Philanthropy, The Next Generation

CAP volunteer Nathaniel Tennant and his sister, Angelica, on a YouthFest site in April.

By Cindy Butor & Rayann White

In 2008, the nonprofit community experienced a shocking decrease in revenue: a loss of over $17 billion from individual donors. Since then, donations have been slow to return to their 2007 figures with most nonprofits saying that the recession isn’t over yet. In fact, researchers at Giving USA are calculating that it will take at least six more years for giving patterns to return to pre-recession levels.

The most obvious reason for this sudden decrease and slow return in the economic recession, which results in over 30 million people being unemployed and a national debt of over $16 trillion and climbing. Lack of job security and less upward employment mobility forced many individuals to withold their generosity.

Nonprofits are continually trying to find innovative ways to spread their message to new generations, through methods such as email solicitation, downloardable apps, and social networking. A recent report from DoSomething.org has shown that while young people are interested in helping nonprofits, they'd rather do it in their own way: through volunteering.

According to that report, over 93 percent of teens say they want to volunteer, but just over half (54.2%) do.

Their reasons for not doing so include:

• Their friends don’t want to do it

• The time commitment is too

• They just weren’t “meant” to be volunteers

• There reason for aren’t any volunteer opportunities in their area

The number one factor influencing a young person’s habits is whether or not their friends do so regularly. The report recommends that nonprofits create volunteer activities that are mobile, flexible, and above all, social. It concludes that, “Volunteering, like everything else, is about blending in, making friends, and having a good time."

The Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) has always strived to understand what a volunteer program should offer its volunteers, what it should accomplish, and how to let volunteers know they are appreciated. A common phrase with CAP is that "Volunteers are the backbone of the organization," and this attitude has helped CAP's volunteer program become a successful and wide-reaching program.

Annually, the organization brings in over 1,000 volunteers. These volunteers can be of any age, ethnicity, or income bracket, and come from every corner of the country. Many are affiliated with religous organizations. They can stay for as short as one week to as long as two years and learn a variety of skills including classroom management, teaching, contract work, basic carpentry, and how to relate to and serve victims of domestic violence. Many volunteers come back year after year.

One of the primary programs that hooks younger volunteers is YouthFest, a three-week long extravaganza that brings in over 400 high school students from around the country to repair and renovate the homes of economically disadvantaged people living in Eastern Kentucky. These high schoolers come with their parents, friends, and church or school groups, learning not only how to swing a hammer or dig a foundation, but also the true extent of poverty in Eastern Kentucky (where in some counties unemployment is still over 40%).

One such individual is Nathaniel Tennant, a 19-year-old long-term volunteer from Syracuse, New York who serves in the Elderly Housing program in Sandy Valley.

Nathaniel originally came to Youthfest in 2010 with his family and church, Pompey Community Church.

“I immediately grew attached to the program and the service that they did,” Nathaniel recalls in a recent phone interview. “Then I felt God calling me to come down and volunteer for a year, so I went back down in 2012 for Youthfest. It just kind of finalized my decision to become a volunteer, so I graduated high school and came down.” Less than one year later, Nathaniel realized that he wasn’t ready to leave the program after only a year of service and opted to extend his contract. “It started feeling like home,” he said.

Nathaniel comes from a strong tradition of volunteerism. Both of his parents have worked for nonprofits. His father, Steve Tennant, worked at the Syracuse Rescue Mission for 37 years (following a one-year stint as a volunteer) and is now the ministry coordinator and assistant pastor at the Pompey Community Church. His mother, Michele Tennant, also worked at the Syracuse Rescue Mission, which is where she and Steve met. For the past 19 years, she has been a stay-at-home mother and home school educator, teaching all three of her children. Thanks to his parents’ encouragement, Nathaniel spent his teenage years volunteering at the Rescue Mission doing maintenance and construction work, which led to a desire to have a career in construction. His three younger siblings have also volunteered. Both Nathaniel and his family strongly believe in the importance of volunteering. Nathaniel characterized it as “a way of showing God’s love to other people… to be able to minister and reach out just as Jesus calls us to do. He believes that volunteering is important for all people to do, regardless of age, saying that, "When you're younger, it really is a great way to be able to shift your focus and take time to see exactly where you're supposed to be headed for the rest of your life. Them, as you get older, it might be... just being able to take time, to pull away from the busyness and craziness of life and just focus on God and serving others."

Nathaniel’s father agrees, saying, “I don’t think there's anything more important that to serve others...to follow Christ's example to lay your life down for other people and to look out for the needs of others. It gets you outside of your own world, [and] it helps to identify the needs that are out there in other people's loves and in other communities."

The Tennant family was especially excited when, while attending YouthFest this year with their church youth group, they discovered Nathaniel would be their group leader. "That was extra special," Steve said in a phone interview, "to see him in action and to work closely with him...We're thrilled and proud of him."

Nathaniel, who will continue his work at CAP until August 2014, has found his volunteer work particularly edifying. Moving almost 700 miles by himself and living in a volunteer-run house taught him how to be more independent while his work and his housemates helped deepen and strengthen his spirituality. He is even looking into staying in Kentucky permanently, though he hasn't made any decisions yet.

In many ways, Nathaniel exemplifies the traits the DoSomething.org report found to be most common in volunteers:

-He came to CAP through a religious youth group, which is the primary organizer of volunteering activities for young people.

-He is a socialble volunteer, working alongside and being motivated by his friends.

-He worked with economically disadvantaged individuals.

-He, like most young male volunteers, volunteered in a way tthat required more physical activity.

-He became involved in volunteering due to his parents' influence.

-Finally, he encouraged his griend Carmen to volunteer a year at CAP, proving that young people are more likely to find out about and participate in volunteer activities if their friends do so as well.

The benefits of engaging young people in volunteerism are significant. Annually, CAP volunteers log over 150,000 hours of work - valued by Independent Sector at over $2.8 million. They complete construction projects that should cost over $10,000 for less than $2,000, reducing CAP’s overhead. They, like Nathaniel, become charmed by Kentucky’s natural beauty and plan to live and work in the area, which improves the economy. They learn valuable job skills which they can take back to their communities and future employers. These volunteers remain connected with CAP far beyond the time they serve, often going on to either donate or work fulltime for the organization. Of the 148 people who currently work with CAP, more than 20 had previously volunteered, including the organization’s President Guy Adams and Vice President of Human Services Anita Seals.

Volunteerism is truly the gift that keeps on giving and is one way for nonprofits to increase their vitality. It benefits both the organization and the individual, with volunteers rating 24% higher on a life satisfaction scale than non-volunteers. Over the course of the next 30 years, the face of donor demographics could change dramatically, but CAP has always and will always embrace the opportunity to engage younger generations with opportunities for philanthropic service.

To learn more about CAP’s volunteer program, contact the Volunteer Office at (606) 256-0973 or toll free at 800-755-5322. CAP accepts all volunteers regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, or income.