Planning volunteering initiatives with a hybrid workforce can be challenging, especially considering that many nonprofit organizations still don't have the capacity to host large groups of volunteers on site. These challenges raise an important question: how can your organization generate meaningful impact in the community AND bring your whole team together? You can plan a Day of Service!
But what does it really mean to plan or participate in a Day of Service? We’ve put together this comprehensive guide on everything there is to know about coordinating a successful Day of Service with your team.
Why Plan a Day of Service?
On a Day of Service, corporate teams and community organizations can join forces to create positive change and impact. We encourage companies to designate several days of the year for encouraging employees to give back to the community through volunteering. While chats at the coffee machine and team lunches are great, going out into the community and making a collective impact as a team is an amazing way to encourage collaboration and boost morale. Nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers, and we’ve repeatedly heard great feedback from our community partners on how much they appreciate corporate volunteer groups, who come into shifts “ready to get to work” and “already well-versed in collaborating with each other.”
How can I get my team involved?
With BI’s modes of volunteering, there are limitless ways to plan your Day of Service. Here are just a few examples of Days of Service we’ve coordinated:
The Distributed Day: A large organization with over 800 employees engage in a day of volunteering. Over the course of a day, their volunteers spread out in teams to projects at their central office and on-site at local community organizations, helping with outdoor environmental conservation projects, meal preparation shifts and donation sorting projects. All employees, including remote workers, get involved by virtually volunteering to support social causes that aligned with the organization’s mission. Virtual volunteers have the option of volunteering on their own time or joining a live session facilitated by a Building Impact team members.
The Virtual Day: A remote team gets together online to volunteer and give back during two virtual sessions. The first session is led by a Building Impact Team member and includes a special appearance by a nonprofit leader who explains their organization’s mission and work. The second session is a skills-based event where volunteers have the opportunity to directly connect with youth in a mentoring program and give them career advice.
The Small But Mighty Day: A small company of ten people works a shift at a local nonprofit providing food to community members with critical or serious illnesses. Volunteers spend a couple hours packing over 200 meals and then come together at the end to reflect on their experience.Planning a Day of Service with Building Impact:
We know it can be overwhelming to coordinate a large group of volunteers and overwhelming to plan the where, what, and how of a Day of Service. With those common challenges in mind, Building Impact can provide the following to help get your team out into the community for a meaningful and impactful experience:
- Building Impact offers a range of projects and social causes to choose from. Think about your organization's mission and your team’s interests to help guide your project decisions.
- We design our volunteer initiatives with professional development in mind. Encourage your team members to show their leadership skills by becoming a Project Leader! Project leaders help coordinate their volunteer group and bring them together for a reflection at the beginning and end of the project.
- Building Impact simplifies the logistics and planning process by guiding the scheduling and event coordination with the nonprofit partners.
- After your Day of Service, BI provides you with an Impact Report measuring your team’s impact in the community. Use your impact report in a press release or incorporate it into a CSR/ESG section in your annual report.
The Big Picture:
As organizations continue to reconnect, a Day of Service can help bring together employees across different job functions, teams, abilities and work locations. You can take your impact even further by engaging your Employee Resource Groups in the planning and execution of your volunteer projects.
Sometimes, the greatest impact can come from turning your Day of Service program into a Week of Service! By spreading your volunteer events over the course of a week, you can boost your team's participation and contributions to the community.
Visit this page to get started with planning your Day of Service! We’re excited to help you unite your employees towards a common cause and reinforce your organizational values and mission through service.
