By Ramkumar Seshu, Author of Born to Win and Antar Prerana – Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
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Concluding my Conversation with the CSR Head of a Company, I told him “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦.”
Today, we complete our journey by exploring how to transform initial volunteering experiences into lifelong commitments to service—creating what I call “Sustainable Impact Communities.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿
In our “𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻 – 𝗜 𝗔𝗺 𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺”, we see people evolve through predictable stages:
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿
• Participates when invited
• Focuses on completing tasks
• Measures success by personal satisfaction
• Primary motivation: “This feels good”
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 Enthusiast
• Takes initiative to stay involved
• Begins to understand systemic issues
• Measures success by visible impact
• Primary motivation: “This makes a difference”
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟯: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿
• Invites others to join
• Creates new solutions to problems
• Measures success by community growth
• Primary motivation: “We can change this together”
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿
• Designs new helping opportunities
• Influences policy or organizational change
• Measures success by systematic improvement
• Primary motivation: “This is who I am”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝟭: Progressive Challenge Don’t keep people doing the same thing forever. As their commitment deepens, offer opportunities to learn new skills, take on leadership roles, or tackle more complex problems.
𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Volunteer → Tutor → Program coordinator
𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝟮: Relationship Investment The strongest predictor of continued involvement isn’t passion for the cause—it’s relationships within the community. Create multiple opportunities for them to bond with each other.
Example: Pair new volunteers with experienced ones, create small working groups for projects
𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝟯: Holistic Development Position opportunities as professional and personal development. When people grow through serving, they become invested in continuing that growth.
Example: Offer training in project management, public speaking, fund raising, community organizing.
𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝟰: Recognition Systems Create visible ways to acknowledge different types of contributions. Recognition isn’t just about motivation—it’s about identity formation.
Example: Social media spotlights, peer recognition, professional recommendations
𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝟱: Impact Transparency Regularly share both immediate results and long-term progress. Help them see how their individual contributions fit into larger success stories.
Example: Monthly impact newsletters, reports with personal stories, beneficiary thank-you videos, data dashboards
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁: 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀
The most successful initiatives turn every satisfied volunteer into a committed communicator.
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄:
The 90-Day Touch Point After 3 months of involvement, personally ask each volunteer: “Who in your network would be energized by this opportunity?” Then, help them make warm introductions.
The Story Collection System Regularly capture and share personal transformation stories from volunteers. These become your most powerful recruitment tools.
The Plus-One Strategy For any special event or project, encourage current volunteers to bring a friend and give them a task. Make it easy and rewarding for them to do so.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
When we successfully engage 30-year-olds in helping others, we’re not just addressing immediate social needs. We’re:
• Creating a generation of leaders who see civic engagement as normal
• Building social capital and community connection
• Developing skills and networks that strengthen our entire society
• Modelling for younger generations that success includes service
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳: 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴—𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗦𝗥 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱
The research is complete. The frameworks are clear. The path is illuminated.
Now, I invite you to move from “𝗜 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀” to “𝗜 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.”
Choose one insight from this series that resonates most deeply with you. Take one small action this week that moves you closer to creating an involved happy productive workforce in your organization.
The 30-year-olds in your network are waiting—not for perfect solutions, but for authentic invitations to become the people they’re meant to be.
The question isn’t whether you can attract 30-year-olds to help others. The question is: Will you?
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀:
This 5-day exploration combines behavioral research with practical implementation strategies, designed to help leaders, organizations, and individuals create compelling opportunities for service that resonate with the unique motivations and constraints of 30-year-olds.
Each day builds upon the previous, creating a complete framework for sustainable community engagement.
Share your experiences implementing these strategies. What works in your community? What challenges are you facing? Let’s continue this conversation and learn from each other’s journeys in building a more helpful world : I LOOK FORWARD TO TALK TO YOU. CLICK THIS LINK
