I confess! I occasionally print out an email. I used to copy interesting links onto a Word page and saved them because I didn’t really understand bookmarks. It took me several months to learn how to edit manuscripts online, and I am still not certain I do it the most efficient way. I’m a linear thinker and it is hard for me to have too many windows open at the same time. I rely on the mouse because I never bothered to learn the keyboard commands. I hate going to a computer store for any supply because a clerk invariably asks me for some specification and I have no clue what he is talking about. And sometimes I lay in bed and wonder where all that stuff on the internet comes from.
I’m sharing this because I read a fascinating article last month called Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky, that helped me understand why I do what I do. Digital natives grew up with technology and they are natives to the digital world and digital language. I did not grow up with technology but have learned to use it. I am a digital immigrant, coming to technology, as an immigrant comes to a second language. I may always have to consciously think about turning to the Internet for information, or clicking the help link before calling my son (the IT specialist) with my question. The digital world is my second language and that means I translate my native (non digital) approach to the digital approach.
I have been thinking a great deal about this concept for several weeks, pondering the implications for how to recruit, train, work with, and communicate with the growing numbers of volunteers under the age of 40. They are the digital natives and I believe the implications for those of us who are digital immigrants is staggering.
If you type the word “volunteering” into google you will get 80,000 matches. Look for a job at Moster.com and you will find a new online volunteer center. Check real estate options in the San Francisco area on Craiglist.org and you can also look for a volunteer opportunity. Interested in a volunteer vacation? Google has 488,000 links. Interested in a specific cause, like animal rescue work? Over 4,000,000 possibilities are on the Internet.
The Internet is not only convenient, it is a powerful tool for sharing information with a growing generation who will never read volunteers ads in the newspaper, or at the library or in a brochure. They are online looking at options and opportunities many of us older mangers don’t even know exist. Today I was talking with a young computer specialist who was telling how he was on freenet during his high school days, searching local resources. Gradually he was able to search other cities in Ohio and then in other states and then, of course, the world. Today he checks information at Wikipedia. He keeps up with his friends through blogs. He communicates through email. The ways in which we share information, personal and other, has changed dramatically.
Perhaps now I understand why there has been a shift in how volunteers say they have become engaged in volunteer activities. In 2000 the Independent Sector reported that the primary way individuals became engaged in volunteer activities was through a personal invitation. The 2004 U.S. Department of Labor survey of volunteering in the United States reported that 40% of volunteers became involved with an organization on their own – they approached the organization. About 42% were personally invited.
Digital natives don’t wait to be invited. They have the world at their fingertips and they probably know more about who is doing what, and where to go for a specific cause than I ever will. And they reach out and share in very different ways. Yesterday I received an email from a young woman I have not talked to in almost a year, telling me she would soon be running in a major marathon. I was invited to click the link to her website to follow her training practice, leave encouraging messages, and make a donation to her personal account for the nonprofit organization she was supporting.
What does all this mean? I am pondering how I, a digital immigrant, can shift my recruiting approach to attract the digital natives. The Digital Generation will never think like me, act like me or respond like me. I believe they are very engaged, active, caring people, but I am not sure the traditional organizations will see them knocking on the door to volunteers until we do a much better job of getting our message in the right language in the right places. Currently international programs are doing a better job of getting their message online than many mainstream programs. I believe we need to think long and hard about how we recruit volunteers – what we offer, what we say and where we are saying it. At least go a few extra steps. When you list with your local volunteer center, also list with the national online sites. A digital native coming to your area for school or a new job may be looking for just the right opportunity to meet new friends, make connections, and follow their passion. But even as I suggest posting your openings on all the online sites, I am aware that this is about more than where to post information. It is about learning to think like a digital native. I may not be able to do that ever, but I can ask them to help me do it better.
Of course, attracting them is only the first step. Engaging and keeping them is another topic.
A small sampling of online volunteer recruitment sites.
VolunteerMatch
SERVEnet
Volunteer Solutions
Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Luthern Volunteer Corps
idealist.org
National Catholic Volunteer Service
Volunteer.gov/gov
Volunteers in Parks
monster.com
craigslist.org
Youth Noise
Do Something
1-800-Volunteer.org
Volunteer Canada
Australian Volunteer Search
Peace Corps
Volunteer Abroad
Global Volunteer Network
Volunteering Australia
References:
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, On the Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001
U.S. Department of Labor (2004). Volunteering in the United States Summary. Retrieved January 2, 2005, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.toc.htm