Mentoring and Volunteering

Volunteer, internship, apprenticeship…what is the difference?

This section by Sarah Wu

These words are used quite loosely and often interchangeably, but what is the difference and how can you present the experience you are offering or looking to participate in in the correct way? Here are the definitions and how you can create a program that will suit your needs and the needs of the participant.

Volunteer: This is an altruistic activity in which a person is working without a financial honorarium. They often work a set number of hours on focused or variable jobs for a limited amount of time. Volunteers can range in experience level, from those seeking to gain experience that have little to none in the field they are volunteering in, or those who are highly experienced who offer their services in times of or to communities in need because they believe in the mission of the project. Volunteers work either for free or pay to work when amenities are provided.

Intern: An intern is a student or at entry level in their profession who are seeking work experience for professional development, résumé building, networking and potential employment. They work either for free or for a minimal living stipend. Interns do not pay to work. Internships are often required by a college or university to graduate from their program.

Apprentice: An apprentice is learning a trade from a skilled person in their field of interest. Apprentices either pay for the learning experience from their mentor, they trade for labor or they receive a small living stipend. Various amenities can be offered by the mentor in the form of housing, meals, etc. Apprenticeships often replace university or college level training, used as a means of vocational training, with the hopes to become employed or become a member of a professional guild or union.

Voluntourist: These people pay a program fee to an organization to travel and perform various volunteer tasks, such as teaching, building, public health outreach or conservation work. Created as an alternative to tourism, there is an intended mutually beneficial relationship between the one “touring” and the “toured.”

What about WWOOFing?

Perhaps you have been a WWOOFer or maybe you get requests to accept WWOOFers. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms and is a global network of workers and farms/projects who are seeking an energy exchange that does not allow for any financial exchange. There are other organizations to work through as well, such as Organic Volunteers, Workaway, and HelpX, but mostly people just call it all “woofing.”

“WWOOFers” are asked to work a certain number of hours daily, and time commitments vary from a few days to a few weeks. Members, both those volunteering and those hosting, pay annual dues for use of the network and website for each country the volunteer is interested in working in, with prices ranging from $0-$75 USD. 

This has benefits depending on what you are willing to do as a volunteer and what you are willing to offer as a host. If you are entering your harvest season and need extra hands, WWOOFers can be great, get them doing busy work. If the project needs a bit more skill and attention, there is no commitment other than the word of the volunteer that they will be present to help. They can flake on you and from experience, I can say they do. 

​This is the reason why many farms have switched to asking for volunteer tuitions because they are guaranteed a monetary exchange for their time/energy in hosting a volunteer. Due to the current capitalist paradigm we live in, paying for something adds a kind of value that typically warrants commitment. I have found that in Central America, people rarely accept WWOOFers, it seems to be something European projects gravitate toward.

We’re creating a space like WWOOF, but for women, in our new community forum.

Segment 1 Intro Volunteering:Mentoring SWu HD

​Volunteering vs. Voluntourism

This module focuses on residential volunteering, which is often in a different country, but of course volunteering can be somewhere local and range from occasional or one-off help to a regular weekly commitment.  

A key difference between “voluntourism” and volunteering in your own community is that local volunteers would not expect to pay for their involvement. The costs associated with having volunteers may be covered by fundraising, and it’s worth noting that many funding bodies recognise the value of volunteers and count volunteer hours as match funding. This means that funding can be used to pay for volunteers travel costs for getting to the site or venue which can open up volunteering to those who be excluded because they would not be able to afford it.

​Local volunteers are of course part of the local community and often know it well. They may have expertise your organisation can benefit from, or their motivation may be to learn a skill that can help them find paid work. Both are valuable in developing links with the community.

Because volunteering locally can be long term, creating a culture within the organisation that is based on good communication is important.

Segment 2 Voluntourism SWu HD

​Volunteering with children

Some people will request to, or maybe you would like to, volunteer with children. This can be an enriching experience for both the host and for the family, though there are things to consider before accepting children on the farm. The first is the age of the child. Any child that is in diapers will be taking time away from the parent’s ability to volunteer.

Children between 5 and 12 need a lot of supervision as, when put to task, they will have a shorter attention span and the quality of the outcome will be like a school art project. Children over 12 can take on tasks that are self-motivated, but it is important that there are not high expectations. Remember that children can be messy and it is important to communicate to the parents what the expectations are.

​Some parents expect other members of the project to watch their children; this can be a problem if it is not made clear from the beginning that this is or is not an option. I suggest always charging for children, as they tend to eat a lot and lessen the hours the adults can dedicate to the project. I have also found that many farms are not “child friendly”, meaning there are places to fall, things to get into and dangers to be had in every bodega or shed. If you want to host little ones, be prepared to provide for them with child friendly tools, activities and playmates (gentle animals or other children).

Many people now are doing what is called World Schooling, this is a fantastic way to educate through travel and experience, if you want to learn more about that, follow this link.

​Walking side by side

Before inviting and accepting volunteers, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to accomplish with the help of the volunteers?
• How long can I host a volunteer and/or how long will it take to complete the project or event?
• How much time and effort do I want to dedicate to hosting, mentoring and managing volunteers?
• How many different personalities can I handle at one time?
• Do I have the emotional, physical and intellectual bandwidth to oversee and mediate possible dramas, learning curves and team building activities?
• How much is it going to cost me to host volunteers?
• Do I have the space for them to live, cook/eat, recreate, etc.
• Do I have to update my internet plan?
• Do I need to invest in more tools?
• Do I have enough bedding/sheets/blankets, dishes, facilities (showers and toilets) for them to have their basic needs met?
• How much do I charge? Do I charge?​

This next question is super important and bears elaboration:

Will hosting a volunteer be a benefit to my project, myself and I to them? Is the time I am giving the program worth it?

The next section will go into this a bit deeper.

Energy return on energy invested (EROEI)

Come up with realistic goals and expectations for the volunteers. Know that they are either working for free or paying you to work, their time and energy is valuable and they will have an expectation of you.

• Is the project something quite simple like building compost piles, painting a structure, participating in the harvest or processing the harvest?
• Is the project more specialized, such as building a timber frame structure, building your website, managing your social media marketing campaign or cataloging species on your property? In the latter case, it is important to outline the job exactly.
• How many hours may it take, what materials are available, is there a deadline, what are the standards of quality, and how many people will be needed?
• Does the volunteer have the skills that it takes to get the job done?

Tuition can be a critical component to the financial success of your project. In order to ask for a tuition fee, you have to reflect on what you are offering the volunteer and how much experience they have.

Volunteers that are highly experienced may not need a lot of your time, whereas inexperienced or very young volunteers may need a lot of hand holding. Your time is energy, and what if the volunteer does not work out after you put a great deal of energy into hosting them? It is also important to know that a volunteer will rarely treat your tools and living space as you do, so you can expect tools lost and blenders broken.

​A few hundred dollars monthly is acceptable to ask from a volunteer. It has become standardized to pay to volunteer, though you still get some snarky people judging you for it. Those usually are the people who have never managed their own project. Don’t worry about it! Be open to critique but also trust yourself to design the program that makes sense for your project. 

That being said…

One of the best ways to avoid confusion and conflict is to create a schedule.

• How many hours a day can the volunteers work? I suggest 4-8 hours, 5-6 days per week. A full 8-hour workday is nice to break up with a two or three-hour break.
• How many hours a day do you want to work with volunteers? Factor time spent getting them started, reviewing what and how they did, clean up, etc.
• How do you want to distribute their time? Are there various projects to be accomplished, household or grounds keeping chores, meal planning, time for community service or relations, team building and days off?

Remember, people need days off and hours dedicated to personal time, growth, and reflection.

Keep the days diverse.

Have the volunteers dedicate a few hours each day to different aspects of the project. If someone is coming in to help you with marketing, make sure to get them out in the garden.

Rotating people to various tasks. Doing this helps them understand the whole picture and the interrelations between each component of the entire project, as well as building more diverse skills.

Another way to combat confusion is to…

Create a Volunteer Guide

​This can be printed, online, or both. You can even ask volunteers to agree to it, ahead of time.

This could include:

• Introduction of and contact info of important people to know, the hierarchy, etc.
• Introduction to the area you live, acculturation, norms, nudity, cultural sensitivity, etc.
• Emergency protocol and evacuation procedures.
• Safety: fire, water, electric, animals, tools and heavy machinery, etc.
• Resource mindfulness: tools, food, internet/phone, water, electric/solar, waste management, etc.
• Smoking, drugs and alcohol use: This is important to address. Some places are more open than others to recreational use of certain substances, including alcohol. What is your personal belief and how much do you want to enforce it upon other people? Perhaps you don’t mind if people use cannabis, but are against all other drugs and alcohol. Maybe you allow people to drink after hours. You may only allow filter-less cigarettes and only within a certain distance of specific spaces. Be clear.
• Communication expectations: Set standards for how people speak to each other, how often you will do reviews, how to get in touch with you, as well as your level of tolerance for swear words, screaming, voicing needs, as well as illnesses, etc.
• Participation expectations.
• Make it known what the grounds are for termination. Sometimes you have to ask people to leave. See below for details, but you should outline behaviors that are not accepted, such as violent actions or words, sexual harassment, excessive drug/alcohol use, not showing up to work, stealing, lying, etc.
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): You are going to have to go through every aspect of your project and outline how things are done. This takes some time on your part but it is invaluable to have and, while it will change over time, it will help transition new people into the project.

Screening Volunteer Applications

​The best way to ensure a successful volunteer experience is by making sure people who come are a good match. How? BY asking them to fill out an application.

Before you create your application, ask yourself, who is the ideal candidate? For example, what kinds of jobs will they perform and does their level of experience and gusto fit with the ethos, lifestyle and duration of the project you are seeking help for?

If you want to learn more about volunteers, consider asking them more personal questions that require a more in-depth response, rather than simple yes or no answers. 

Examples:

• Ask for three of their best and most challenging personal qualities, or where they struggle and how they shine. This gives the applicant the chance to reflect on themselves and offer honest answers that will help you decide if the person will be right for you.
• Ask people about their stamina level.
• Outdoor experience, work experience, where they have traveled, what they intend to gain from the experience with you, etc.

Should you ask about age, gender and diet?

​Age is important to know as it will offer you a rough idea of their degree of life experience, maturity level and how well they will mix with the current dynamic at your project. While age is not always a definitive indicator, it can help.

Asking gender offers you an opportunity for gender balancing and diversity. Do not make it a mandatory question or a simple male/female question, as we now live in a non-binary gender world, where people have many different identities or are still unsure on how they identify themselves. There are many social and political discussions around gender and some people have identities that are different from their biological disposition.

Diet can be a delicate subject for some people and a non-negotiable one for others. With volunteers, the host/mentor often offers some type of meal plan. You need to review your own budget and availability, as well as time and staffing resources to feed volunteers. Perhaps one of the volunteer jobs is to cook for other volunteers. This is a reasonable and standard job for a volunteer, but you have to reflect on the training that will go into using the kitchen, being mindful with resources, etc. Some applicants may have a strict diet that would cost you a lot to accommodate. It is important to create your own standards for staple foods and perks, and let it be clearly known to the volunteer that they may have to supplement their diet.

It is important to ask logistical questions about dates of participation.

• When can they come and for how long?
• Do they need a visa to work with you and if so, how long can they stay?
• It is important to know that some volunteers may be traveling far to get to you. Their first day should be spent orienting themselves around their new home/environment/workspace, checking in with loved ones, meeting and greeting staff, family and other volunteers. Day two is when you can start jumping into the nitty-gritty of the tasks at hand.
• When they are done with their stay, offer them a day to pack up and say their goodbyes to not only their new friends but also to the work they have just spent X number of days/weeks/months dedicated to.
• Always ask them WHY they want to be a part of your project. This offers the applicant the opportunity to reflect and sincerely share.
• How did they find out about your project? This is important because it helps you understand how your marketing is working.
• References. It is ok to ask for them and ok to give them to prospective volunteers. As a volunteer, do not be afraid to ask for references from past program participants.

Finally, be sure to ask about any health concerns and for their emergency contact information. The volunteer is your responsibility when at your place. That being said, make sure to inquire about insurance and other legal liabilities for hosting a volunteer.

Remember that everyone makes themselves sound great. Engage your intuition, give them a look on social media and check references. Sometimes if the vibe feels off, it probably will not work out.

Feedback and follow up

​There are many ways in which you can gather information about your volunteer program. As some students may be shy to use their names, keep it open to being anonymous; in this case, you will want the feedback form to be printed. You can also create anonymous Google Forms, but asking them to complete it after they leave lessens the return, and remember, you want feedback!

​After Action Reports are not anonymous, and are best used for people who are in an influential position with more responsibility, such as managers and leaders. (You can use a google form, and send it to everyone by email. That way you have all the info in a spreadsheet for future reference.)

Ask open ended questions such as:

• Was the price fair?
• Comment on accommodations, food, program flow.
• What was their most memorable experience?
• What would they change?
• Consider SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

Ask them questions that can be rated from 1 – 10, like:

• Overall experience.
• Accommodations.
• Food Quality/Quantity.
• Program Flow.
• Price.

Also ask them to offer a testimonial!

On the other hand, you should also offer evaluations to your volunteers and/or ask mentors to evaluate you. 

All feedback is good feedback, and an open flow of information will help you craft your program in the future.

Questions to ask in the review:

• What has been your highlight of your time spent here?
• What would you change?
• How have you grown?
• How do you see yourself contributing to the project over the long term?
• What can we do better to make your experience more fruitful?

Asking someone to leave.

Sometimes you have to ask someone to leave, this is never fun. By having an outline in the orientation packet, you can reference this when it happens. Set for yourself a standard of tolerance. One time, twice, three times and you’re out. You will have to sit the person down and go over specific instances in a reflective and mindful way that helps them grow as a person. Be aware that with addressing specific instances, you may need to reference other people involved, which can lead to hard feelings. Be direct but sensitive.

There will be extraordinary cases where the person doesn’t vibe with the community. This is the most sensitive case because essentially you are telling someone you don’t like them and they will feel rejected. Be gentle but also direct and compassionate.

Ask other community members or volunteers for firsthand experience to back up your decision, especially in the case where you have not had a direct negative experience. Sometimes you have to play the bad guy/gal for your community.

Having regular volunteer meetings, sharing circles and team building activities will alleviate tensions, grow your community and strengthen the bonds between members. ​

Mentoring is not easy, it takes patience, dedication and the willingness to learn from your students. 

​Get creative and have fun!

Team Building Activities

​It is important that your volunteers know you appreciate them!

There are many little things you can do to let them know they are appreciated… the first is to say THANK YOU and mean it. With team building activities, take a bit of the tuition they paid and a bit of your own money and treat them to, such as:

• Pizza and beer night.
• Movie nights.
• Going out on the town together.
• Going for an excursion in the area.
• Visiting another project.
• Get them something yummy that they wouldn’t buy for themselves.

Segment 4 HD How to be a Good Mentor SWu

Designing Your Volunteer Program

Finally, to expand your perspective on this important topic, here’s a completely different approach to designing your volunteer program

This section by Luiza Oliveira

Do you want to start a volunteer program within your project but don’t know from where to start? Here you will find some ideas on how to design it taking into consideration your context, your community, and your intentions.

How to start a volunteering program within your perma project!

Here’s a quick recap of the video, with the main steps:

Step one: start with yourself:

• What are your intentions in starting this program? 
• What is your availability – Time and emotionally?
• Would you like to work with short-term or long-term volunteers? Or maybe both? 

Step two: identify details within your project:

What is the project’s vision?

What are the tasks that you would like to do with volunteers, and to prioritize them identify:

• What is urgent and what is important?
• How much time is required for each task?
• What is the level of difficulty implied?
• Does any specific expertise is required?
• How many people would you need to work on each one of them? What is the minimum and what would be the maximum?

Think of your calendar activities flow:

• When is the best time to have the task accomplished?
• How are you going to invest your time in it?
• What are your communication channels and how you would like to promote the program that you are creating and your design?
   

Step three: identify the general logistics.

Locate the space(s) for:

• Welcoming volunteers
• Working together
• Eating together
• Chill and celebrate when the work is done

Costs that you might need to cover:

• Materials
• Tools
• Food
• Electricity / Heating / Water
• Sanitary supplies

Once you have sketched all of that, imagine how to balance your activities and make it fun!

Try to balance the various tasks requirements with the various people skills and passions that they feel motivated to share. I call this finding the sweet spot in working with groups. Keep in mind that happy volunteers comeback even happier and usually bring more motivated people with them.

Challenge yourself to design your program thinking of accessibility, representation, and inclusivity! Imagine how you could create strategies within the volunteering program to value and celebrate social diversity.

Use your ecological designer’s mind, all the way! Apply its ethics and principles in each action and activity, make them visible to everybody, and how people can learn and feel empowered.

Create your own checklists and identify the steps to make your program happen. Prepare feedback forms to learn from:

• Your own experience
• From your team and volunteers
• From people that are going to be impacted by the program

Plan, Prepare & Launch!

Harvest feedback and look for indicators to understand how the process was for everybody and the many ecosystems. Celebrate it!

After you finish a program, tweak it, re-evaluate it and re-design it!

Homework

Questions for Review

1. A volunteer has just cut down your favorite fruit tree/lost or broke an expensive tool; how do you handle it?
2. Brainstorm 5 fun Team Building activities you can do with your volunteers in your bioregion.
3. Outline your year, when do you think you would need volunteers and why?
4. What do you look for in organizations when seeking volunteer opportunities? 
5. What will you do to be an amazing, reliable volunteer?
6. How will you create transformative, empowering volunteer opportunities? What type of mentor will you be?

Recommended Hands-On

• Create a Volunteer Profile for your project (this can be a hypothetical or real-life project)-who’s your ideal volunteer?
• Create a framework for volunteers to be incorporated into your project, including job duties, flow charts, schedules and feedback forms.
• Identify tasks where volunteers can plug into your project, and articulate what they will get in exchange for their labor.
• Organize a Give Back Day in your community. What is appropriate for your community, working within social context, why is this Permablitz beneficial?
• Research a local organization you can offer your time to and volunteer for at least an hour. Report on the experience: How was it mutually beneficial, how did you give back, what would you have done differently? Do a SWOT report for the volunteering experience.
• Offer your time at a local animal shelter, soup kitchen, school, old folks home, etc. Report on the experience: How was it mutually beneficial, how did you give back, what would you have done differently?
• Organize a community skill-share, and build a coalition of local volunteers!