Time and Knowledge Nazrana

Volunteer Name: Sabeen Virani  Dhanani

Assignment Location: Northeast USA

Time Commitment: 4 Months

Role: Project Manager

 

Task: Led a study that identified the motivations and barriers to volunteering amongst young professionals in the Northeast region including cities with deep talent such as New York, Boston and Washington.

 

Conducted a three stage analysis:

1) Hypothesis Development and Stakeholder Interviews

2) Survey Development and Roll Out - 200 responses gathered

3) Analyzed Findings and Recommendations - shared them with the Northeast Council’s

National Capacity Development Team and the National Grants and Review Board

 

 

 

The Northeast Jamat includes a number of well-educated young professionals living and working in major cities including New York, Boston and Washington. Despite this deep pool of talent, identifying and attracting professional volunteers has been a consistent challenge. It was under this backdrop that Sabeen Virani Dhanani was approached for her TKN assignment by Raheem Haji, the Capacity Development Lead for the Northeast. Rahim asked Sabeen to lead a study that identified the motivations and barriers to volunteering amongst young professionals in the Northeast Jamat.

 

Sabeen worked with a dynamic team including HR professionals Hannan Mohammed and Zahara Kanji as well as Alim Ladha, an accomplished management strategy consultant who served as an advisor to the team. Since the team was dispersed geographically (Hannan and Alim were both living abroad during the study), all communication was done via email and google hangouts.

 

The study was divided into three phases:

After interviewing members of the Northeast Council about their own experiences recruiting volunteers, the team developed an extensive volunteer engagement survey which was distributed throughout the region via Jamati email lists. It was completed by approximately 200 individuals. The survey provided evidence that backed up many of the hypotheses the team had about young professionals in the region.

 

The findings were that the Northeast Jamat has an extremely capable and willing group of young people who are eager to volunteer their time, and more importantly, their knowledge. An overwhelming number of respondents had been involved or expressed a willingness to be involved in Jamati work. Most of these individuals were not interested in formal appointments or recognition, but valued doing impactful work. However, due to a variety of constraints including professional demands and the de-centralization of the region (which spans eleven Jamats across several states), these individuals often had trouble identifying opportunities and in turn the Jamati Institutions had difficulty in identifying them. In addition, some of the individuals who had volunteered in the past felt that their backgrounds were not well-matched with their volunteer assignments, which led to disappointment because of their limited impact. Others noted that increased communication and flexibility within the Jamati Institutions would create a more enabling environment for volunteering.

 

For Sabeen, the most insightful part of this study was reading suggestions from respondents about what the Northeast Council could do to achieve this goal. These comments emphasized the need to increase communication and transparency in order to clearly articulate the vision of the Jamati Institutions to their volunteers. The volunteers also desired more project-based work vs. long term commitments and encouraged use of electronic communication. It was clear from the suggestions that individuals in the Northeast, many of whom are working at some of the best organizations in the country, are eager to bring these  best practices and principles to our Institutions. The team took this sentiment into account when a number of recommendations were made to the Northeast Council, including leveraging technology, increasing flexibility and preventing volunteer burn-out. 

When results of the work were shared with the Northeast Council, the National Capacity Development team and the National Grants and Review Board, it was met with very positive feedback. Since then, the Northeast Council has taken a number of steps towards implementing the recommendations. One example is the addition of a “Call for Service” section advertising volunteer opportunities in Northeast Ismaili Insight, a bi-monthly e-newsletter, which has already connected a number of new individuals with the Jamati Institutions.

 

Sabeen has been very grateful for the opportunity to fulfill her Time and Knowledge Nazrana. She was able to use her professional skills in a different context. It was thrilling for her to know that this assignment will further strengthen the institutions and pave the way for increased access to meaningful volunteer opportunities for young professionals.