by Carlo Angelo Gonzales, Social Media Manager – iVolunteer Philippines
Happy National Volunteer Month, everyone! Just reminding you guys that we have a great raffle giveaway going on for all our volunteers in celebration of NVM (check out the mechanics here), all you need to do is share your #iVolunteered story with us!
But before we answer why we should be sharing our volunteering experiences, let’s first answer the question: “Why not?” I think there are some common reasons stopping us from sharing our experiences, and I share my personal opinion against these below:
1. When you share your volunteer story (especially those with your picture in it), you’re just showing off.
I honestly don’t think sharing a story automatically means you’re showing off. Sharing your story can help encourage others to volunteer themselves. It can also put a spotlight on a particular cause that people don’t know about. There are so many great reasons to share your story, and showing off is the last one you should worry about!
2. Good deeds don’t need to be publicized.
In my opinion, only elected officials shouldn’t publicize so-called “good deeds” because that’s their job. But as a volunteer, people need to know about what you’re doing! This also makes it easier for your friends to tag along with you so you can enjoy changing the world together!
3. Nothing’s ever going to change. Why even bother?
This is probably the worst belief one can have. After all, if you don’t believe anything would change, it probably won’t – for you. I believe volunteers shouldn’t have this kind of mentality.
Now that I’ve gone through with that, why do we WANT to share our volunteer stories?
1. There’s so much negativity these days
You can see it in social media, you can hear it in the news and even with your cab driver’s tone of voice. Heck, when you check out your Facebook feed and if you’re subscribed to some news Facebook Page or if you’ve got a friend who’s into politics and stuff, you’ll see a lot of finger pointing and rage. This has to be neutralized, if not completely stopped. I feel like if we share good things, primarily what volunteers do (without compensation or pecuniary pay), we reinforce the idea that there are a lot of people who still believe in good and that, deep down, we want things to change for the better.
2. As an overall response to the reasons WHY we shouldn’t share our volunteer stories, well, these are belief systems that can possibly NOT help us.
As long as you’re responsible, have the best of intentions and are willing to go the extra mile to make a change (no matter how small), you’re breaking that old belief and embracing something new that’s also something that is generally perceived as good.
3. To inspire others to make a difference
I’ll sum this up in one video:
So, I hope I’ve made a good case in convincing you to share your #iVolunteered story! Do it today! The details can be found here: https://blog.ivolunteer.com.ph/2013/12/05/celebrate-national-volunteer-month-by-sharing-your-ivolunteered-story/
iVolunteer Philippines 