SUMMARIZE AND DECIDE
It’s almost time to start your volunteering journey!
The following steps will help prioritizing between the options you came up with. We suggest you come up with just a few different opportunities, and start reaching out to the related collaborators, including organizations or people that can help promote your project.
NARROW DOWN
The following steps should help you narrow down your options. Feel free to follow them just to the extent they serve you.
Take a look at your table. See if there are any rows you can rule out easily, or if some rows seem much better than others.
Compare options - see where some options are doing better than others. Which criteria are meaningful for you? Which options perform well in those criteria?
Total score - You can use the “Sum” column to view the total score. Keep in mind, like some parameters, the total score is relative. You can use it to find out which options have good characteristics. You can also sort the options by their sum.
Advanced - you can change the “weights” of different columns to calculate the final score according to how much you value different parameters: you can give more weight to parameters that are particularly important to you, or less weight to others.
IF THE RESULT IS COUNTERINTUITIVE
If the result doesn’t match your intuition, or you feel uncomfortable with the high scores options, take some time to contemplate on this. Our analysis might not take into account every thing that matters to you. Try to formulate it into a new or existing metric. On the other hand, this can be an opportunity to maybe help you identify a gap in how you think about opportunities.
STAY OPEN TO NEW OPTIONS, AS LONG AS THEY'RE STILL EFFECTIVE
Naturally, new roles and opportunities might come your way. Remaining open to new ideas can lead you to even better opportunities. However, before you decide to go down a different path, take a moment to evaluate the new opportunity, and keep focusing on the impact.
START REACHING OUT
It's time to contact relevant people and organizations!
Remember - you should utilize your existing network, but don’t hesitate to expand it and reach out to relevant people. You won’t always get an answer, but it never hurts to try.
Also, consider how flexible you are in regards to your role. Maybe some organizations will benefit from you fulfilling a slightly different role (that could also be impactful). On the one hand, maybe you can benefit from being flexible and taking on a different role. On the other hand, maybe your skills could be better utilized otherwise.
IT'S TIME TO MAKE AN IMPACT!
We hope this guide helped you explore various volunteer opportunities and provided you with some evaluation tools that will help you create an impactful and meaningful journey.
Thank you for your admirable will to make the world a better place. You’re off to a good start, and now it's time to start making an impact!
BE A VALUABLE VOLUNTEER
After deciding on and pursuing an opportunity, you can take your first steps as a volunteer. Being valuable in a high potential opportunity will extend your impact even further. So, to make the most out of the opportunity:
Take time to learn the work and know the organization - get to know how things operate and learn from the experience of others.
Then, suggest new ideas - As someone new in the organization, you have a fresh perspective, which can be valuable for the organization’s success. We recommend having a learning period before suggesting changes, as it can enrich your feedback and make it easier to digest.
Be responsible and consistent - Being an accountable team member helps reduce management overload and increase the overall organization productivity.
Take projects that are realistic for your constraints, and ask for additional help when you need it.