On 05/03/07, Anthony wikilegal@inbox.org wrote:
On 3/5/07, Delirium delirium@hackish.org wrote:
If it's a job that *has* to be done every single week reliably, then an unpaid volunteer is not necessarily the best choice.
Not necessarily, but possibly. I used to be an unpaid volunteer firefighter, and there were lots of things we did that *had* to be done every single week reliably.
One difference with Wikimedia projects is that the job is not as important - lives don't literally hang in the balance. But another difference which could more easily be made a similarity is that Wikimedia volunteers aren't as effectively organized. Volunteer firefighters were unpaid, but we still had a boss, we still had rules, we still had to submit applications, and go to meetings, etc. When it came time to send out fundraising letters, we were expected to put in our time and do it, even though few of us would have volunteered to do *that* job. Our boss (the fire chief), was paid, but not as a full-time salary, and he had a full time job too.
For most Wikimedia volunteers, none of this formality is necessary, of course. But for some other things it might work. If a competent person is hired as volunteer coordinator I'm sure this will become much more clear.
The life-and-death aspect of volunteer firefighting is not the only aspect of the job that makes you feel obligated to fulfilling it as if it were a paid position. Contracts are signed, uniforms are worn, there is a work place: cues and mechanisms associated with a paid job. Not all of these cues are necessary to highly obligated and committed volunteers: contracted workers who do not wear uniforms, save lives or attend a workplace feel obligation to fulfil their duties. Similarly, Wikimedia Foundation does not need to put all of these cues in place to develop a more robust volunteer base.
There are many steps which the Foundation could take to make volunteers feel the obligation and commitment of a contracted worker. For example, volunteer co-coordinators (who may themselves be volunteers) would be a big step to drawing a reliable group of volunteers out who could fulfil complex and time-consuming tasks. These co-coordinators give volunteers a point-of-contact; they also help to keep volunteers focused on tasks, &c. There are many similar mechanisms the Foundation could put in place to develop a workable volunteer-based infrastructure.
As Erik says, though we may be relatively unique, we can still learn from other organisations who rely on volunteers in a way we should do.