Volunteering (is it a good thing or are Companies being Cheap)

[Free Agent]

Was thinking about this recently. I know we have always had volunteers for certain jobs but these days I just can't figure it out who would want to waste their time not getting paid for a job they should be. Volunteering I feel has been used to make people feel like they are doing good deed but from what I see it being manipulated as an easy excuse for big companies to get away with having free employees and not paying anyone. Is that just a cop out these days. I mean look at it logically. Everything's is going up in the world. Prices are going up on all bills and people are not getting pay rises at their jobs with increased in inflation. The CFA is a huge organisation, don't get me wrong it's a great organisation and I respect what they do, but to me that's a job that should be paid by the government. It's just as important as Police and Ambulances. Likewise the hospitals. Good Friday appeal comes around once a year. Again is a great that the community gets behind it so we all feel good but should we. Don't the government pay to upgrade hospitals. If not why are they not dipping more money into it or do the government rely and wait so people can give their hard earn money for it.

Volunteering I just don't get anymore. I would never Volunteer. If I'm working I'm getting paid for it. Worked at enough big companies over the years to know how much they rip off their employees as much as they can if they can get away with it 100% they will.

Am I a a-hole or am I just a confused individual.

 

[the_interloper]

Better off volunteering for a local sports club or something like that

 

[perthblue]

Depends on where it is.
Volunteering at local sports club, parent volunteering at their kid's school, these things are pretty normal.

Those volunteers who do free tours at the zoo, or who guide people around hospitals. That's just unpaid work. Granted these volunteers are usually retired people who are happy to do it, but you'd never catch somebody young in those roles unless they saw it as a pathway to paid work.

 

[Caesar]

Nothing inherently wrong with volunteering. Being able to use your time/labour to support a cause you care about is a great alternative for people who have more time than money (e.g. retirees). But whether it's time or money, my litmus test is - if the donations disappeared tomorrow, would this service still be provided? If yes, then there's probably someone else who is better deserving of the contribution.

CFA is a pretty good example - if all CFA volunteers quit tomorrow, the government would have to start hiring firefighters. Politically, they couldn't get away with leaving rural communities unprotected. Hospital guides on the other hand are probably more of a 'nice to have' - if the volunteers quit then the government probably wouldn't spend money on it. So those volunteers are genuinely creating a service to benefit the community.

My personal bugbear is the various Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Every year they come around rattling the can, looking for contributions - but the reality is that if donations stopped tomorrow, Westpac would just kick in to make up the difference because the PR/advertising they get out of it is huge. The donations are subsidising Westpac's bottom line more than benefiting the community.

 

[fs88]

I understand volunteering at local clubs/schools to an extent - I don't understand how people volunteer at sports clubs knowing how some of their best players get paid - I understand they need the club to succeed on the field to stay viable but would still burn. But volunteering at things like the Aus Open make zero sense especially when the players have a prize pool of millions.

I've slowly started to feel pessimistic about charities. I read a quote that charities are essential services which the government refuse to fund and it has stuck with me since.

Eg. Good Friday Appeal - Kerry Stokes could sneeze and the yearly $20m donation could fall out of his pocket. Etc. I feel that charities are a tool for corporations to market themselves and align themselves with the community. Eg. Transurban 'donating' the use of the Bolte every year for r4k.

 

[PT Bar None]

Reminded me of this from WWE yesteryear:

 

[Over The Post]

On the dole last year, Salvation Army Employment Plus are my Job Service Provider.

Wanted me to work 15 hours a week as a "volunteer" in a Salvos op shop, to gain "work experience."

40 years in the workforce and 5 of those running multi-million-dollar retail operations.

Told them to GAGF.

Regarding sports events volunteering, depends on the event arrangements and the role. The ones I've volunteered at, I've either been in the thick of the action or else been right up close while its on. eg flag marshal at car races, or people marshal at the international equestrian 3 Day Event.
Volunteered use of myself and my motorbike to the flag marshal organisers at the Wellington touring car street races, was *ing awesome. Official Race Courier. Ride around the track picking up incident reports from the flag points to take back to race control, and spend the actual qualifying/races stationed with the starter at the start line. A couple of times they sent me out for a flat-out lap on a "hot" track (behind the safety car) to get a specific report back to the stewards. Be very different now with all the video feeds but it was an experience no money could buy.

 

[Frank Bunn]

I've slowly started to feel pessimistic about charities. I read a quote that charities are essential services which the government refuse to fund and it has stuck with me since.

There are some scams going on with charities. A multi-million dollar corporation can avoid paying tax yet the executives can pay themselves large salaries. On it's own, not having to pay tax is a way of undercutting the competition. But it doesn't stop there.

The smart ones hook into government handouts. For example, a certain 'charity' in Geelong runs several old folks homes. They should be a viable business from rental income and service fees etc, without paying tax. But they also act as an approved disability provider. They get NDIS funding for each participant then somehow are allowed to pay them only $6 per hour for a full hard work's day. They got the contract to maintain the local golf course. They can undercut any private tax-paying business who has to pay award rates.

 

[fs88]

There are some scams going on with charities. A multi-million dollar corporation can avoid paying tax yet the executives can pay themselves large salaries. On it's own, not having to pay tax is a way of undercutting the competition. But it doesn't stop there.

The smart ones hook into government handouts. For example, a certain 'charity' in Geelong runs several old folks homes. They should be a viable business from rental income and service fees etc, without paying tax. But they also act as an approved disability provider. They get NDIS funding for each participant then somehow are allowed to pay them only $6 per hour for a full hard work's day. They got the contract to maintain the local golf course. They can undercut any private tax-paying business who has to pay award rates.

Geez that’s insane.

Yep it’s a nice little tool for the rich to avoid tax.

It’s what apparently caused the demise of the Shane Warne Foundation because Warney kept flushing his private expenses through it.

I have a friend who used to work at an accounting firm who specialised for the medical profession and he said every man and his dog was setting up a charity to minimise their tax.

 

[Over The Post]

One of the biggest charity scams going is PetRescue.

In essence, it is a website with a terrific logo, offering paid data and image hosting to rescue organisations. That's it. That's all they do.

All the "donate" to help Save the Animuhhhlllls... they save NO animals, it's all done by people in volunteer organisations paying for the privilege of having their animals listed. The latest charity scam is to ask for ******* bequests. Bequests for gods sake. Aunt Martha kicks the bucket, thinks her cash is going to Save Desperate Animals About To Die, yet its going to pay for a ******* website.

The corporate "partners" are in it for the cash, eg PetStock can get favourable publicity in return for hosting adoption days (volunteers with pets attracting people to their stores) and big tax writeoffs for donating food nearing or past use-by for specially selected (by PetRescue) groups (which then often forward food on-the-quiet to less-favoured groups).

Just look at the accounts for this sham charity and see just how much goes in salaries and allowances and perks to the owners/founders/execs/whatever and how much to data hosting and website development.

Very few animal rescue groups have anything good to say about this "charity" but feel forced to keep using it as its pretty much the only game in town.

 

[fs88]

 

[Over The Post]

Click pic and then click the magnify button for full size article

 

[Nothing]

I'd happily volunteer at the Grand Final and know people who volunteered at Hopman Cup. They got free spare tickets with on court access to the games they were on.

 

[Richard Pryor]

I understand volunteering at local clubs/schools to an extent - I don't understand how people volunteer at sports clubs knowing how some of their best players get paid - I understand they need the club to succeed on the field to stay viable but would still burn. But volunteering at things like the Aus Open make zero sense especially when the players have a prize pool of millions.

I've slowly started to feel pessimistic about charities. I read a quote that charities are essential services which the government refuse to fund and it has stuck with me since.

Eg. Good Friday Appeal - Kerry Stokes could sneeze and the yearly $20m donation could fall out of his pocket. Etc. I feel that charities are a tool for corporations to market themselves and align themselves with the community. Eg. Transurban 'donating' the use of the Bolte every year for r4k.

It's interesting, I feel there is a strong ideology among those that are cynical/opposed to government services that they should be privately funded by wealthy benefactors for the good of the community. There is some value in this idea, but I feel that most would agree there has to be some sort of regulation to ensure the money is being well spent and isn't being wasted or redirected to the wrong places. This sort of oversight of the management of money makes getting wealthy benefactors to just pay it as tax probably winds up achieving the same thing with comparable/better outcomes anyway.

The issue is for industries like providing goods to the destitute, healthcare, or even volunteering for major sporting events is the idea that the private system will stimulate competition triggering improved outcomes by people providing a better deal for more customers doesn't work at all, since poor and sick people aren't exactly in a position to weigh up their options and there isn't really any incentive to provide more than the bare minimum (and with sporting events it's not like there's different arenas to host stuff for volunteers to go for a salary or something. The stadiums have a monopoly on it).

On schools, I respect volunteers and think it's a great way for public schools to provide a better experience for kids than would be possible with pure government funding which is good and builds community spirit, but have to say I am very cynical about private schools running stuff off parents 'volunteering' after also paying massive fees. If the parents are forking out dough I feel like the school should probably be spending that money for the community spirit rather than having the same culture as a public school.

 

[dumb]

I've spent time volunteering in various capacities, from sorting s**t-caked items left in donation bins, to committee of management / subcommittees.

There's good and bad in volunteering. If you're not employed or otherwise have the time you can acquire skills, meet new people, pad out your CV. Just make sure you set yourself boundaries of how much time, level of involvement, move on when necessary.
It's good to see a volunteer PD rather than attach yourself to some kind of nebulous role where you might be sprung with tasks you weren't expecting.

 

[fs88]

It's interesting, I feel there is a strong ideology among those that are cynical/opposed to government services that they should be privately funded by wealthy benefactors for the good of the community. There is some value in this idea, but I feel that most would agree there has to be some sort of regulation to ensure the money is being well spent and isn't being wasted or redirected to the wrong places. This sort of oversight of the management of money makes getting wealthy benefactors to just pay it as tax probably winds up achieving the same thing with comparable/better outcomes anyway.

The issue is for industries like providing goods to the destitute, healthcare, or even volunteering for major sporting events is the idea that the private system will stimulate competition triggering improved outcomes by people providing a better deal for more customers doesn't work at all, since poor and sick people aren't exactly in a position to weigh up their options and there isn't really any incentive to provide more than the bare minimum (and with sporting events it's not like there's different arenas to host stuff for volunteers to go for a salary or something. The stadiums have a monopoly on it).

On schools, I respect volunteers and think it's a great way for public schools to provide a better experience for kids than would be possible with pure government funding which is good and builds community spirit, but have to say I am very cynical about private schools running stuff off parents 'volunteering' after also paying massive fees. If the parents are forking out dough I feel like the school should probably be spending that money for the community spirit rather than having the same culture as a public school.

I don't feel comfortable in having genuine charitable services being held hostage by wealthy benefactors. It just sickens me that people like Palmer and Forrest who have no talent apart from digging up this country's resources are able to bask in all it's wealth.

Agree there would need to be better auditing of funds to ensure wastage is kept to a minimum.

 

[The Sultan]

Not quite volunteering but at maccas / coles etc when they ask you to round up your purchase or make a seperate donation.. bet the farm they then donate the money under their name and claim the tax credit and glory..

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

I understand volunteering at local clubs/schools to an extent - I don't understand how people volunteer at sports clubs knowing how some of their best players get paid - I understand they need the club to succeed on the field to stay viable but would still burn. But volunteering at things like the Aus Open make zero sense especially when the players have a prize pool of millions.

I've slowly started to feel pessimistic about charities. I read a quote that charities are essential services which the government refuse to fund and it has stuck with me since.

Eg. Good Friday Appeal - Kerry Stokes could sneeze and the yearly $20m donation could fall out of his pocket. Etc. I feel that charities are a tool for corporations to market themselves and align themselves with the community. Eg. Transurban 'donating' the use of the Bolte every year for r4k.

People volunteer at sports clubs if their kids are involved in it, or they used to play there and loved it. They have the time and want to help, getting paid isn't important. It's probably just a few hours a week. Kids' teams could hardly function if parents and friends didn't give their time, wash the uniforms, bring the oranges, be a goal umpire etc. The government can't fund everything and it's good for community members to do something to help.

Same goes for the CFA, and SES. Membership of these encourages being responsible for your own community, and being on the spot for local emergencies, instead of waiting for the government to do something.

Charities also depend a lot on volunteers. I have older friends who happily go off to work at Food Bank, or sort donations at the Salvos. I also have a young relative who works full time and still donates a few hours a week to volunteer at an animal refuge.

The charities do save governments a huge amount of money but there's a lot more to it than that. Without bureaucratic red tape they are ready and available to contribute to feeding and accommodating the homeless, providing support services for health and DV situations, emergency relief, community transport, legal advice and lots more. Services that can be arranged quickly at community level are also more personal.

There's also a social aspect to volunteering which is very important. Getting people out of their houses and working with/meeting others who are like-minded is very good for mental health.

 

[Perth gal]

I think volunteering is a great thing. It’s a way to get people involved in life, in helping others . I think it’s particularly good for the elderly, gets them out of the house.
We have volunteers come to the hospital to garden and to spend time with patients, they love it.

 

[Better Loosen Up]

I have volunteered with the RSPCA for 6 years.

I work in kennels which basically means 1 x 4 hour shift per week walking dogs and socialising with them. I have never seen this as a waste of my time.

I don't feel that as volunteers we are taken advantage of at all. All of the important work like cleaning, feeding and medications is done by paid staff. I wouldn't really consider what I do to be a job.

Sure, I could probably go and walk other peoples dogs and get paid for it but the dogs at the shelter rely on people giving up their time so they have the opportunity to stretch their legs everyday and not go crazy. It is not their fault they are there.

The RSPCA relies almost entirely on public donations and people giving up their time for minor roles like mine. Just from what i've seen, it must cost them an absolute fortune to shelter, rehabilitate and adopt these animals.

I think if people can volunteer doing something that interests them, it's a very rewarding thing to do.

 

[Caesar]

I think if people can volunteer doing something that interests them, it's a very rewarding thing to do.

I think that is the bottom line

Most of the volunteering I’ve done, I’ve got something out of it on a personal level

Best volunteering I ever did was ski patrol, great way to get cheap time on the mountain when you’re young and broke

 

[craigos]

Kind of related but the (majority) backpackers that "fundraise" for places like Surf Life Saving or Disabled Sports really grind my gears. 10 years ago I'd happily throw these organisations a tenner on my way past but these subscription like models of donation can gagf.

At least with World Visions sponsor a child you got something tangible in return for your monthly fee.

 

[raskolnikov]

I hate when someone on the phone or at the shopping centre says something like, "Don't you care about kids with cancer?" when you say no to donating. GAGF.

 

[Nothing]

I hate when someone on the phone or at the shopping centre says something like, "Don't you care about kids with cancer?" when you say no to donating. GAGF.

A simple "no" usually suffices.

 

[perthblue]

I hate when someone on the phone or at the shopping centre says something like, "Don't you care about kids with cancer?" when you say no to donating. GAGF.

I've never heard something like this but honestly I would coward punch someone if they said this to me.