Giving of Ourselves
As professionals in our communities we are looked upon to "give back" to the community that supports our business. In that process over the years the concepts of Service, Charity, Volunteering and Personal Duty have been muddled together.
As professionals, we belong to networking groups like Rotary, Sertoma, our local Board of Realtors, etc. and we like to think that the often long hours and money committed to these organizations equates to our Volunteer commitment to community. YES! Service to these organizations can be considered, in IRS terms as hours donated and therefore has a value to us, as time donated not spent working and has come to mean Volunteering. But to be a Volunteer, is to give of yourself without a financial reward.
By definition, Volunteering, charity work, benevolent actions are to be done without the motivation of finance. So, with that said, our time spent in Service to professional organizations is just that- Service- not Volunteering.
Likewise, when we commit to chaperon our kids' field trips, or help with the school fundraiser- we believe that we are Volunteering to do Charity work in Service to the school- when in fact, we are just living upto our Personal Duties. The idea of Personal Duty has been diminished in our society and has been pooled into the overall concept of Volunteering, in order for us to justify the time spent away from work. Yet, Personal Duties are what make us human. Parents have a Personal Duty to advance, enhance and support their children's education. They should expect financial reward for this investment of time in their children by way of scholarships or giving them the tools to one day become independent. Therefore, the hours and money given to school projects & events is not really Volunteering- it is fulfilling our Personal Duty.
When we see devastation from natural disasters and collect blankets or after 9/11 when people donated blood, acts of Charity happened. To give to others on compulsion is Charity. When we pick-up an abandoned dog on the side of the road and find it a home, that is Charity and Americans are good about Charity, because we like things fast and easy. Our Country has formed WONDERFUL Charitable Organizations that depend not just on our Charity and Service, but the Volunteering of our valuable time. The feeling of being compelled to action in the aid of others is the closest we come to the benevolence of God. That is one of the reasons Americans are so involved in their communities on so many levels, we are givers by nature, society and culture.
With all of the economic turmoil facing America, we will be compelled to act Charitably toward others; We will be called on to give Service to organizations; We will struggle to live-up to our Personal Duties and through it all we will find the true meaning of Volunteering. Until we stop feeling the need to quantify every hour of our day, we will never come to understand the complexity of being a true volunteer. The differences between Charity, Service, Personal Duty and Volunteering are simple and complex at the same time, and for those that are already committed to fulfilling hours within each category special praise to you and for those that have not grasped the idea of doing more, we need to try. All we can try to do, is endeavor to do more, in this we teach future generations the complexity of giving and we begin to understand the greater good within ourselves. I can think of no better way to get our Country back on track, morally and economically, than to start by doing more rather than expecting more. I am making a personal commitment to this idea and encourage others to do the same!
My Personal Commitment Log:
Service: Work on the Local Board PR Committee and Help organize the SPCA Fundraiser that my company helps Sponsor
Charity: Answer the Red Cross Blood Drive Plea and Raise money to protect one of our local parks
Personal Duty: Help with The School's Building Fund Campaign
Volunteer: Help a dyslexic student in my neighborhood with note taking skills
Never thought of it this way, but it makes sense. I think I do try to justify the time spent on "Personal Duties" as Volunteering so that my boss will be happy & not really for myself.
Thanks for your comment! I felt compelled to write this because of the feeling that we must justify our time in monetary increments if we work. And if we do not have jobs, I hear parents tell me that they volunteer for their kids' school, so they can't help do XYZ. We all have demands on our time, let's call it what it is and change the perspective and we might find a greater reward in doing more.
Jane, very thought provoking. We're going to have to get back to basics sooner or later. I know what you're getting at, but it's so early that I can't think of what I want to say back. But you're right.
Charlie: Good Morning! The concept of needing to justify, either through monetary gain for hours spent or the volunteering of donated hours, instead of being strong and demanding personal duty time; is not easy to grasp, but We have all been lumping our personal duties, community service and charity work into a big category of volunteering. The fact that we do it to justify the time spent is alright because we need to spend time in service. What becomes the issue is the perception 2 generations have of their so called volunteerism; when in fact, what they have done is serve themselves, not volunteer. And we have created a growing cast system out of the misconception that helping at your child's school is volunteering, instead of a personal duty. Those that can make the personal commitment(often stay at home mothers/fathers) toss out their involvement as if they are benevolent and charitable implying that the parents that are not as present/committed(due to a second job, for example) are not "good" parents or volunteers. In my experience it is the parents that are committing personal duty time to their children that consider that their volunteer work or community service and use it to opt-out of other projects that call for true volunteers-(those that do without expecting reward).
I am concerned that if we do not begin to see the difference, as the economy continues to shrink and real charities need help, people will not think they should or need to respond because they already give time to their kid's school. We have allowed the MeMeMe's to blind us from the NeedNeedNeed's of our society- we must begin to look beyond ourselves to a greater good in order to rebuild the foundation principles of this country. Now you are asleep, again- sorry for the soap box!
Our team finds this to be of the greatest importance to our everyday lives as well as our careers. We need to give back to a community who has given us the opportunity to succeed.
Team Honeycutt: Wonderful basis to build your business on and add to your community's growth!
Hi Jane. I am a firm believer we reap what we sew & what comes around goes around. At my graduation ceremony from college the speaker talked all about Volunteering & ended his speech making his hands into a big V. I thought it was insane & NOT appropriate at a grad ceremony. I NOW think differently. I believe he was a wise man and took that opportunity in all the young, impressionable minds in the audience to speak out about what was important to him in hopes that it would be important to US. Great post girl. KM
Kristin: Thanks for the comment and you make a good point that no matter what the audience is we need to send a strong message. This is the concept behind the NAR One Million Voice-One Message campaign, that they hope will turn the market and there by the economy.