The Search for Meaningful Work

How Volunteering Can Provide Relevance and Opportunity When Your Job Does Not

I once had a job where I submitted policy language from new insurance products to state regulators for their approval. No offense to anyone in the insurance industry or government bureaucracies, but it would be difficult to find a task that mattered less or was more boring than tweaking insurance policies to fit insurance regulations. Monday mornings were not exciting because it was not meaningful work.

How about you? Do you find meaning in your job? Are you given opportunities to stretch your abilities and take on challenges? If not, you’re not alone. Recent surveys from the Conference Board and Harris Interactive report similar results—that only about half of us find satisfaction at work. The reasons vary, but one frequent complaint is not performing work that matters. Another is believing you can do more than your current responsibilities call for, but not having the opportunity to try.

Volunteering can help you sharpen skills and stand out professionally.

While I can’t do anything about your current job, maybe we can help each other. For the last several months, we’ve been hard at work launching the Ananias Foundation. I’m confident that soon we’ll have the kind of impact in stopping domestic violence that will naturally attract donors, and can therefore hire staff members to help fulfill our mission. In the mean time, we have a lot to build. That means we need to build this organization with talented and passionate volunteers.

As a startup organization, we need high-level, professional help on several fronts. Not the typical, “show up and we’ll have you set up chairs and sit at the registration table” kind of volunteer. Nope. We’re looking for individuals who would find it gratifying to use their best, God-given talents and hard-earned experience for something that matters–improving the lives of abuse victims and their families, while also helping the individuals that cause harm get back on track with the life they were designed to live. While we’re not offering pay, we are offering the chance to help us build the organization from the ground floor. Interested?

We are virtual, so you’ll have the flexibility to set your own schedule and work from wherever you want. Since we are taking you as a volunteer and not as an employee, you don’t need a resume full of experience to get the level of challenge and responsibility we are ready to hand to our successful candidates. Your college classes, late-night reading, or Saturday morning dabbling in one of our areas of need qualifies you to be considered. Feel free to use your volunteer work with us to build your resume! On the other hand, if you’re an old pro, we’d love to have your talents, too.

We would be blessed by someone giving anywhere from a few hours of their time in a consulting role to many hours by taking charge of certain initiatives. Your offering is up to you. Specifically, we’re looking for volunteers with expertise in:

• Public relations – especially with connections to talk radio, bloggers, and podcasts that focus on social issues or faith-based projects
• Marketing – especially experience with social media and email campaigns
• Copywriting and editing – to produce more content and other materials that we know will be useful
• UI/UX – to continue to improve our website and the experience our users have when they visit
• Video production – video is a powerful way to show examples of the concepts we’re share here
• Information technology – especially in developing web page related applications on WordPress (chat forums, donor engagement, volunteer engagement)
• Grant searching and writing – especially experience with grants related to social issues or public health
• Fundraising – someone who thinks strategically about fundraising and someone who is good at sharing the Ananias story with individuals and corporate donors

If you’re looking to do something meaningful, to stretch your interests into experience, and you have a bit of time to share with us, then we should get to know each other. Please send me an email at connect@ananiasfoundation.org or use the contact form on our website to introduce yourself. We are excited about the possibility of having you and your professional skills on our side!