I just wanted to add a couple of comments regarding the previous post on volunteering in Islam.

After volunteering in Muslim organisations for about 7 years now, I've seen a number examples of good volunteers vs. bad volunteers. Although I do not like to group volunteers into such categories, because essentially all volunteers are doing a good job and giving up their time for a worthwhile cause, yet it's hard not to notice a distinction between the 2 groups of volunteers: "Bad" volunteers come and go when they please, rarely achieve anything, and their existence is pretty much equal to their non-existence in the organisation. "Good" volunteers, on the other hand, are the driving force behind the organisation, achieve a lot, move things a lot and even gain a lot from their experience in the organisation.

Many people will blame the individual's level of commitment as the cause behind the above distinction, but I would argue that the organisations that recruits volunteers have a key role to play as well. 

How many times have we worked in organisations, where we had no clue what we were supposed to do, neither did the organisors! Now, some people who are efficient self-starters are able to quickly identify areas of contribution within the organisation and 'get on with it'. Other people may not possess that quality and would rather sit on the side and wait to be told what to do. So the first way to convert "bad" volunteers into "good" volunteers is to identify roles and tasks BEFORE you recruit the volunteer! If there are no given tasks/roles, the volunteer who doesn't understand the concept of "get on with it" will quickly get bored and perhaps leave the organisation.

Moreover, as an organisation make sure you spend time on "recruiting" your volunteers. There's no point randomly selecting people, just because they have free time. Make working for your organisation seem like a privilege rather than a right, and watch your volunteer show how keen they are to stay on and help!

A word to volunteers here though: I wrote an article once about the power of the question "what can I contribute?" this queston can be applied in your volunteering role as well. Even if the organisation you're working for doesn't "seem" to need you (and trust me, they do!) it doesn't mean that you cannot contribute. A lot of times we expect to be told what to do, but for the organisors who got a million and one things to think about haven't thought about what sort of help you can provide. Make yourself useful by contributing to the tasks you think you can do really well in without being invited to them. Once you start working and volunteering, slowly slowly your mark on the organisation will grow and the organisors will know how to utilize you better and what sort of skills you have.

Just my thoughts...what have you noted about volunteers in your organisation?