Thank you, Cathy, for the kind introduction.  And thank you for the honor of inviting me to address this group today.  It is indeed a pleasure to be here… out of the Northeast cold for at least a day… and to bask in the reflected warmth of so many dedicated and committed volunteers.

I especially want to congratulate today’s honorees.  You are truly leading by example… and through your deeds… helping to make this community better.

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir when I say that communities could not exist without their volunteers.  It has been that way since this nation was founded… when community action… from barn-raisings to that era’s version of “homeland security”… was paramount to survival.  It was one of the things that French historian Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at when he did his American “walk-about” in the 1830s.

But societal demands today far outstrip that formative period in our country’s history.  And… in response… the volunteer “industry” has expanded as well.

I use the term “industry” purposely.  According to Independent Sector … at the time of their last survey in 2002 some 84 million American adults volunteered, representing the equivalent of over 9 million full-time employees at a value of $239 billion.  By any measure, a huge enterprise.

Of the many segments of this industry… it is my observation that corporations have become an increasingly important factor over the past two decades.

Your presence here today is testament to that.  And it certainly was the case for my company… GE.

I’m often asked… when introduced as executive director of GE Elfun Volunteers… “What does Elfun stand for?  Do you wear pointy shoes and funny hats or something?”  The answer is “no”… (at least not usually in public…) but the story, I think, is indicative of how workplace volunteerism has grown in scope and impact.

We began in 1928… when the then president of GE, Gerard Swope, felt that the company had grown too big… that there was lack of communication within the increasingly far-flung organization.

His solution – start a “society” made up of the top managers and salesmen of the company. (Sorry ladies… it was, after all, 1928.)  Since that level in the organization participated in an executive investment program called the Electrical Funds… the contraction ELFUN became the name.

For some 60-plus years, the Elfun Society remained essentially a social organization and internal management club… important as an audience for company leaders… but… quite frankly… it devolved into a good-old-boys’ golfing and chowder society.

It took a new chairman in 1991… a short, peripatetic, balding, stuttering Irishmen named Jack Welch… to rock the status quo.  Jack came in as CEO and challenged every GE business and organization with some very simple questions:  “What is your mission… your purpose… your contribution to the enterprise?”  And if you could not provide an answer… “Why should you exist?”

Talk about the proverbial first kick of the mule!

The leadership of Elfun looked within… at one of the streams of activity that had informally developed over time… and established volunteerism as its stated and singular mission.  What a stroke of genius.

Over the next two decades, volunteerism became a rallying point within GE.  It touched a chord up and down the organization… and grew immeasurably as a result.  Today, volunteering is more than a program at GE… it is an integral part of the corporate culture.  Current CEO Jeff Immelt puts it this way:  “The 21st century company must not only do well… for investors, customers and employees… it must also do good… for our communities and the world.”

Today, GE volunteers are active in more than 150 communities around the world… wherever we have employees and retirees.  More than 1,800 individual volunteer projects are undertaken every year… and our people provide over a million hours of volunteer time in company-sponsored activity each year.  This includes my colleagues in the Portsmouth/Norfolk area… who are active in a variety of projects and programs with local non-profit organizations.

Working with our volunteers, I’ve had the good fortune to paint walls of a children’s shelter in Dubai; pound nails at a Habitat build outside Budapest; plant a garden in a Sao Paolo slum; make dumplings with senior citizens in Dalien, China (a “small town” of six million people that I know I’d never heard of before going there); read with young inner-city kids in Bridgeport, Connecticut; and so much more.

We were honored this year as recipients of the Points of Light Foundation’s Award of Excellence in Workplace Volunteerism.

Not bad… but, as a wise former boss of mine once said:  “Be careful about stepping out on stage when the curtain comes down and taking too many bows.  It may only be the end of the first act… and you’ve got a long way yet to go.”

It is the “next act” for workplace volunteering that I think holds so much promise… for the businesses that engage in it… for the non-profit community partners who are at the front line of delivering services… and, most importantly, for the millions of people around the world whose lives will be improved by our actions.

As we collectively write the script for that next act… as we create workplace volunteer programs that are more strategic to our businesses… and impactful for our communities… I would like to suggest four elements of prime importance. 

1. Focus,
2. Measurement, 
3. Passion, and 
4. Partnerships.
   

First, Focus.

Workplace volunteerism is a growth industry within a growth industry.  Points of Light research suggests more than 80% of the Fortune 500 companies support some type of volunteer activity… and increasing numbers of mid, small, and even mom-and-pop companies are getting involved.

The business case for investing in an employee volunteering program is clear:

• It helps build company reputation… the “doing good” part of the corporate equation.
• Volunteering programs improve employee morale… an aid to retention and recruitment as, increasingly, our employees are pushing us to be responsible beyond just the bottom line… and the people we want to hire are seeking more than just a paycheck.
• Volunteer projects are great for team-building.  People working together across the organization… tied to a common task… where you can’t tell the vice president from the production worker or entry-level trainee because they are all in overalls swinging a hammer.
• Employees gain business skills through volunteering… helpful on their current job and in their future career.  In fact… some companies are integrating their volunteer programs into semi-formal or formal human resource development schemes.  At a time when organizations are flattening and promotions may not be as frequent… building such key management skills as budgeting, people management, negotiation, project planning, resource allocation and more through volunteer engagement can help fill the development gap.
  

To gain these benefits, though, the volunteer program needs to make sense as part of a total business strategy, deeply rooted in the company’s value system.  It can’t be an add-on, feel-good… it cannot be an attempt to cover over bad products… bad practices… or bad values.  After all, think about a certain now-defunct energy company in a certain Texas city that was lauded… that actually won awards… for its support to its community.  Too bad its management values and practices were rotten at the core.

A “strategic” workplace volunteering program also includes concepts that might seem antithetic to the very meaning of the word:  A “strategic” workplace volunteer program involves focus… and management structure.

I liken some volunteer programs to those old Andy Hardy movies.  You know, when Mickey and Judy say… “Hey… my dad’s got a barn… let’s get the kids together and do a show.”  Lots of action… but is there an ultimate point to it all… is there impact and a sustainable and positive outcome?

Resource allocation… people, time, financial, technical resources… is the life-blood of business decision-making.  It’s what good businesses are good at. 

And making choices is what good workplace volunteer programs are about, too.  Hamsters with Asthma may be an important issue for some… but does it really fit with your company’s skills, goals and resources? 

Creating focus gets to the second key part of workplace volunteerism:  measurement.   Researcher Tom Kimball has developed what he calls the “pure heart model” to help explain why so many people are hesitant to collect and use data about the programs they love.  Roughly, it goes like this:  “If my intentions are good and my heart is pure, then I must be doing the right thing.”

Bob Godwin, President of Points of Light, in a similar vein, points to the difference between flapping and flying.  Much of the measure of corporate volunteering centers on the flapping…the activity:  the number of projects… the number of hours… the V% of this year’s dollars raised versus last. 

We are a lot less successful measuring the flying.  Does what we do make an impact?  Do we set goals and meet them?  Are we doing the same thing all the time because it makes US feel good… or are we helping create positive and sustainable change in the community?  Much harder to do… but since resources are never infinite… an increasing necessity.

Allocating resources, measurement-driven decision making:  By now you’re probably thinking this new act for workplace volunteering is too much like a Harvard Business School case study.

And that’s where passion comes in… The best workplace volunteer programs strike a balance among the goals of the business… the passions of the employee volunteers… and the needs of the community. 

An associate from Ghana once said:  “In my country, ‘volunteering’ was what the government told us to do on Saturday… and if we didn’t do it… they’d come and take our cow.”

We can, I think, agree it is appropriate for a business spending its resources on volunteering to set boundaries for where and how those resources will be applied.  But, at the end of the day, our employees don’t put on the company’s logoed tee-shirt and join the walk for the cure, or clean up the park of trash, or mentor at-risk kids for the greater glory of the free-enterprise system.  They are doing it because of their own deep commitment to wanting to make a difference.  They are hopefully grateful to the company for supporting them… providing them with time and resources … but at the end of the day… they are seeking an avenue for their skills and passions to come to the fore.

But what about the community… an army of passionate and committed volunteers coming across the hill can sometimes seem like that Capital One credit card commercial where the hoard of Huns rampage through the football stadium.  

And so we get to the final theme of our next act:  partnerships. 

Inside the company… the partnership is between company goals and employee interest… combining focus with passion.  Too top down… and the volunteering program sounds more like my friend from Ghana’s experience.  Let anything go… and resources are underutilized… the business case suffers… and the effort is too easy to put on the back burner when times get tight.

Externally, ignore the community, and our corporate program comes across as just another self-interested marketing ploy.  All about US… not about real needs.  I know in my own company, our customers and suppliers… believe it or not… have accused us at times of arrogance… and that know-it-all attitude that comes from the need for aggressive intensity to win in global markets.

We can’t do that with our community partners.  They have the expertise to deliver on services.  We need to listen… and I mean really listen… and work together to bring the best of our skills to bear on the needs in our community.

So… Focus, Measurement, Passion, Partnerships… the key elements for a strategic, 21st century workplace volunteer program. 

When it all comes together, it’s a beautiful thing… as today’s awardees have demonstrated.

I’d like to close with a story a good friend and wonderful GE volunteer leader likes to tell.  Some of you may know it.

It seems an old man was walking on a beach at dawn one morning when he came upon thousands of star fish strewn on the sand, left there by the out-going tide.

As he approached, he noticed a boy standing near the water line, stooping down and picking up star fish one after another and throwing them back in the sea.  He watched for several minutes as the boy continued in a flurry of activity… never stopping.

The man came closer, asking the boy: “Why are you doing that?  Can’t you see the thousands of star fish?  You’ll never save them all before the sun comes up.  What difference are you making?”

To that, the boy looked up from his effort, threw the star fish he held in his hand into the waves and said:  “That may be true… I may not save them all… but I just made a difference for that one.”

I hope that all of you will continue to join me on our own personal stretch of beach.  Linked together in a common bond… working to make a difference for people in our communities… even if it is just one at a time.

Thank you very much for your time.



David Warshaw, Principal
Vistas Volunteer Management Solutions
32 Duncan Road
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423
201 670-1537
DWarshaw@VistasVMS.com
www.VistasVMS.com

VISTAS Volunteer Management Solutions 32 Duncan Road Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423-1016 Phone: (201) 670-1537 Fax: (201) 652-6256 dwarshaw@VistasVMS.com