For those looking for how to cultivate a spirit of service in your organization, the answer may not be so far away. That’s what we will talk about today.
Creating the Spirit for Giving Back
Here’s a list of qualities you must ensure your organization upholds to guarantee a spirit of service.
1. It Starts with You
Before we begin, we must include this part. Within any organization, spirit starts from the top. Whether you see it or not, you set the tone of the whole operation.
By bringing a spirit of service to your organization each and every day, you will create a chain reaction of that same mentality that flutters all the way to the bottom.
In any business, the workplace environment begins at the top. Remember that. Now, let’s get into it. . .
2. Spirit Comes from a Mission
First and foremost, ask yourself what your mission statement really stands for. Did you write the mission statement with the spirit of your generosity in mind or did you write it to check off some important boxes for donors?
A good, authentic mission statement is important on so many levels, but one is to kick-off that spirit of service within the organization. In order to give it the spirit, it must be personal, individual, humbling, and completely authentic.
3. Spirit Spreads in Numbers
It is true, most spirit rides in numbers. If there are only a few people who understand the true spirit of your organization, it will be hard to capture that feeling of giving back. In that sense, it is important that those working around you every day understand the spirit your organization was born with.
If there is a core group of people who uphold the spirit of service, that environment will trickle down to the volunteers and others involved.
4. Personal Well-Being Goes a Long Way
There is no way you can cultivate a spirit of giving back if your battalion cannot muster the spirit. Your army must be in the right headspace in order to appropriately give back. Self health is important in the nonprofit sector.
That’s why we recommend take it seriously. Encourage your employees and volunteers to seek help if needed, take personal days, start meditation and yoga classes – anything you must in order to ensure their self health is in check so they can give you (and the cause) the most of them.
5. If Not Now, Then When?
Urgency. A bit of urgency can go a long way in cultivating a give-back culture. If you light a fire under their rears, your volunteers and employees will be more inclined to act quickly.
Don’t make the environment stressful, but remind everyone why their mission is time sensitive as much as you can. Make their days urgent.
6. Positive Outlook
Holding a positive outlook and giving a sense of hope to your cause is a tremendous workplace booster. We can’t tell you how often, as volunteers, we’ve been led by example. This goes hand-in-hand with #1.
And we can tell you, if one person can lead the next with a positive outlook, it is bound to trickle down. However, like we said, the positive outlook starts from the top. Bring hope and joy to work every day.
7. Social Proof/ Word of Mouth
There’s truth in relationship. If your friend has just given a raving review of their volunteer experience with said-organization, it is likely that the organization will be put on their map.
You want social proof. If people are talking about your organization in shimmering lights, that culture will naturally be passed down. It always happens like this.
So, get people talking – make it a communicative workplace and soon that communication will leap to an external audience.
Cultivating a Giving Spirit and Community
We love getting to work with an organization that spreads continual joy and a sense of true giving. That’s why we’ve partnered with some of our favorite causes as well as people. A sense of giving just makes the day happier.
Hopefully, this information has been helpful to your organization. If you’d like to know more about what we can do to help your cause, send us an email partner@volunteer-opportunities.org.