn’t working, be more like Mr. Spock.”

The conversation sparked a new way of thinking about my mission to reinvigorate volunteerism in Canada. By applying Spock’s cold, hard logic, instead of being drawn into my instinct to change the world through pure passion, things started to come together. So with this new clear-eyed outlook, I began to see recurring patterns and a set of Five Good Ideas began to emerge.

There are roughly six million 20-30 year olds living in Canada’s major city centres; 33% or 1/3 are actively involved in nonprofit organizations. What is the potential if we try to help more young people find the connections to get more involved in their community? If we increase their participation rate by 5-10%, we can generate over the course of their lifetime 9.65 billion volunteer hours by the time these young people retire from the workforce.

Imagine planning for your civic involvement the same that way that you plan for retirement. Imagine if you could measure your contributions to your community the same way you can calculate your RRSP contributions. Imagine if you could watch it grow.

In its broadest term ‘Civic Footprint’ is the impact the combination of your time and money has to causes and communities that are important to you. The bigger the footprint, the more impact you will have.

We can marry the same logic that goes into financial planning, monthly contributions and periodic adjustments to calculate a Canadian’s civic involvement potential.

The table below approximates one example, Rasha’s Civic Footprint. There are a total of four time horizon check points. Spanning 45 years from the starting point of age of 20 until retirement at 65 years old (see column A), Column B displays the amount of time each year that Rasha contributes her time to causes. Over the 45 year time span, Rasha is able to contribute 6,625 hours to the community at a value of $367,500 (column D). This value is determined by multiplying the hourly rate of her annual salary by the average number of volunteer hours she contributes annually. Column E is the average value of charitable gifts she gives annually. Over the span of 45 years, Rasha’s personal financial contributions reach $171,500 (see column F). Adding the two values together (Time and $), her Civic Footprint is $539,000.

An important observation drawn from this calculation is the ratio between the value of time and money at each interval. Over the 45 year period, the value of her Time is double the value of her $ contribution (ratio of 2 to 1). Additionally, and equally important, this ratio decreases as Rasha gets older. The implication is that her time is of more value earlier in her work career than it is later.

Focus on Long Term Engagement

Long term engagement of volunteers is essential in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations. Promoting long-term engagement helps young Canadians think through the type of impression that would like to leave with the communities that are important to them.

Civic Footprint – It has always been about time and money; donors or volunteers is the wrong lens

For young adults who are just entering the workforce, the contribution of time to the nonprofit sector is tenfold that of the money they are able to contribute. Therefore the civic footprint of young volunteers is huge! Often organizations place too much emphasis on fundraising and do not put enough time, attention and energy into recruiting and engaging volunteers. Both time and money can assist in planning for long-term involvement in the community and have a lasting impact.

Citizenship 2.0

Citizenship 2.0 is derived from Web 2.0. It is an interconnected core set of principles to maximize a citizens’ civic footprint. Citizenship 2.0 is about citizens working collaboratively to solve society’s problems. Retooling the language around civic engagement is needed. The old notion of a donor giving money and a volunteer giving time as a separate idea is changing. Donors/volunteers are interconnected.

Citizen-First Organizations

If it can be measured, it can be managed: capture “the music” citizens make in nonprofits. First and foremost, think of your paid/unpaid human resources in your organization as your core work stems from it. For example, you fundraise based on the type of mobilization you need to accomplish your organization’s mission. This mobilization can be paid staff or citizens who want to contribute their networks, time and energy. People want to get involved and help out in their community, however there is a perception that there is not enough money to hire all the people to accomplish the goals of the organization. This warrants a reorganization of your human resources structure so it can harmonize people who are coming in and out of the organization on a full-time basis or just for a day of work. (see A People Lens, Colleen Kelly, Volunteer Vancouver, 2006).

If I had $15 million dollars…

Ideally resources should be directed to help nonprofits ‘play’ like an orchestra – where all the instruments/staff are playing/working towards one goal. It is important to assess if the addition of a staff member makes the organization more or less able to engage citizens. We often know the financial implication but neglect examining the human resource side. Nonprofit organizations must be more citizen-friendly and not less. The sector is doing a lot of good work however it often comes at the expense of its staff/volunteers.

Five Good Resources

• From Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Jim Collins, Harper Collins, 2005
• Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Edward O. Wilson, Vintage, reprint 1999
• A People Lens, Colleen Kelly, Volunteer Vancouver, 2006
• History of Progress, Ronald Wright, House of Anansi Press, 2005
• Wired Magazine