Volunteer-Based Organization 

1.     Volunteering helps the volunteer as much or more than the community they serve, and intrinsic motivation is regenerative. 

2.     Volunteering is free, but other forms of currencies are in play: developing deeper friendships, networking, increased happiness quotient, and most importantly, evolving to become the best possible version of oneself.

3.     Volunteering works on centralizing purpose while decentralizing power.

4.     While there are no formal power structures, it’s often a small core group that holds everything together, with many others contributing at different levels. Since the group is usually member-selected based on passion and purpose, we often get the right people. 

5.     Often, volunteering activity becomes the individuals primary identity.

What makes a volunteer-based organization successful?

Primarily, volunteers need to believe in the core mission and purpose because the rewards that “belief” brings are their only incentive. However, the intensity of that belief can vary. Also, volunteers experience the same pulls and pushes that paid employees would: career choices, family responsibilities, and the need for financial assistance. Volunteer-based organizations must recognize these concerns and try to mitigate them through appreciation of volunteer work, creation of roles within the organization, and devolution of some ‘power and authority’ in the absence of monetary benefits. 'Promotion’ We encourage “pairing” because working in pairs spurs radical ideas, imparts intense learning, and brings in continuous improvements. There is “role rotation” too: all event curators are changed every 2-3 years. This provides everyone with broader experience than they might receive in their workplace, where the desire for efficiency often causes management to shoe-horn them into narrow tasks.

Building redundancies is important, as volunteers often dial up or dial down their involvement. The unsaid rule within our foundation is that you must contribute to remain in the core group. Ultimately, volunteers should believe in their individual role but share common goals. They choose to volunteer mainly to give back to society and try to improve conditions within it. All we need to do is ensure that each volunteer continues to share the same vision and retain the passion they already have!