Informal Volunteer Massage Team Brainstorming

[rbabz]

I'm very interested in starting an informal volunteer massage team in my area. I'd appreciate you brainstorming with me on caveats, ideas, suggestions...

I picture it being set up as a monthly opportunity at first. I am willing to coordinate it. I'm thinking I would request a simple application, short interview/orientation (phone or face to face) to meet the prospective team members, copies of license (TX requires licensure) and insurance for each therapist.

I could post the opportunities via a members only yahoo group to prevent general public knowledge for safety reasons. I've met many therapists who are interested in volunteering...just need someone to lead/direct the efforts.

(I'd love to have this become a non-profit deal open to grants at some point in the future)

I get so much from volunteering and would love to spend time with other massage therapists doing these type of things.

Ideas? Suggestions? Caveats?

Thanks so much!

 

[d i a n a = ]]

No ideas or suggestions at this point, but I do have a colleague here in Wisconsin who is interested in the same kind of thing...
So I am definitely anxious to see where you go with this!

 

[Magic 8 Ball]

Thanks maestra! I'll keep you posted.

 

[Kar]

I wish this topic got more hits. I too am thinking of a forming a volunteer massage team in my area, San Jose, for farmworkers and day laborers who would need it most.

However, I'm still a student and haven't come across too many MTs interested in my idea yet.

I would love for it to become a non-profit as well. I'm drawing some inspiration from Seattle's Alternative Healthcare Access Campaign, but most of my inspiration for setting up a massage team/non-profit is from my past experience working with the under-appreciated.

Hope we can figure out a way!

 

[Oliver Clothes-off]

I can tell you from doing research for a non-profit, your therapists do not have to volunteer to work for free - but they must provide a service to the community for free. It may be this misunderstanding that most of us have that discourages people from becoming a non-profit and doing "volunteer" work.

You and your board raise funds that can pay for their services (at least in this state, YMMV - check with a tax attorney).

It is a fairly easy process to become a non-profit; getting tax-exempt status is the part that is time consuming and could be costly.

 

[YUM YUM]

i believe if you apply for grants and such you would include the MT's salary into the budget so yes the MTs get paid but the organization is still non profit and the service would be free.

i've also thought of starting a non-profit. i thought i'd start out not really getting paid because i assume i'd have to show that there is a need and desire for the service before getting government funding. if you could get 31 therapists to commit to volunteer a couple of hours one day a month than it doesn't seem like too much to ask. i took the time to try and research as much as possible how massage would benefit the group i'm targeting because, like i said you'll have to show this is actually benefiting the community. some groups i've thought of targeting are elderly, low income folks in public housing, battered women to help get them used to good touch again (i'd just do chair massage with them because of what they've gone through. i imagine they wouldn't want to be nude or massaged for very long) and also people in drug recovery. it's important to have the ability to work with the other professionals the people are dealing with. you'd have to work with the battered women's shelter and probably the person the women are seeing for counseling, for example.

i'm not sure if this is the information you were looking for. let me know how it goes!

 

[Texas Chic]

I can tell you from doing research for a non-profit, your therapists do not have to volunteer to work for free - but they must provide a service to the community for free. It may be this misunderstanding that most of us have that discourages people from becoming a non-profit and doing "volunteer" work.

You and your board raise funds that can pay for their services (at least in this state, YMMV - check with a tax attorney).

It is a fairly easy process to become a non-profit; getting tax-exempt status is the part that is time consuming and could be costly.

Thanks for pointing this out-!

(I Want to get this started in Canada, too._)

 

[Mistress Mayhem]

Volunteer

I wonder why the need for a non-profit status would be needed. I have done a lot volunteer work (Free) for non-profits. Why would you want to create another non-profit, which would take donated or government funds from another needy organization? I get confused with people wanting to “volunteer” or wanting to get paid? I understand in some instances you may want to get reimbursement for transportation etc, but I look at that as being a form of a donation. I see it 2 ways, you can donate financially to a cause or you can donate your time. We can donate out time to any organizations/functions. I have only been a LMT for a year and I have done countless volunteer gigs, for women’s clubs, ladies spa days to raise funds for a friend’s church, I go to my local Senior Center the first Wed of every month and offer free massage. Prior to massage school I was a volunteer at a women’s crisis center for 5 years, committed to 40 hours a month, as well as one day a week at the senior center….there are so many organizations that we can help.
What about MERT? (Massage Emergency Response Team). I am interested in taking the training some time. When I mentioned it to another massage therapist that I know, she’s been a LMT for 20 yrs, she said “you don’t have to, you can offer massage to anyone/group at any time, don’t need special training in most cases.” She is sort of right. I donate gift certificates to non profits for auctions and drawings. I see all of the donated massage as a form of advertising. I take my massage chair and offer chair massage at most functions that I go too. In most cases organizers call me and ask for either a gift cert or for me to volunteer chair massage, but we can call organizers and offer our services organizations as well.

As for Farmers or any particular groups that you want to support, look into their particular organizations and inquire when their monthly meetings are and if you set up there and offer chair massage. It’s a lot less red tape to just find a group or 2 and support them without the non-profit paper trail etc. Volunteer for an already existing non-profit is my 2-cents.

Dancing Leaf

 

[surojabu]

Along the lines of supporting an existing cause, check out Touching the World. This non-profit was founded by the owner and director of the massage school I attented. You can support financially (have a fund raiser and donate proceeds) or you can even open a branch in your area.
Here is the link:
http://ttwonline.org/

The purposes of Touching the World include, but are not limited to:

1. Promoting the awareness of the problem of human trafficking by arranging and promoting a variety of educational events targeting the general public and other interested agencies. These programs will be designed to educate people about the problem and to offer opportunities to provide support to the victims.

2. Supporting victims of human trafficking by offering advocacy, resources and referrals. This will be accomplished through maintaining a current database of available community resources and financially supporting these resources.

3. Maintaining facilities and equipment for promotion of programs that promote the reduction or eradication of human trafficking.

 

[akaMaryn]

My most recent copy of Massage Today features (link to article here) a non-profit called Touch of Relief. Their mission is:

Touch of Relief, Inc. (TOR) is dedicated to providing, coordinating and promoting compassionate complementary and alternative healthcare, wellness education, vocational training programs, and humanitarian aid to underserved communities affected by natural and man-made disasters, conflict and poverty.

Working in partnership with organizations and professionals in the various healing arts including massage therapy, yoga, acupuncture, and reiki allows us to create a true healing space where the need is greatest.

This link will take you to the page with volunteer information. It seems like this is a group of people doing some truly great work.
http://www.touchofrelief.org/