I've heard of Volunteers being treated badly by their "bosses". It seem completely idiotic for them to be treated badly for do a job they are doing in there free time and aren't even getting paid for. Some "bosses" even have the volunteers do all of there work for them while they just sit there and get paid for it. Yet they chastise them for minor issues. Should they really be allowed to do that? Don't you guys think they should appreciate everything the volunteers are doing for them even if they mess up? What do you guys think?

They should appreciate the volunteers effort to help out because they are taking out of their own free time to help out. At least be grateful for people wanting to help without pay

Edited February 14, 201312 yr by Gumi

Some bosses are extremely ungrateful for anything, those people do it on their own time and they get treated badly. Wtf world

That's terrible. Volunteers don't even get paid, they use up all their free time where they could be at home sleeping all day, video gaming, playing sports, or whatever and they're being treated like crap for their generous donations of time? Messed up.

I'm a volunteer and I can say i've never had a bad boss. I feel bad for people that do though, you're right. They are there giving a service for free, and only 11% of the people in the U.S. volunteer, so it's not like there is a high number who do it. We need to make people want to volunteer by offering kindness.

Condolences.

I work a volunteer position at a high school concessions which donates all proceeds to the sports boosters of the school. I'm wouldn't say I've been explicitly treated like crap, but I can definitely say that the few volunteers we have are taken for granted or like lesser parts of the machine. Without the hours we put in for zero compensation, the sports program would be down thousands of dollars, yet we constantly have staff FROM THE SCHOOL stealing our supplies, food, equipment, and using our facilities without permission. And when these individuals are called out on it, or caught on tape, they slip through the cracks because they've buddied up with someone in the system. 

 

If you see or know a volunteer, please treat them and their cause with respect, because odds are good they aren't getting a lot of it.

Eh, as someone who volunteers a lot, I'd say it depends. There are a lot of times the "bosses" (I've never heard them called boss--it's usually the organizer or their name) NEED to yell at you for minor things. My unit did some work at a hospital in the ICU, and we deserved to be yelled at if we messed up because it was some serious business. On stuff like soup kitchens, blood drives, etc. it might be a little excessive, but with all the volunteer coordinators (Also, unless there's some weird case, these "bosses" are RARELY ever paid ANYTHING) I've ever met (probably around 50-80) none have ever been mean to me or anyone I know. This is most likely an isolated incident. 

I do a lot of volunteer work, and it doesn't seem right to get angry at a free worker; there has been occasions though where the workers can actually cause distraction and/or slow down a task. I wouldn't get angry, I would just simply move them to a simpler task where they could be more efficient.

That's terrible A volunteer is there to help and doesn't even get anything. They shouldn't be treated badly. And they shouldn't have to do all of the work that's for sure.

I've been a volunteer at numerous jobs, and have quit all but one because of how I was treated.  And often, I was treated badly by other "more senior" volunteers who (I guess) were flaunting their "power" as senior volunteers on newbies like me.  So next time some place is crying about how they can't get volunteers, you might ask them WHY.  Have you had volunteers in the past and they quit -- and if so, was it because of how you treated them?  🙂