Man giving a rose to a lady, who accepts it gracefully

Men have given ladies gifts ever since couples have gathered into families, perhaps earlier! In the real world, ladies admire men who can set the gift giving bar high as well. Volunteering is giving of your time and expertise over money, something that is worthy for everyone to do, no matter what your social economic status or political leanings.

Donations are often thought of for charities, with fund raisers common for high profile charities that often as not are sponsored and have high status figures leading the fund raising. This helps the charity and the contributors often see benefits in the area of tax incentives.

At the time of this writing Warren Buffett is offering a free online course, “Giving with a Purpose” with the chance to help him decided how to spend over $100k of his sisters money! That kind of course is a first as far as I can tell.

Bill Gates

Volunteers without vast wealth are simply donating their time more than their money in the real world. They are often not able to donate their money in the sums that would make huge differences in the same way that Bill Gates does with his vast wealth, taking on diseases around the world. So time is traded instead of money. Giving your time instead of giving your money becomes the working class way of staying involved and still making a difference.

Bill Clinton, author of Giving, How each of us can change the world

In his best selling book, Giving, How Each of Us Can Change The World, former U. S. President Bill Clinton makes a very powerful case for how everyone in the world can help improve the world through giving or volunteering of their time or money or a combination of both, regardless of their social economic status.

He talks about the Make-A-Wish foundation volunteers who will “leave you feeling good about yourself”. On the next page of this book he relates about how volunteers built houses to turn over to residents in need for another charity group. The giving can come in many different forms and result in many different methods of helping those in need.

As a high status individual Bill Clinton has certainly provided leadership for giving that is way beyond what the normal man or women could do! He has social capital that most of us could only dream about.

In the real world, we have examples of political rivals who have set aside their differences to work together. Former U. S. President Bush Senior and former President Clinton have set a very high bar for such unified efforts, among them the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

Former U.S. President Carter has for years led programs of volunteers for very worthy efforts, with very high public praise for his achievements. He has certainly led by example when it comes to volunteering to make a difference in the real world.

The first U.S. President of the Bush family, George H.W. Bush had his faith based initiatives which resulted in the Points of Light group, a group still operating and helping others. Today he is visiting the White House where President Obama recognized the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award, which went to a retired farm couple from Iowa.

Giving and volunteering seem to abound in the top levels of American Politics, intersecting with the real world in a very profound way that has resulted in enormous benefits to mankind.

Campaign button for President Ford in 1976

American Presidents have a long tradition of enjoying volunteer groups, with 15 known members taking the first degree and 14 completing the required 3d degree to become Master Masons, the last one being Gerald Ford. Abe Lincoln petitioned but did not go through with the Freemason initiation and Bill Clinton was a member of the youth group of Masons, called the DeMolay named after a historical figure who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition.

Past U. S. Presidents who were involved in other volunteer groups which still operate today were Warren G. Harding, FDR, and Harry Truman who all belonged to the Masons as well as the Elks, the Moose, and the Odd Fellows!

That is a bunch of volunteering over time. It is worthy to note that these groups all share some common values, and they were at one time known to also have some initiation similarities. Today they mostly share a common membership belief in a Supreme Being along with what today we would call family values in various forms.

Teddy Roosevelt in Yellowstone

Teddy Roosevelt, our 26th U.S. President had a love of volunteering it seems, with his many accomplishments including the founding of the NCAA, his support for various conservation efforts which helped establish our National Parks, his many public service posts, and of course his most famous volunteer effort historically was his inclusion in the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, a portion of which he later led and was nick named, the “Rough Riders”. It’s hard to be more into giving of time or money than this individual, considering his impact on the future of our National Parks particularly.

Rough Riders photo

Of course, Teddy Roosevelt volunteered to be President so frequently that he was later the focus of legislation to limit the terms a person can serve for the U. S. Presidency! You can perhaps give a bit too much it seems.

Former President Bill Clinton wrote a whole book on giving as we noted above, with over 200 pages of examples and information on how individuals and groups can make a difference in today’s world. This post is not for book reviewing, but I would say that the book is a worthy start for those wanting to become an empowered volunteer or to rebuild America while seeking their potential for giving in today’s real world, no matter if you are unknown or famous.

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The report shows a list of the 50 worst charities.

Some of these charities seem little more than scams from the audit reports on how the contributions distributed to those in need were unearthed. Many have names which are easily confused with legitimate charities. This type of issue hurts everyone who is trying to help others while running a proper organization with good operating numbers for efficiency.

See the Tamp Bay Times article below for some of the issues.

http://www.tampabay.com/topics/specials/worst-charities.page

Many of the charities on the list investigated for fraud by the paper could be ones supported by volunteer groups who were duped into supporting them. If this happens and you find out that the charity is not functioning up to the standards you expect, you have the right to take the issue before your group for review and if necessary, termination.

Several volunteer groups have been in the news lately for various issues other than this article by the paper. I don’t want to review all of those issues, but one, the Boy Scouts of America has just taken a huge step away from its previous position of not supporting gay leaders or scouts. If I understand correctly, the lift right now is only allowing gay scouts, not scout leaders. In any event, this is a dramatic change of policy which is very likely to influence the future in many ways for them.

For the Boy Scouts, many of the sponsors are Christian Churches who contribute building space, time, money or equipment and often members from their own flock. Many Christian Churches are not in tune with the gay agenda, either for the scouts or for the scout leaders. No matter how this issue sorts itself out, the Boy Scouts of America will be viewed much differently in the future. Whither this change is good or negative will be for history to reflect.

The Susan B. Komen group supporting cancer research has been in the news for its struggle to maintain its famous 3 day walks for a cure in cities where they have historically been successful. This doesn’t make it a bad charity just because it has to refine the process soliciting contributions! Unfortunately this group has recently had political issues where it did not want to support Planned Parenthood with the contributions it had raised, a huge change in policy from the past.

That really unfortunate stand was not viewed by the public as positive and it may still be hurting fund raising. Very strong feelings on both sides of this issue make it volatile and I would encourage the empowered volunteer to say away from commenting on it as he or she attempts to find members for their group. Sometimes groups have to change to stay viable in the public eye.

The point here is that while all legitimate charities are worthy, unfortunately there are way too many in the United States operating under questionable financial arrangements or even fraudulent ones, and you are not obligated to continue servicing them if they are found out to be this way. When too much of the public contributions are not funneled to those in need, it can raise doubt on the validity of the entire group.

Sometimes even the worthy ones end up changing their methods, or their values even when social pressures become too great to bear. 

Groups like the Moose and the Elks have changed their ways to be more in tune with society over the years. They changed for good reasons and maintained their worthiness of purpose.

Sometimes a group must change or become less appealing to the public. One group used to proudly claim that over one million dollars of charitable contributions per day were donated to by it’s members. Dwindling memberships have since narrowed that focused amount to a far smaller one.

Years ago the Freemasons in America endured a huge drop in membership when an event now called the “Morgan Affair” hit the news. Freemasons were accused of abducting and silencing a man who had claimed he was going to reveal their secretes to the public. Unfortunately this silly event was believed by the public and for decades hurt Freemason membership.

                                               ’Worcester Masonic Temple – 7

Every Freemason knows that while the organization as it is today was organized in 1717 it was in 1723 that a book was published revealing all of the so called secretes. Funny, to this day not one of the “secretes” has been in any way modified or refined. So much for secretes that Freemasons would “kill” for, wouldn’t you agree? Today such nonsense from questionable sources would never be able to make the public believe such a lie, but in the early 1800′s things were far harder to communicate and folks believed the worst.

You won’t find a Freemason who believes that the “secretes” make him a mason. He will reply that he was first made a mason in his heart and then in a proper lodge. The secretes are only a focus by ill informed public who want to create tension, usually for their own purposes.

Always do everything you can to be above reproach in your dealings surrounding your group and the charity your group supports. If you do that, everything will work out for the best.

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I would ask you to consider the following quotes about human interactions and networking, called civic engagement and social capital by educators. We will then evaluate these concepts and how they apply to volunteering and the health of those who participate.

Joining and participating in one group cuts your odds of dying over the next year in half. Joining two groups cuts it by three quarters.

We’re not experiencing a Springtime of volunteering, but an Indian Summer, propped up by our nation’s seniors — who have been more civic throughout their lives.

Each 10 minutes of additional commuting time cuts all forms of social capital by 10 percent–10 percent less church-going, 10 percent fewer club meetings, 10 percent fewer evenings with friends, etc.

Civic engagement and volunteering is the new hybrid health club for the 21st century that’s free to join and miraculously improves both your health and the community’s through the work performed and the social ties built.

These factoids are quoted from The Saguaro Seminar, Civic Engagement in America, Harvard/Kennedy School.

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/socialcapitalprimer.htm

Social Capital is what is gained when people exercise their human network or as we used to call it, use “hook ups” to get either others to help with a project or locate something of value needed for an objective. Many military individuals were sent out to locate a “hook up” to get a much needed part, promising to return the favor in the future if he could, thus allowing a machine repair when the needed part was located through the network when the proper military channels were either inadequate or money was not available. Social capital is not confined to reciprocation of mutual aid or favors, but this is certainly one area where it thrives.

For historical perspective, this situation mentioned above happened way too often when we were building a 600 ship Navy during the cold war. Mechanics and electricians were frequently forced into “out of the box” part recovery efforts when money and parts were unavailable, yet the command structure wanted to get underway, no matter what. Without hook ups, many Navy ships would not have set sail on time in the 1980′s. Barter was common, with the most valuable trade good being a 5 pound can of coffee for many parts or services which were otherwise unsupported by the regular supply system.

Elaborate  systems and networks were formed which often spanned entire careers as enlisted sailors were promoted and transferred. The term social capital was not universal back then, but it was in use all the same. Connections with people who could provide services or parts were a necessary part of being a senior enlisted worker on both surface ships and submarines in my experience. Social connections could produce effects which the regular system could not or would not.

The person who could get the hook up through his network would now be considered to have high social capital and a raised status among his peers and his superiors. Their status raised as they were able to help their group function in an often defective world where money was not available and hook ups were the only commodity in use.

To be clear, social capital has been around for eons but the term social capital as it apples to civic engagement studies is relatively new. It took more than just showing up with coffee to get things in many cases, you had to know someone. You needed a network. Social capital is easier to evaluate in the civilian community today but it has had many uses in all of aspects of society, where ever their was a need.

Social Capital as it applied to civic engagement and volunteer groups was a central premise of the book, “Bowling Alone”, by Robert D. Putnam, a Harvard Professor. He showed through data analysis that many volunteer groups which had thrived after the WWII years were in sharp decline in members, which resulted in declines for the help and aid given to the charities that relied on the volunteer groups for so much support. Groups like the Freemasons, Elks, Moose, Lions, and many others were part of his over all studies in declining memberships.

The secondary value of this concept of networking and social capital with regard to volunteering on an individual basis is not only the ability to get things done but also the health benefits to those involved. The bottom line is that many studies have verified that their is strong evidence for the positive health benefits for those individuals who exercise passion in their networks and their volunteering. Even expanding your social network has beneficial health benefits some studies have shown.

Another positive aspect of social capital is the ability of social scientists to measure it. The Saguaro Seminar has bench marked survey results from 2000 and again from 2006 on the same communities, with demonstrated changes and trends shown in the final evaluation. This kind of data analysis demonstrates the impact that social capital and civic engagement can have on individuals and communities.

Volunteering produces many health benefits for the individual but also produces, when practiced by a passionate volunteer a much larger effect than most people would believe. This win-win benefit between the individual and the group seeing the volunteering can’t be ignored.

This is the ideal of the empowered volunteer. When an empowered volunteer embraces the passion for the group and shares the news with the world, many from that previously uninformed world will want to participate. Thus all involved benefit and everybody wins.

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