The History of Volunteer Involvement in Seven Stages
Stage 3: More volunteers join in and social approval follows.
At some hard-to-define stage, the core of founding volunteers realizes that the cause has reached critical
mass. Enough new supporters have joined in the work that the organization is no longer "underground" and
is even gaining in popularity. There are enough hands to start new projects. Enthusiasm and a sense of accomplishment
keep volunteers engaged. Thought is seriously given to incorporating and some small fundraising (often dues
assessed to each member volunteer) underwrites out-of-pocket expenses such as postage and supplies.
Stage 4: Someone says: "Hey, we all have paid jobs to do and this unpaid work is exhausting us. Let's
find some money and hire staff."
This is a watershed point. Clearly very few organizations can sustain meaningful activity over time without
at least a few people who can spend full-time focusing entirely on the development of their programs. So
fundraising goes forward and the first employees are hired to assist the volunteer leaders. In fact, at
this stage, volunteers often find it difficult to let go of tasks they have grown accustomed to doing. Initial
employees feel both underutilized and dumped on--a strange combination resulting from being given a long
list of tasks volunteers no longer want to do, but not necessarily what ought to be delegated.
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