2024 Election Thoughts (Part 2)
Ok, so now that the initial shock has started to wear off, I wanted to come back for a Part 2 of post-election reflections. Last time we touched on a bit of catastrophizing, which is a somewhat normal reaction to not-so-great news. But now that that part is over, let’s dive into the silver lining we can glean from the election and what it means for social justice workers like us.
Remember what happened last time Trump was elected? An energized, ready-to-do-something volunteer base. I can remember - after the initial shock of Trump’s election wore off - getting an incredible number of emails, texts, and reach-outs from people who just wanted to do something. There are hopeless romantics out in the world who believe in the principles of community and a better world who want to do something to create that world. You, dear leader, should have some places for folks to plug-in and help do the work.
Make sure you have some ready-to-go volunteer activities. Try to avoid thinking of stuff when people reach out and think ahead of time otherwise people lose interest.
Make sure you have a way to track volunteer hours. Don’t forget that you have to report on them. And if you didn’t know, now you know. Each year, you should be able to report on the number of hours volunteers gave to the organization.
Make sure you have a way to explain how your organization works and your core values. Well meaning people mean well, however, it’s important to have a way for people to quickly learn your guiding values and principles that govern your work. Without these in place and a way to communicate them, unnecessary violations occur that would have been easily avoided with a clear volunteer orientation process. Trust me, you won’t regret it!
I know it can take a little time to develop these things and you may be thinking to yourself, “I don’t have the time to do this right now.” But trust me, if you make time to do it now, you won’t miss the train and you won’t regret it later. If you need some help putting some things together, feel free to reach out! I’m happy to help you put a plan together that fits your organization’s capacity.
