I found this site dedicated to volunteerism issues and opportunities - Energize ... Especially For Leaders Of Volunteers. The best part of it (for my purposes, anyway) are the monthly 'Hot Topics' essays. I've added it to the 'Good Info For Groups' and it will provide good material for an occasional post.
This one, 'Volunteers Just Want To Have Fun', from October 2005 deals with the dilemma of nonprofit organizations needing more and more volunteers, people wanting to volunteer but having less and less time to do it, and the sel-defeating perception of volunteering being 'work'. The article advocates creating an atmosphere of 'fun' and 'recreation' instead of work:
Earning a living may mean having to grit your teeth and do some things you don’t like on a job. So if volunteering is not about money, shouldn’t it be a pleasure to do it? It’s possible to approach even the most sobering of situations with humor.
I can relate. Volunteering IS fun - once you get into a particular effort. The perception to an outsider (which you are every time you contemplate a new opportunity to contribute your time) is that it IS 
work. From finding out where to go, when, who else is involved, what you'll be doing, how much time you'll be giving, etc and balancing that with what you already do (family, job, etc), its a little daunting. And then when you do show up its either a lot of milling around, socializing, waiting for something to happen OR you feel like you walked into the middle of chaos - who's in charge, what are we doing, where should I go, what the heck is going on...?
Either way, eventually stuff gets done and you are all the better for having been a part of it.
Don’t make the mistake of interpreting these references to recreation, play, fun, or humor with a lack of concern about impact. I’m quite serious about that. But every once in a while we need a different perspective. Volunteers do not have to copy paid staff, they can find their unique way to contribute to the cause. In fact, we ought to be challenging volunteers to think outside the box, approach problems with a “what else can we do about this?” attitude, and experiment with options that may be unorthodox.
One of the aspects of volunteering that makes it 'work' is the constant sense of being out of the loop and not having a handle on the 'big picture' of what is going on. This is where a wiki can help (you knew I'd get around to that sooner or later). Being in the loop is both engaging and invigorating. When you feel a part of the big picture, the adrenaline flows and you want to stay involved.
Vvolunteer work is project-like. There is something to be accomplished by a group of people - an objective, resources, process, new information to be created and shared, and decisions made on a continuous basis. There is also some socializing that naturally occurs. Photos are taken, funny, poignant stories to relate, updates, a sudden need to report - all of it can be done on the wiki. In short, the wiki provides a simple means to reach out to people - events are planned, conducted, and recorded providing a rich history that attracts and engages people. It can end up becoming a perpetual newsletter.
The wiki is a much more socially engaging tool than email and cell phones. It engages people for community purpose and facilitating the task at hand in a much more socially satisfying way.
What our communities need is elbow grease – group effort towards the common good, rallying together, finding like minded people and working shoulder to shoulder. Having fun while putting forth this effort is the reward along the way to the goal. So is making new friends, feeling satisfaction, improved physical health, and all the other perks of volunteering.
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