I believe that deep down, most people are pretty good, despite the fact that we all screw up, some of us worse than others. There will always be exceptions, but I think the bulk of those fall into various categories of mental disorders and mental illness.
Because people are decent, for the most part, I also believe that on some level people want to help others, or they may be motivated to help an organization. This often manifests as serving or volunteering.
To serve well there are a few things to keep in mind:
1) What is motivating you to serve?
2) What is the strength you can bring to the person or organization you want to serve?
3) Are you keeping your service in balance with other areas of your life such as your family, job, health, education and spiritual practice?
Let's take these one at a time.
Motivation
Webster's Online Dictionary defines motivation as "the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior."
So, what is your motivation? If you want to help an organization out of the true goodness of your heart, that is a great motivation. However, sometimes the reason someone does something is not really to help the person or group. Assistance to those entities is usually a by-product of the volunteerism. Sometimes a person volunteers because they want to be the leader, the top dog who gets the accolades and attention.
I'm sure we've all met or been exposed to some kind of glory seeker. Often when the glory seeker works in an organization that s/he doesn't really love volunteering becomes more of a chore. Glory seekers can change if they find the organization they can truly get behind and then the chore becomes a fulfilling joy.
Strengths, Gifts, Talents
In this context we are looking at strengths as those skills, knowledge and passion a person possesses. For example, I am passionate about writing, but one of my strengths is not mathematics. I enjoy serving in a capacity where I can write articles or recaps of meetings and teachings but don't ask me to be the treasurer. Put me in that position and my stomach will twist like a kind in a heavy wind. Eventually I'll resent the work (probably pretty darn quickly) and that will lead to avoidance tactics.
I'm an avid note taker, so I do well in a volunteer position as a secretary of a group. In general, I do not like being a chief, I'd rather be in the trenches doing what I am physically capable of doing.
The point of all this is to serve where you can play to your strengths. There's a reason all of us aren't accountants or artists, or performers. If your strengths aren't well matched to where you are volunteering, it would be easy to get discouraged. Serving outside of your area of giftedness can definitely lead to frustration, but all that means is that you aren't tapping into your talents.
Don't give up! Your group needs you and your strengths and talents. If you are mismatched, try to figure out where those qualifies can be best put to use. There is nothing wrong with certain positions and activities being out of your wheelhouse. All you need to do is find the right one - the place where you really belong.
Life Balance
You've probably heard this at some point in your life - "I can't do it anymore, I'm just burned out."
There is not a person alive who is good to any person or group who is burned out. When I hear the phrase "burned out" I think of a candle that has used up all its wick, or the booster on a rocket that burns its fuel and jettisons the container because it is no longer needed.
Sometimes with volunteering, there are times of stress. A treasurer may have to do end of the year taxes for the organization, along with his/her own. That can be exhausting, but it is temporary. Running a fund raiser or a contest can be cyclical, and as such, when it is time to get to the final product, there can be stress.
What we're looking at here, though, is feeling this way all the time. If you are in a constant state of stress over what you are doing for your organization, it may be that you yourself are out of balance.
It is never wrong to put your health first. You can't do a good job serving others if you are ill. That means eating properly, sleeping enough and keeping everything balanced.
If you love attending your church and your serving gets in the way of you attending worship, you are out of balance.
It's like what they tell you when you fly. If the oxygen masks drop, you are supposed to put yours on before you help someone else get theirs on. Volunteering should bring you joy and bless others as you use your talents and gifts to come alongside those who need your help.
Wherever you are, there is something you can do to help others. Before the site finally closed there were a few of us that spent a good amount of time trying to shore up the spirits of our comrades. Unfortunately, it was a little too late, but we were trying. I think all of us felt good about our efforts.
Soup kitchens, writing articles, organizing a closet, cleaning, answering the telephone, manning a garage sale table, brainstorming ideas - we all have abilities and passions that can be put to good use helping others.
Helping others will be a lot easier for you if you Keep the right motivation, your strengths/abilities, and balance in mind.