Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an unmet need for more volunteers in almost every aspect from food kitchens to animal shelters Etc. The main issue facing getting individuals to volunteer is the lack of incentive. Now, I know this defeats the whole purpose of calling it “volunteering” but what if there was a way to pay people for their efforts without really paying them. I used to give blood all the time and realized on days when they were offering free movie tickets or coupons for a free burger more people were willing to give their time to the cause. I propose creating a company whose sole purpose is to form partnerships between volunteer-based organizations and for-profit businesses. It could be donations of coupons from businesses to volunteer organizations to give out as incentive and help recruit more volunteers. It could also be partnering with companies to create work/volunteer days where an employee still gets payed by the company they work for but they are allowed so many days per year to volunteer. Even if it’s only 2 days a year per employee, if you multiply that by one office building with 1,000 employees that’s 2,000 days of volunteering form one establishment. The market for this service would mainly be volunteer organizations and business establishments but with the right marketing it would eventually be a service many people could use because who doesn’t like free stuff? At this point I am 90% sure that this opportunity exists. 

Interview #1: 24-year-old male (student)

·     When was the last time you volunteered? “Selling plants during earth day to get people involved for planting trees, 4 years ago, I had to do it for class to complete the course.” 

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “No, I haven’t had time because of school and work.”

·     Why do you think people do not volunteer more often? “People only do it for their resume. They want to receive a benefit to do it.”

·     Are you aware that there is a shortage of volunteers?” No, it’s not something I think about constantly.” 

·     When did you become aware? “Just now but I’m not surprised.” 

·     Would you be more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or a payed day off work? “Yes definitely. If I was given an incentive like a free movie ticket it would help because I’m a college student and don’t have a lot of money. Money that can be spent on leisure activities isn’t something that students can spend very often.”

Interview #2: 26-year-old male (active duty military)

·     When was the last time you volunteered? “4 years ago, as a casket barer for the military.” 

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “I don’t volunteer because I am in the military and they often make me volunteer. I also don’t really care about volunteering.”

·     Why do you think people don’t volunteer more often? “I think people don’t volunteer because they don’t get payed.” 

·     Are you aware there is a shortage of volunteers? “Yes, I would imagine so.”

·     When did you become aware of this? “Through years of observation and word of mouth.”

·     Would you be more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or a payed day off work? “Sure, it might but I am not all that interested in volunteering.”

Interview #3: 50-year-old female (government employee)

·     When was last time you volunteered? “2 years ago, in Haiti, adaptive swimming program for disabled children and coaches.”

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “Busy with family, medical, and work.”

·     Why do you think people don’t volunteer more often? “Americans are very busy working trying to make money to pay the bills and there isn’t very good advertising for soliciting volunteers.” 

·     Are you aware there is a shortage of volunteers? “Yes”

·     When did you become aware of this? “I have been aware of it for several years.”

·     Would you become more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or payed day off work? “Yes, because If I had a payed day off of work I wouldn’t have to worry about missing out on that extra money but would still be able to give my time to a good cause.”

Reflection: 

What I learned from this exercise and interviews is that many people do not really think about volunteering on a daily basis even though they understand there is a need for it. I am not less inclined to believe that this opportunity exists but still optimistic. I’m realizing that a better approach would probably be to interview the nonprofit and for-profit businesses to see if this is a service they would consider using. I think more of the regular public needs to be questioned to see if incentive would help convince them to volunteer, which 2 out of the 3 I interviewed said it would.