Charities fight the tide of do-gooder fatigue

"Most nonprofits … if they got a million dollar grant, they would put their CEO in charge of it," says Sandy Scott, spokesman for CNCS. "But at the same time they might have $5 million worth of volunteers at work but they are being run by an intern or busy receptionist. We are trying to change that."

More groups are now teaching nonprofit organizations how to help guarantee volunteer satisfaction in part by working with their busy schedules.

"We help them plan flexible projects for times that volunteers have free, or in geographical areas where they are already commuting to or that deal with such facts [such as] they don't have much money to get around," says Ariel Zwang, executive director of New York Cares, which helps 850 nonprofit agencies, public schools, and others create projects for volunteers.

Some states, like Minnesota, have an association of volunteer administrators, who provide training of volunteer leaders. "We have an actual infrastructure here that supports volunteerism, which other [states] don't," says Bob Jackson, who is CNCS's Minnesota state director.

Why some areas have higher rates

The levels of local, state, and federal financial commitment are key to making a city work well for volunteers, experts say.

"Volunteering doesn't happen in a vacuum," says Shawn Lecker-Pomaville, executive director of the Nevada Commission for National and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps programs. "It takes resources and oversight and management and public policies to support it. This state could do a lot more."

In the CNCS study, Las Vegas was ranked the lowest among the top 50 cities, having a volunteering rate of 14 percent.

It's crucial to develop a culture of connectedness, too. "Here in the Midwest, helping each other is just something we do," says Beth Erickson, a business consultant in suburban Minneapolis who volunteers at least twice a week at her church in St. Paul. "I have long surmised that we volunteer up here on the frozen tundra because our lives quite literally can depend on it," she says.

Compassion fatigue

Compassion fatigue is one reason Dr. Erickson believes volunteerism has dropped.

"Our nightly news is riddled with very few good news stories. Wars, corporate and political scandals and ethical breaches have made us not only weary but also wary of others. So a "bunker mentality" has developed, where people keep to themselves and don't worry about anything but insulating themselves from the world and the latest bad news. We simply have to turn that around," she says.

People must constantly remind others that one person can make a big difference, says Cathy Lanyard, executive director of American Friends of Alyn Hospital in New York.

"Each person has to know that good begets good," she says. "There was that movie called, 'Pay it Forward' about one person doing one good thing for someone else. It's not brain surgery. It's as easy as tipping over a domino."

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