Amplify Your Social Impact: Combine Elements of Points of Light’s Civic Circle^®

If you’re looking to amplify your impact as you contribute to social good, start by considering which activities you’re engaging in. The truth is that civic engagement comes in many forms, and by combining various types of efforts, you can make your impact exponential rather than linear.

Points of Light’s Civic Circle

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is a framework that helps guide individuals to live full civic lives by demonstrating nine different ways to get involved in causes they care about. Today, we’ll cover three of these avenues so you can consider how you might combine them to magnify your efforts and make your impact stretch that much further.

Volunteering

Of course, when many people think of civic engagement, they think of lending their time and talent through

volunteerism

. And for good reason – nonprofit organizations and NGO’s thrive on the collective power of their volunteers. Volunteers enable these organizations to do the best work they can with the resources they’ve been allotted. It’s a good idea to think through your volunteer activities to ensure they align with your passions, capabilities and schedule. Whether you volunteer once a month for a few hours, a few times a year with a corporate team or every weekend, you are making a difference in the world!

See how Daily Point of Light Award honoree Dallas Smith lends his time and talents as a volunteer pharmacist in his community.

Donating

When you

donate

to a cause or organization you care about, you allow for your dollars or goods to be put to the best use possible to benefit others. Donating allows organizations to continue their mission and spread awareness about a cause area. Donations can also directly benefit recipients – as in the case of a natural disaster. Be aware that donating is only helpful if the donations – monetary or in-kind – are truly what the organization needs. Unwanted or unneeded donations are often trashed, contributing to waste. So be sure to do your research and ask for what donations are most helpful before you donate!

See how Daily Point of Light Award honoree Sofia Petito collects and makes use of donations in her community.

Using Your Voice

Everyone has the ability to use their

voice

to elevate the causes they care about. Whether you’re sharing information via social media, talking to friends or family members about a specific issue, or marching in a peaceful protest, you can use your voice – which includes your own opinions, perspectives and concerns – as well as contributing to a collective voice rallying around a cause area. Combining your voice with other types of civic engagement can be a powerful way to make your mission and message louder, clearer or more accessible to others. That said, be mindful that you don’t use the element of voice for performative activism, but rather that you “walk the walk” along with “talking the talk”!

See how Daily Point of Light Award honoree Tristan Espinoza is amplifying the voices of indigenous peoples.

3 Ways to Remember Loved Ones Through Civic Acts

June 12 is the birthday of our founder, President George H.W. Bush, and June 8 marks former first lady Barbara Bush’s birthday. While the president, a generous, community-focused and highly influential leader, passed away in 2018, each year we commemorate his birthday and shine a light on his vision of civic engagement by offering key ways you can contribute to your own community.

President Bush believed in the power of many working together to create change and help better the world. He advocated for individuals to unite, knowing that many “points of light” contributing their time, talent and resources had the power to make a massive impact and create a ripple effect that spans the globe.

This year, Points of Light is celebrating the second annual George and Barbara Bush Day of Service to commemorate both of their birthdays and honor their lifelong commitment to public service.

Today we’re offering three ways that you can remember loved ones and honor their legacy through your own acts of civic engagement.

“We can find meaning and reward by serving some higher purpose than ourselves, a shining purpose, the illumination of a thousand points of light… we all have something to give.”

— President George H.W. Bush, Founder Of Points Of Light

Volunteer: Host Your Own Day of Service

Whether you choose to organize a food drive on a deceased loved one’s birthday or host a community clean-up on the first day of their favorite season, you can call your fellow community members together to maximize your impact through a day of service.

You might opt to name the event after the name of your loved one or conduct the volunteer opportunity at their favorite place. In these meaningful ways, you can carry on their legacy through encouraging your community to get involved in volunteering.

Donate: Contribute to Their Favorite Cause

Was your loved one an avid bird-watcher? Make a financial donation to a wildlife refuge or conservation society. Were they the top chef in your family? Consider contributing non-perishables to your local food pantry.

Perhaps they were active in volunteering themselves and spent time focusing their time and effort on a particular organization. Reach out to that organization to find out what they need – maybe it’s a children’s hospital looking for volunteers to visit or a shelter for unhoused individuals seeking new or gently used clothing.

Voice: Activate Around a Solution

If your loved one passed away from a specific issue or illness, you might choose to honor their legacy by doing your part to contribute to bringing light to the cause. This could mean using your voice by talking about the issue or petitioning for more support for the cause.

For example, if your loved one passed away from breast cancer, you might post on social media about breast cancer awareness and prevention, as well as encourage donations with a link to a breast cancer research organization. Or you might sign and share a petition for increased breast cancer research funding.

There are so many ways to recognize the people in your life who have had a lasting impact on you and your community. To learn about the many pathways to civic engagement that you can take in their honor today and every day, check out Civic Life Today, our free digital magazine. And for more ways to get involved in your community and shine your light on the world, Points of Light Engage is our database of hundreds of thousands of volunteer opportunities throughout the world, both in-person and virtual.

6 Ways to Activate Points of Light’s Civic Circle Around Ukraine Relief

As Ukrainian refugees evacuate their homeland and begin to build new lives in new countries, you can support them. We’ve gathered a collection of ways for you to activate

Points of Light’s

Civic Circle

and have an impact as the situation develops and long-term recovery efforts begin.

Donate

Cash donations offer flexibility for organizations to respond in real time to people’s developing needs. Do your research first so you can be sure that the organization you plan to support is legitimate. Points of Light has established the

Ukraine Crisis Response Fund

in order to funnel support directly to our Global Network affiliates in and around Ukraine. We’ve also developed a list of

other recommended organizations

you can support.

Volunteer

Global Volunteer Month

is happening all April long. Now is a great time to register to volunteer, but please do not self-deploy. There is limited access around humanitarian relief efforts right now. Working in the aftermath can be both dangerous and complex. It’s safest to wait until the impacted community has requested support, then coordinate with a vetted organization. Find a

Points of Light Global Network

affiliate in your area for opportunities to support relief efforts from home or in your own community.

Listen and Learn

Stay informed to find out what the community needs. Follow Points of Light on

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

and

, where we share updates and valuable information from our affiliates and other organizations about ways to support Ukraine. You can also follow first responders that are taking action to learn about the most pressing needs. Be intentional to watch media that cover both conservative and liberal views.

Voice

Through signing a petition, creating artwork with a statement or even staying silent, you can make your voice heard. And of course, you can share on your own social media network to raise awareness about long-term recovery needs. Just be careful to choose trustworthy sources to ensure you’re spreading accurate information. Check out our issue of

Civic Life Today

on “Voice” to learn more about how to use yours effectively.

Purchase Power

Your dollars can have an impact. You can choose to do business with companies supporting relief efforts in and around Ukraine with proceeds from your purchases. Participate in your own

buycott

by searching for companies that are selling products and services that you need. Some companies that are doing this work include Epic Games, maker of the popular video game, Fortnite. The company is giving away all proceeds from the game through April 3. Video game console maker Xbox has joined their effort by donating their net proceeds as well. Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation launched the ‘Meta History: Museum of War’ collection, a series of NFTs that support the war effort in Ukraine. Grammarly, an English language app, is donating $5 million to organizations and funds supporting the people of Ukraine.

Work

There is a growing movement in the corporate sector toward “doing well by doing good,” This ideal could look like giving to humanitarian relief efforts through employee matching, which not only supports the cause but amplifies employee donations. Find out if your company is supporting Ukraine through donations and matching or other means. Some companies that are doing this type of work include: Bank of America, which pledged to donate $1 million to the people of Ukraine via five groups: the Red Cross and Red Crescent network in Ukraine and the region, World Central Kitchen, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, International Medical Corps and Project Hope. The bank also said it would match employee donations to support the relief effort. KPMG Chair and CEO, Paul Knopp, shared via Twitter, “At KPMG we stand with and support the people of Ukraine, condemning violent attacks by the Russian givernment [sic]. Today, KPMG is making an initial $250,000 donation to GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund and encouraging our partners and professionals to donate as well.” Whether you activate all six elements of the Civic Circle or choose just one, you’re exercising your civic power. Which will you choose? Tag us on