[23717] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] National Policy Question
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael Ryan Gallagher)
Tue Apr 29 14:02:46 2003
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 14:03:10 -0400
Reply-To: Michael Ryan Gallagher <famtree@UDel.Edu>
From: Michael Ryan Gallagher <famtree@UDel.Edu>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Then what non-Member volunteers are we talking about? Would this include
informal advisors (ie alums that help us out) or should we make those people
formal advisors to exempt them from the fee (I am making a specific
reference to my chapter here)?
Michael Gallagher
----- Original Message -----
From: "J. Busby" <jcb2181@texasonline.net>
To: <APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: [APO-L] National Policy Question
> -=-=-=-=-=
> I am a life member, so I wouldn't have had to pay under the proposal, but
my
> thought is this: why should a volunteer have to pay for the privilege of
> helping our organization? In my mind, it's similar to the Red Cross
> charging people for the privilege of donating blood. It just makes sense
> that an organization should bear the cost of keeping track of its
> volunteers/donors as a cost of doing "business".
> -=-=-=-=
>
> Volunteering is not exactly like giving blood. When you volunteer in the
> capacity we are talking about in this discussion there is a greater
> responsibility to hold to the principles of the organization and promote
the
> organization's good name. When you sit in the donation chair, you are not
> representing the Red-Cross... but if you were working the drive in a
> "Red-Cross Volunteer" T-Shirt.. that would be different. In recent
> blood-drives (not red-cross) volunteers have had to go through an
> orientation and have their name and drivers license number recorded in a
> volunteer log.
>
> In organizations like the Boy Scouts, people have paid to volunteer for
> years. The fees defray the costs to train the volunteer, communicate with
> the volunteer and they also pay for background checks and insurance to
> protect the organization AND the volunteer. For example, some of the BSA
> fees go to maintain the volunteer database, some goes to perform
background
> checks to determine worthiness to work with children and some of the fee
> goes to major medical, life and liability insurance while volunteering in
an
> official scouting capacity.
>
> Regarding this issue of the "cost of doing business". Donors already pay
> indirectly for the cost of tracking them. As a torchbearer for many years
I
> receive a certificate with stickers, a nice letter from the Fraternity
> President, a tax statement and donor reply card for next year. I know
that
> some amount (maybe $5~$10) of my torchbearer donation goes to maintain my
> donation! Collecting $5 from volunteers in exchange for some recognition,
> better communication and better volunteer training and development isn't
too
> much to ask. If the volunteers don't want to submit such a nominal fee...
> then in essence the undergraduates are "paying" to maintain their
volunteer
> base. If anything, I would consider it a tremendous "GIFT" to the
> fraternity for the alumni and non-member volunteers to support a
> self-sustaining volunteer program supported by a nominal fee.
>
> Another thing to consider is that this is not targeted to folks who come
> help out at the Chapter Car-Wash. These volunteers are the ones who
working
> beyond the chapter level in an official capacity as a representative of
APO.
>
> -James Busby
> Xi Delta Alumnus (Texas A&M University)
>
