There are many ways for your organization to participate in Global Volunteer Month. Whether you decide to expand upon what you’ve already planned for National Volunteer Week or Good Deeds Day, or try out one of the ideas below, we are thankful to have you join us in big and small ways to honor the power of service and its impact around the world.
Recognize Service and Its Impact
Global Volunteer Month provides an opportunity to recognize the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges, to build stronger, more vibrant communities, and take action that changes the world.
- Use our marketing toolkit to spread the word about Global Volunteer Month to your networks and share stories of service and its impact on your social media channels. Visit www.pointsoflight.org/global-volunteer-month/toolkit to get started.
- Create a campaign to collect volunteer stories and photos for publishing the remainder of the year. Encourage your employees and supporters to share the ways they volunteer through company communication channels, including blogs, videos, an internal social media site or company newsletter.
- Promote your volunteer program and its impact through external storytelling. Consider aligning with our weekly themes.
- Build internal awareness for your program by sharing interesting stats and facts about your organization’s volunteer program throughout the month as well as how to participate and where to find more information. In your communications, remind employees of any incentive programs they can take advantage of or be eligible for, including Dollars for Doers.
- Use this month to remind employees and supporters why volunteering, even virtually, is good for them. Not only does it satisfy a need for purpose and builds camaraderie, it expands their world-view, brings a change of pace, improves skills, improves mood, lowers stress, reduces the risk for cognitive impairment, reduces pain, and it can actually help you live longer. In fact, you might partner with your HR leaders who are working on any employee wellness campaigns.
Become An Activation Partner
Share with us how you plan to participate in Global Volunteer Month by emailing [email protected]. We will add Activation Partners to our Global Volunteer Month landing page and promote your participation through Points of Light’s social networks. Please include how your name should be listed on our website, and please share all of your official social media handles. Please also let us know if your organization or any of your employees are participating in COVID-19 volunteerism response.
Encourage Participation in Your Volunteer Program
Global Volunteer Month is a time to recognize the impact of volunteer service in our communities. Invite employees and supporters to contribute to that impact by making a difference in their own community during Global Volunteer Month through virtual or in-person volunteering opportunities.
If your week or month of service doesn’t occur in April, and you’re not mobilizing volunteers for Earth Day, you may decide to encourage participating in a volunteer service opportunity during Global Volunteer Month. Be sure to share your plans with middle-managers and get their buy-in, as they can be helpful champions of volunteering by sharing Global Volunteer Month information with their teams.
- Use your internal communication channels to encourage searching and signing up for an upcoming virtual project in your company’s volunteer management system if available or, in the United States, you can direct employees to find local volunteer opportunities at www.pointsoflight.org/volunteer.
- Connect with your nearest Points of Light Global Network affiliate to find virtual and in-person volunteer opportunities in your community or to help you design a meaningful service experience for your fellow employees. Find your local affiliate at www.pointsoflight.org/global-network.
Recognize Your Volunteers and Volunteer Champions
Global Volunteer Month is an opportunity to recognize and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent, voice and support to causes they care about.
Recognition helps raise awareness for your program and provides an opportunity to raise external awareness about the great work done by employee volunteers. Keep in mind, though, no matter the size of your budget or your volunteer corps, recognition tactics should align with your company’s culture and values.
- Produce and distribute certificates or a letter of appreciation signed by the CEO. Even better, ask for hand-written notes from senior leaders to thank volunteers or volunteer leaders for their contributions over the years. Email messages can also be used in lieu of hand-written notes.
- Even during this time of uncertainty, sharing stories and photos of volunteers serving throughout the year or responding to this crisis can inspire others to make a difference. Develop a regular cadence of these stories and use communication vehicles that will reach as many employees as possible (e.g., intranet and e-newsletters)
- Recognize an individual or team with the most volunteer hours during a certain time period. Use different communication vehicles to display an honor roll of volunteers by number of hours served, number of projects participated in, or number of projects led.
- Award program-branded merchandise to top volunteers.
- Create a digital badge to add to all your volunteer leaders’ email signatures.
- Highlight top volunteers in-person during leadership or all-staff meetings, or at special company events that occur in April. Provide materials to leaders and middle management to support your efforts.
- As the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, Points of Light administers prestigious recognition programs that help create a culture of service and increase the number of volunteers globally by celebrating and encouraging volunteer service. Use either of these tools to support your company’s volunteer recognition tactics:
- The Daily Point of Light Award honors exceptional volunteers, celebrating the power of the individual to spark change and improve the world. Nominate a volunteer at www.pointsoflight.org/dailypointoflight.
- The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes, celebrates and holds up as role models Americans making a positive impact as engaged and deeply committed volunteers. Learn more at www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.