Deepening Boston's pool of volunteers

Patrice Keegan - The Boston Globe: "CONCERN ABOUT where the next wave of civic leaders will come from is growing throughout Boston. The high cost of living is fueling an exodus of young talent, and hometown businesses are being gobbled up by outside owners. Who will be champions for the new Boston, and how will they prepare for the responsibilities of civic stewardship?

One answer is right in front of us, as our region's growing volunteer sector is increasingly populated by citizens for whom volunteering is the pathway of choice to deeper civic involvement.

Important to understand is that the nature of community service is changing. Today's volunteers are looking for flexible opportunities to help and greater assurance that their time will be well spent.

By considering what can be accomplished in a short time, even in a day, nonprofits are engaging thousands of new volunteers. With no immediate pressure to make long-term commitments, ''episodic" volunteers are free to explore many ways to become involved.

The good news is that episodic volunteering leads many to a committed practice of community service and intentional citizenship. For example, research conducted by Boston Cares shows that many have become deeply involved as volunteer leaders, donors and fund-raisers, pro bono consultants, board members, and even paid staff. Others are participating in town meetings, advocating for causes, contacting elected officials and encouraging others to vote.

An extraordinary 96 percent of Boston Cares volunteers voted last November. Today's volunteers are a ready-made pipeline for tomorrow's civic leaders.

How can we increase the number of volunteers and prepare those who are interested in assuming greater levels of civic responsibility?

Since people who are asked to volunteer do so at a much higher rate than those who are not asked, volunteers should invite others to join them. For volunteers interested in specific causes, there are growing opportunities to serve on projects with built-in learning components. Knowledgeable volunteers often evolve into ardent advocates.

Children who volunteer are more likely to grow into civically engaged adults, yet opportunities for young volunteers are few and far between. More nonprofit organizations need to welcome youth and family volunteers. One way to do that is to team up with schools that have service-learning requirements, youth-serving organizations, and faith-based programs that promote community service as a core value.

As the largest conveners of volunteers, corporations can foster community service through employment practices. For example, at least 25 percent of charities need more daytime volunteers, which could be addressed in part by flexible work schedules or paid leave to serve. Companies with special days of service should build on the enthusiasm generated by those events by promoting opportunities for employees to continue volunteering on their own time.

Mayor Menino was right at the recent Boston College Citizens Seminar when he noted that there is no vacuum of leadership in Boston, challenging mainstream leaders to work with community builders from more diverse backgrounds and less familiar places. With that in mind, civic leadership programs and conveners of civic conversations should commit to broader recruitment strategies to ensure that participants reflect the new Boston.

Similarly, newcomers to the civic roundtable can further diversify participation by nominating others for inclusion.

Boston is home to a rich but fragmented assortment of national service program members and leadership institutes. Those committed to service need to build programmatic bridges and link members and alumni. Somewhere between the clubby exclusivity of the old Vault and the chummy camaraderie of a bowling league there must be a way for civic allies to build familiarity, respect, and enthusiasm for one another.

Although feel-good stories abound, there is little hard data about volunteering, which prevents the sector from being fully appreciated by decision makers or policy shapers. Researchers must begin the work of aggregating the volunteer sector, revealing the infrastructure that makes it work and documenting its impacts, including considerable economic multiplier effects and its role as a civic action feeder system.

Boston is full of passionate volunteers eager to make a bigger difference. It's time to weave them into the fabric of our city.

Patrice Keegan is executive director of Boston Cares."