Ways to Engage Teens in Volunteering in India.
Volunteering can be an incredibly valuable experience for young people. There’s scope to learn, develop and broaden your horizons at the same time as making a difference to others. Getting teens into volunteering may not seem like the easiest task, but there are ways that can help to engage young people in volunteering.
Here are 10 suggestions that may prove effective for engaging teens in volunteering in India.
Understanding teens and what makes them tick.
Young volunteers are a different kettle of fish to older people who may have already spent a substantial amount of time volunteering. If you’re targeting teenagers, it’s so beneficial to gain an understanding of the modern teen and what makes them tick.
If you have an insight into how young people spend their time and their interests and passions, you can use this information to try and motivate them and encourage them to be enthusiastic about projects that match their hobbies or fit in with their aspirations.
Spending time with young people can give you a useful insight into what day to day life is like and provide useful information about what young people want to do and how they feel they could make a difference if they were to pursue an interest in volunteering.
Connecting expectations to opportunities.
There’s little point in spending time learning about young peoples’ expectations and goals if you can’t match them with suitable opportunities. Some people may be desperate to volunteer on certain types of project, but less enthused by others.
If you’re an animal lover, for example, the chance to participate in a conservation project may fill you with excitement and joy while a program focused on building schools or mentoring children may not be as appealing.
Everyone is different, and if you can pair people who have specific interests to suitable projects, this will help you find the best people for the job and ensure that those who participate in volunteering have a genuine passion for what they’re doing.
Engaging with teens using the right channels.
Today’s teens are very different to generations gone by, and they communicate and learn in a different way. To reach out to young people and encourage them to support volunteering schemes, it’s advisable to ensure that you’re using the right channels of communication. Think about how young people talk to each other and how they discover information.
Phone calls and letters have largely been replaced by websites and social media platforms. With many teens spending hours on their phones surfing the web, using appropriate forms of media is likely to spark an interest and enable more people to learn about the virtues of volunteering and the programs that are available to them.
Promoting the benefits of volunteering.
If you don’t know anything about volunteering, it may be difficult to take an interest, and you may dismiss it as something that’s not really up your street. However, if you have the chance to learn about the benefits of volunteering, you’ve got information in front of you, and you have access to people and resources that provide you with details about how volunteering could help you, as well as others, it’s likely to be easier to consider it as an avenue worth following.
If teens can see and read about how volunteering can change lives for the better, they’re much more likely to be engaged in the idea.
There are so many advantages of volunteering in India, and promoting the benefits is an effective way to turn heads.
Volunteering isn’t just a chance to help people in need. It’s also an opportunity for self-development and socialization and a means of gaining a new perspective on life and improving your career prospects in the future.
If you’ve never thought about the option to volunteer in India, taking time to consider these benefits could change your mind.
Providing information about volunteer opportunities.
If you’re a teenager and you’re thinking about the possibility of volunteering in India, it’s highly likely that you have dozens of questions floating around in your mind. If you’re keen to engage people in volunteering, it’s beneficial to try and provide as many answers as possible to the questions young people present.
The more information you can provide about different volunteer programs in India, the better. It’s so much easier to make a decision when you have all the information you need.
Be accessible and approachable and provide resources that give details about schemes and offer answers to frequently asked questions.
Utilizing talent and channeling interests.
Most of us are keen to make use of our talents and spend our time doing things that interest us. When you’re trying to engage teens in volunteering projects in India, it’s wise to utilize their talents and connect them with opportunities that enable them to use them in the best way possible.
It’s also important to consider the interests of people who may want to volunteer. It’s natural to be more passionate and motivated about something that really interests you.
If you can find opportunities that get teens excited about volunteering, you’re much more likely to achieve a positive outcome and encourage more people to get involved.
Communicating.
Communication is key when it comes to trying to get people of any age interested in volunteering. Be open and informative, ensure that information about programs is accessible and maintain contact with organizations or individuals who are interested in the possibility of volunteering in India.
Talking about different projects can provide a much deeper insight into what volunteering is all about than reading a paragraph in a magazine or a website. With open communication, teens can develop a much better understanding of what volunteering involves and how it could benefit them.
Encouraging socialization.
One of the best things about volunteering is the opportunity to meet new people. If you’re trying to engage teens in volunteering projects based in India, providing a chance to communicate and socialize with others could prove beneficial.
Many people are interested in volunteering as a chance to broaden their horizons and encounter people from different walks of life, and putting young people in touch with those who have volunteered in the past or even those who have benefited from projects, could help to drum up interest and persuade those who may not have reached a decision yet to proceed.
Reading is incredibly helpful, but being able to talk to those with first-hand experience is even more valuable.
Finding the right opportunities.
It’s common knowledge that you make more of an effort when you enjoy something. At school, there are always subjects that will interest you more than others, and this often means that you try harder in those classes.
The same rules apply to getting a job. If you’re eager to get teens interested in volunteering, it’s beneficial to find opportunities that fit.
Volunteering will be a much more attractive and appealing prospect if it involves doing something you love on a daily basis.
There is a broad spectrum of volunteering programs available, but many people have a fairly narrow view of volunteering, and opening teens up to diverse projects in India could lead to more widespread engagement.
Providing an insight into what volunteering in India means.
If you asked a group of young people which words popped into their heads when you mentioned the concept of volunteering in India, it’s likely that you would end up with an array of answers.
The truth is that everybody has a perception of volunteering and most will also have preconceived ideas about what life is like in India. Although some people thrive on taking risks or making that leap of faith, many like to be well-informed before they make a decision.
Providing an insight into what volunteering in India means and involves could help to inspire and motivate young people and ensure that they understand what taking part in a project or program entails and how it could benefit them.
If young people have the answers to questions, they know what kinds of programs are available, and they understand what kinds of activities they’ll be doing on a daily basis, this could help to make the decision-making process easier for them.
Volunteering can offer an array of benefits for teenagers, especially those who have an interest in travel, helping others and experiencing new cultures. It’s always beneficial to try and engage young people in volunteering, but in practice, this is not always an easy task to take on.
Volunteering may not be at the top of the list for teenagers, but there are ways of promoting opportunities and trying to engage with the next generation of volunteers in India.
Very few people like to enter into something they know very little about and providing detailed information and the option to communicate with current or past volunteers is a great way of getting teens involved.
It’s also essential to connect young people with opportunities and roles that match their interests and enable them to use their talents and indulge their passions.
Most people are aware that volunteering helps others, but the benefits for the individual are less well-documented and promoting these aspects of volunteering may make young people more inclined to get involved.
If teens are looking to Volunteering in India Choose iSpiice Volunteer India Programs.