Workplace volunteer opportunities have traditionally been a way to engage employees — to give them a sense of connectedness and ability to contribute to social good at work, which helps to keep turnover rates low. With much of the corporate world operating with remote or hybrid (i.e., partial remote) work, volunteer program administrators wonder: How can we provide these team building experiences to all of our employees?
What is a Virtual Volunteer Opportunity?
A virtual volunteer opportunity is a way for employees to volunteer either online, from home, or in their local community — even when that is not a location shared with other employees. This new approach creates opportunities for employees who are dispersed globally and perhaps were never able to be involved in team or company volunteer days in the past.
While it may sound challenging, creating volunteer opportunities that engage remote and dispersed employees can be done.
10 Virtual Volunteer Opportunities for Your Team
We’ve compiled a list of some unique experiences you can share with your employees.
1. Smithsonian Digital Volunteers
The Smithsonian Institution needs digital volunteers who help make historical documents and biodiversity data more accessible.
2. Translators Without Borders
If any of your employees have foreign language skills, Translators Without Borders can use them to help people around the world get the information they need in a language they understand. This could be an especially attractive volunteer opportunity if your workforce is spread around the globe.
3. Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is a nonprofit that helps people in crisis through “active listening, collaborative problem solving, and safety planning.” They are always in need of volunteers to respond to text messages.
4. UN Volunteers
The United Nations has a permanent need for online volunteers who want to use their skills and expertise to “advance global peace, development and humanitarian efforts.”
5. Soldier’s Angels
Soldier’s Angels is an organization that connects volunteers with opportunities to write and send care packages to deployed service members.
6. Be My Eyes
Provide virtual assistance to blind and low-vision individuals who need assistance. Be My Eyes uses a mobile app that connects you to those in need for a live video call where you can help.
7. WhyHunger
WhyHunger operates a nationwide database that helps people who need food. The organization needs volunteers to validate data that’s offered through a Find Food Map.
8. Red Cross
The Red Cross works with digital advocates who help take the organization’s needs and messages to audiences on social media.
9. Career Village
Give career advice to students who are trying to find their way in the working world through CareerVillage.
10. Cards for Hospitalized Kids
Make cards to encourage kids that are currently in the hospital. You gather supplies and make the cards, and Cards for Hospitalized Kids will put them into the hands of young patients.
Is Virtual Volunteering Worth It?
What inspires organizations to offer virtual volunteering options? First and foremost, it is one way to invest in the communities where you operate, and support non profit organizations that so desperately need volunteers.
In addition, organizations, and their employees, reap the benefits of volunteer opportunities — virtual and otherwise. In our Virtual Volunteering Toolkit, we share a series of stats that demonstrate the value of these programs. Specifically, virtual volunteering can lead to:
Happier employees
Improved skills
Stronger team relationships
Better employee well-being
Boosted morale
A Deloitte study also found that volunteering helps employees move more easily into leadership roles.
How Do You Engage Volunteers Virtually (and Keep Them Engaged)?
Engagement is always a challenge when all, or even some, of your employees work remotely. How can your company keep virtual volunteers connected? Try the following approach:
Research: Before you start planning virtual volunteer opportunities, talk to your remote workers to learn about what they want. They are your target audience, which makes them your best source of information as you get a program up and running.
Groups: Some companies use all-hands volunteer or group volunteer days and weeks to get more people involved and to increase engagement. Consider a Day (or week) of Action to concentrate your promotion of virtual volunteer opportunities.
Skills: A portion of your workforce may have unique skills to offer: health care, accounting, coding, writing, etc. Because geography generally does not limit virtual volunteering options there can be more opportunities to use those skills. That said, there are also countless virtual volunteering options that require no advanced skills at all–so any employee can participate.
Options: Provide a diverse set of volunteer options that allow your workers to find something that fits their interest and their location while also meeting a need.
Impact: Maximize your impact by adding a Dollars-for-Doers program, which honors your employees’ volunteer efforts by awarding giving credits that they can donate to nonprofits of their choosing.
How Do You Manage Virtual Volunteers?
You can spend a lot of time and effort managing a virtual volunteering program manually. Some companies may use spreadsheets for sharing options and facilitating signups and emails to communicate opportunities. But this approach makes it difficult to promote events, track hours, motivate engagement, and, ultimately, maximize your impact.
Choosing an employee volunteering platform can transform your virtual volunteering efforts. A quality platform will include tools for offering diverse volunteer opportunities. It will help administrators plan, share and promote events. And it will make managing signups and tracking hours as simple and straightforward as possible.
The more you can simplify and automate your virtual volunteering program, the more time your administrators can spend on maximizing impact (and other parts of their job!).
Want to add employee volunteering to your engagement programs? Check out our employee volunteering software and corporate volunteering experiences offered by our partner, WeHero.
