How can you encourage risk-taking in your volunteer organization?

1 Define your purpose

Before you can take risks, you need to have a clear vision of why you are volunteering, and what you want to achieve. Having a shared purpose with your organization and your team can help you align your actions with your values, and motivate you to pursue your goals. A purpose statement can also help you communicate your mission to others, and attract more supporters and collaborators. To create a purpose statement, ask yourself: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Who are you serving? How are you making a difference? What are your core values?

3 Celebrate failures

Failure is inevitable when you are taking risks, and it can be a valuable source of learning and growth. However, many people fear failure, and avoid taking risks because of the potential negative consequences. To overcome this fear, you need to celebrate failures, and recognize them as opportunities to learn, innovate, and improve. You also need to avoid blaming or punishing yourself or others for failures, and focus on the lessons and actions that can help you move forward. To celebrate failures, ask yourself: How do you acknowledge and share your failures with your team and your organization? How do you analyze and learn from your failures? How do you support and encourage others who fail?

4 Reward risks

Taking risks can be rewarding in itself, as it can help you discover new possibilities, develop new skills, and achieve new outcomes. However, sometimes you may need some extra incentives to motivate yourself and others to take risks, especially when the risks are high or uncertain. Rewarding risks can help you recognize and appreciate the efforts and contributions of risk-takers, and inspire more people to join them. Rewards can be tangible or intangible, such as recognition, praise, appreciation, awards, bonuses, or opportunities. To reward risks, ask yourself: How do you measure and evaluate the risks that you and others take? How do you reward the process and the outcome of risk-taking? How do you communicate and celebrate the rewards of risk-taking?

5 Collaborate with others

Taking risks can be easier and more fun when you do it with others, who can support you, challenge you, and complement you. Collaborating with others can help you leverage the diverse skills, perspectives, and experiences of your team and your network, and generate more ideas and solutions. Collaborating with others can also help you share the risks and the rewards, and create a sense of community and belonging. To collaborate with others, ask yourself: How do you involve and engage others in your risk-taking activities? How do you communicate and coordinate with your team and your partners? How do you leverage the strengths and resources of your network?

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?