Help yourself. Help other people. at Catch a Gideon

December 5th, 2006 by Endless Aspiration

My first experience with volunteering occurred while I was in High School. The seniors in the school got to take two weeks off to go out into the community and volunteer their time. I looked forward to having two weeks off of school, but wasn’t to excited about how I was going to spend it. I ended working at Penfield Children’s Center, which does some great work for children with special needs whose parents cannot afford to give them the treatment they need. While the experience was an eye opener and I developed a deep level of respect for the people who worked there, it didn’t really inspire me to get involved in the community.

When I got to college I could not imagine working in a situation where I would not get paid. As a I result I spent those years working in mind numbing positions in the cafeteria, alumni office, and for an apartment management company. While I was getting paid for my time, I was not developing the necessary skills required to reach the level of success I desire. Instead of working in those dead end jobs I should have been working in student organizations on campus that would allow me to interact with peers, network with professors, and sharpen my mind. The problem was I needed a dead end job because couldn’t live without the paycheck (even though I was making minimum wage), and I lacked the motivation/time management skills needed to work, attend classes, and volunteer.

While I was working those dead end jobs, I wanted to find out how people who are successful got to where they are today. I was able to arrange interviews with successful people in the community, either because they knew my parents or I knew of them and called them over and over until they granted me at least a phone interview. Some day I hope to be able to post some of the things I learned from these people to this blog, but I can’t get into any specifics without their permission. One consistency I found with these successful individuals is they were all involved in the community through some sort of non profit organization. Some of the people achieved a certain level of success and realized they were not going to become any more successful without the networking opportunities non profit organizations provide. Those people that were truly successful and connected throughout the country are those who had enjoyed volunteering throughout their life. This isn’t a revolutionary idea. Check out “Never Eat Alone”, Keith Ferrazzi does a pretty good job of explaining networking and its benefits.

So why do these super successful individuals who are already incredibly busy with their business endeavors devote so much time to non profit organizations? I see three good reasons. 1) Working for an organization that has a cause that you truly believe in gives you more energy than you could ever imagine. There is no better feeling than the reward you get from helping another human being who is truly in need. 2) Non profit organizations give you great opportunities to “sharpen your saw” (read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). Non profits are always looking for the most precious resource of all, Time, and if your willing to give it they’ll give you opportunities to improve yourself in so many ways. 3) Networking. It is almost impossible to get the opportunity to learn from the leading businessmen, lawyers, doctors by knocking on their office door and asking to speak with them. There are too many barriers that have been purposely put up to prevent you from doing that. But if that business owner or lawyer enjoys helping the illiterate people in the community and its something you enjoy too, all those barriers get torn down.

So this leaves me looking for organizations to get involved in. I’m pretty sure the process is more difficult than finding a decent job. I think the people who work for these organizations are inherently skeptical because it is somewhat unusual for somebody to be willing to devote their free time. I have found that it’s difficult to find places that I would enjoy volunteering for that would be able to use my talents to their full potential. I want to emphasize this point because I want to get the most out of what little free time I have. If you know of one that might satisfy my three good reasons found above please let me know. But I’ll try to keep you updated with my findings.