Everything I Learned about Volunteer Management, I Learned After I Left It

Do you ever feel like you’re treading water in this vast volunteer management ocean? Struggling against perceptions of what you do that simply don’t match the reality? As Meridian Swift writes, “I know I did. It took getting out and drying off to uncover what was missing in my volunteer management career.”

In this e-Volunteerism feature, well-known volunteer expert Swift reviews how leaving the profession helped her gain new perspectives and insights into volunteer management, and helped Swift see that what she really needed, metaphorically speaking,  was a “boat. . . a sturdy foundation that would keep me from treading water.” As Swift writes:

“I began to look at it in a different light. What could have made volunteer management more respected? I dove into researching everything from HR trends, to systems and project management, to ecological symbiosis. Research made me realize that it is we, the volunteer managers, who must control the perception of volunteer management. . . So let’s pull ourselves out of the water and build a boat that lifts high the volunteerism sail.”