You’re more likely to volunteer and keep volunteering if you find issues and projects that matter to you. For example, one family with teenagers was interested in technology. They liked taking photographs, working with soundboards, and doing video editing. They volunteered for a nonprofit organization that needed this type of assistance. Another family with young children helped out at an animal shelter once a month because everyone in the family loved cats and dogs.
- Identify your family’s areas of interest. Talk to your family and determine which issues you are interested in and which activities you would like to engage in. Are you most concerned about low-income people, senior citizens, refugees, or homeless individuals? Or is your family more passionate about caring for abandoned animals or the environment?
- It can be helpful to try a few different types of service or volunteering. Decide together the types of things you would like to try once, and start with those. Be sure to choose projects that allow every family member, regardless of age, to contribute in a meaningful way.
- Actively involve children in choosing and planning service projects. Pay attention to what interests them and what they seem most concerned about, as those are areas in which they are likely to invest more energy. Give them responsibilities that match their abilities and interests.
- Start looking for opportunities where you already have connections. For example, you may find appropriate family activities through a faith community (church, mosque, synagogue, temple, or other religious organization), workplace, or community or service organization.
- If you have friends or family members who volunteer regularly, ask them if your family can join them sometime. Talk with other families about whether they would like to do something together.
Serving others as a family has many benefits, including setting a very good example for your children. Getting involved in a cause that your family feels strongly about will make it much easier to continue your service for many years to come.
Reprinted with permission from Search Institute®. Copyright © 2009 Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org. All rights reserved.
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