Nonprofit attracts young adults to fill volunteer roles
The idea of volunteering may bring to mind training, strict schedules and some time spent standing around doing nothing.
But one Columbus-based nonprofit organization has changed the way young people volunteer, and it’s nothing like that.
Besa allows people to sign up to volunteer with just two clicks of their keyboard. Then it sends veteran volunteers along to guide the experience.
Jenna McAuley made those two clicks a few years ago, and she’s been hooked ever since. She’s put in 400 volunteer hours on 200 different projects since she started working with Besa, and she loves it. Now, she’s one of those guides, called a volunteer leader.
“I wanted something I would connect with, but I wasn’t sure what that was,” said McAuley, 31, of the Brewery District. She tried out different volunteering opportunities through Besa, finding ones she liked the most.
“You can try all sorts of different things to see what clicks,” McAuley said.
One of her favorites is packing meals for Meals on Wheels. She also enjoys baking cookies at the Ronald McDonald House and other “behind the scenes” activities.
“It’s a nice small gesture and I know it’s help and it’s a good thing,” McAuley said of her work with Meals on Wheels. “It’s kind of calming in a way.”
Before she found Besa, which is named for an Albanian word related to the idea that people can overcome differences and unite to fix community problems, McAuley hadn’t volunteered consistently in her life. That’s typical for younger people, according to 2015 statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
People ages 35 to 54 were most likely to volunteer and volunteer rates were lowest among 20- to 24-year-olds.
Millennials often get a bad reputation for being selfish and entitled, but to Matthew Goldstein, founder and executive director of Besa, that generation presents an exciting opportunity.
Goldstein is a corporate transplant to the nonprofit world, which he found while yearning for something more fulfilling than a market research job he admittedly loved.
Besa, which is funded by individual donors, grants and corporate support, started as a way for Goldstein to make sure he had no regrets in life and didn’t squander his time not being happy.
On a recent weekday afternoon, Goldstein was sitting in a local coffee shop, marveling at the work Besa does and at the level it’s reached. It’s been five years since the nonprofit began and more than 15,000 people have volunteered with the organization at more than 50 nonprofit organizations in central Ohio.
Of those 15,000 volunteers during five years, 58 percent have been the nonprofit’s target demographic: millennials.
“I’ve definitely seen Besa make a change,” Goldstein said. “To me, it’s the change on the ground, in terms of how people communicate with each other, how nonprofits show appreciation. Besa is a connector, of individuals, nonprofits and businesses, to create a big impact across a broad spectrum of need.”
The organization targets young adults and gets to them in a few different ways. One is its custom-built website, www.givebesa.org, where anyone can easily sign up for a one-time volunteer opportunity.
Another is through working with businesses that want to retain millennials. It offers a philanthropy software program to companies including Express and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
“The employees want it,” Goldstein said. “Especially for our demographic. They want to work for companies that are making an impact in their own community.”
Jeni’s, a local company, works with Besa a lot. Charly Bauer, the director of stewardship at Jeni’s, works with Goldstein to find opportunities where staff members can help in the community.
On a recent weekday afternoon, Goldstein and Bauer were at the Van Buren Center, a homeless shelter on the West Side, for a Besa partnership. Besa works with the YMCA, which manages the shelter, said Alison Kensler, program coordinator with the shelter, and it does a lot for its residents.
The shelter hosted a birthday party for children with birthdays in August on the last day of the month. With help from Besa, the party featured Jeni’s ice cream and six Jeni’s employees to serve it.
Sarah Moore, 24 and a Jeni’s employee, worked the cupcake table. Leaning down, she asked a little boy what kind of cupcake he wanted.
He pointed timidly to one on the table before him.
“Chocolate,” Moore nodded with a smile. “Good choice.”
She said she was excited to volunteer with Besa and likely would do it again.
“Nonprofits need to communicate with younger demographics differently than other demographics,” Goldstein said. “You can’t start with a donation. That’s not how you engage a millennial. (They like) seeing nonprofits on the ground and getting involved. It shouldn’t just be about the check. It should really be about your mission and getting people to connect with you.”