How can you overcome common volunteer challenges like burnout and lack of motivation?

Burnout is not usually a quick fix. It takes an intentional practice of self-care and boundaries to avoid burnout and/or heal from it. It's not a simple thing to do with societal pressures and work expectations. There is hope. Knowing this and having a sense of awareness is the first step to humanizing yourself, and giving yourself the grace to do what's needed to be done to heal or prevent burnout. It is a normal thing but it doesn't have to be inevitable. Be aware, give yourself grace, and take action to relentlessly love yourself with self-care.

Quite simple. Space yourself, have enough rest, exercise to be fit, types of food to consume, health check, mentors, objectives sustainable, avoid manipulation and experience all factors considered.

I would say a common cause is asking too much of your volunteers and now appreciating/celebrating them. Everyone likes a little appreciation now and again and it’s not too much trouble to go a little bit beyond the thank you that should be required. Volunteers are the people that help keep an organization together.

Frequent burnouts can occur when individuals feel trapped in repetitive tasks without experiencing tangible progress or meaningful impact. To combat this stagnation and enhance the longevity and enthusiasm of volunteers, it's crucial to diversify their experiences within your organization. By introducing varied tasks, projects, and roles, you not only provide volunteers with fresh challenges but also expose them to different facets of your organization's mission and operations. Furthermore, facilitating interactions between volunteers and other members of your organization can be immensely beneficial. These interactions foster collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and the building of meaningful relationships.

Identify ways to meaningfully engage volunteers. Conduct assessments to learn more about the interest/passions of your volunteers. Volunteers will be more engaged, and less likely to burnout they are plugged into areas where their efforts are making a tangible difference. Lastly, share outcomes with volunteers. What did their efforts help to accomplish. That will bring gas to the pedal.

This is such a common thing. Trying to do too much. Sometimes it’s lack of support and other times it’s just pushing your self to far. The age old saying is, “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. Take care of yourself so you can take care of others. Also it’s just a good example personally and professionally if you set boundaries others will too.

Act of volunteering requires a healthy body and strong motivations for creating meaningful contribution towards society. One must continue with volunteering work at least for some time to witness the impact/ change brought in through her/ his contribution. Maintaining a regular routine and prioritisation of works are very important to survive and continue with the work as volunteers, which is quite rewarding. A volunteer must have the capacity to plan and manage work, without hampering her/ his own health and wellbeing.

Your purpose is what will motivate you long after any other incentives fail to do the trick. Diligent employers should be making opportunities to remind teams why they're doing what they're doing, as well as showing gratitude. Plus, not overloading them with work is important. It's hard to connect with your purpose when you feel undervalued and overworked.

Many who volunteer have an intrinsic reward system and sincerely support. One has to support them in their progress, acknowledge their contributions but what matters most is have them be involved in successes each project has. That is why they do it, to make a difference.

If your values don’t align with the mission and values of the organization then it’s time to volunteer somewhere else that does. To help with burnout, find an organization that you would go to bat for and can support what they stand for. If you believe in what they do you can feel rejuvenated when you are helping or volunteering.

Lack or absence of clarity of purpose can subliminaly influence a person's overall perspective to volunteering, you reconnect with your purpose by writing down a strategic monthly action plan, where you can write specific and deliberate actions you will undertake through a period of one month until the gain the lost passion for volunteerism.

Getting stagnated and demotivated with volunteering work are very common but avoidable challenges, provided strategic efforts are given to address them. Exploring, innovating and identifying new avenues, roles as volunteer can help in coming out of the stereotypical works that might reduce the level of motivation for volunteers. Once the work is enjoyable for the volunteer and proper care is taken to maintain the balance between health and work, it becomes easier to avoid the risk of burnout and loosing motivation.

When we decide to volunteer, it is important understand the value we are going to bring on the table. If the value you are bringing is clear, you will use intrinsic motivation to keep you going..

Choose your personal mission and vision as tigger When I was volunteering with an NGO, I sometimes felt demotivated due to the confused vision of the prime stakeholders. Many times, I wanted to decline my support. However, I questioned myself, 'Why did I join them? Is there anything that I am enjoying here? Are my efforts bringing any changes to the lives of those I want to help?' With the final replies, I motivated myself and continued working. I chose to align with my mission and vision rather than the NGO's.

In my experience of an extensive roster of volunteer assignments, I’ve noticed the difference it makes to have connections or a support system within the realm of the assignment. Connections or a support system can help refuel motivation and serve as accountability partners for your progress. They can also provide reminders for why you began the assignment and hopefully provide perspective about their own comparable experiences and tools and strategies that worked for them. Knowing that you have people in your corner or people that can relate to your experience helps bring a sense of belonging and purpose. I am glad to say that I have developed some very meaningful relationships through volunteer assignments.

Being in development, I frequently find myself assigned volunteer roles related to fundraising or grant writing, tasks that are part and parcel of my daily professional responsibilities. When I volunteer, I yearn for opportunities that diverge from my routine tasks. While matching volunteers with roles that align with their skills is essential, it's equally crucial to consider their intrinsic motivations for volunteering.