Posts Tagged ‘HandsOn Network’

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9 Ways to Make Volunteering a Part of Your New Year

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013

It’s a brand new year and many of us have made resolutions to make our lives better in one way or another. We hope your resolutions include working to make your community better, too!

But where do you start? How do you make your community a better place? We have some tips to get started, and we’d love to hear about what you’re doing!

Find a cause you care about.

This is the best first step, because if you’re not connected to the work that you’ll be doing, it’s not going to be any fun. What do you care about most in your community? Does your local school system need a little help? Are there a lot of stray animals in your neighborhood? Do you love the way your library smells and want everyone to be as excited about books as you are?

Once you’ve found something in your community you’d like to make better, then…

Find a way to help.

One of the easiest ways to find a way to get involved in a cause that you care about it is to volunteer with an organization that’s already supporting that cause.  You can find thousands of volunteer opportunities with HandsOn Network affiliates across the country.

Do a little research.

Spend a bit of time on the websites of the organizations that host the projects you’re interested in. Find out how they support the causes you’re interested in and learn about the work they do in your community. If you find a nonprofit you’d like to support and a way to support them that sounds fun, you can…

Sign up for a project!

Each of our affiliates has a way to sign up for projects on their site. They’re not all the same, but it’s really easy!

Remember it’s OK to ask questions.

It’s alright to ask questions about the project before you show up. Project listings should have a person to contact if you have any questions about what the project is about and how you need to prepare. A lot of questions are answered in the project descriptions, but if your question isn’t it’s alright to get in touch with the event organizer so you’re ready for the day when you show up!

Show up ready to have fun.

You’re volunteering because there’s a cause you care about, right? That doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time! The best way to make sure you’ll have fun at your first volunteer experience is to go in with an open mind.

You might be asked to do something different than what you signed up for, or you might be asked to something you don’t know how to do. Keep an open mind and try it out, you might learn a thing or two, or find something you never thought you’d love to do! Volunteering can be serious business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.

Take time to reflect on your experience.

A lot of volunteer projects have some time set aside at the end of the project to think critically about the work that you just did. Reflecting on how working in a community garden can have an impact on the health of the local watershed or how it can influence kids to eat better is an important part of the volunteer experience. It doesn’t just give you a definite stopping point for a project, but it helps volunteers to better understand how their work has multiple effects in their community.

Keep making a difference!

Did you have a great time volunteering? Did you make new friends? Did you learn something new? Awesome! Why not let us know?

Tell us about it on or ! Did you not quite fit with the project or organization? That’s alright! There are a lot more organizations out there that need your help that could be a better fit for you.

Was your first volunteer experience great? Did you decide to find a different way to volunteer? Let us know in the comments!

Pass it along.

Did you have a great time volunteering? Why not bring a friend along with you next time? Not only will it make sure you know someone at the project, but you’ll be involving your friend in something you care about and making your community better! Plus there’s a great opportunity to take cheesy pictures to share on Facebook!

 

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Posted in Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

How AmeriCorps Worked for Me

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

Today’s blog post was written by Luci Miller, an AmeriCorps National Direct member at Points of Light. Luci has served at Points of Light since October, 2011 and her last day of service is this Friday, August 31.

When I graduated from Georgia Southern University in May of 2011, I did not have a clue about what to do after graduation. I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology, which left my job options wide open, making things a little difficult. I had dreams of landing an internship at a Psychology clinic, while taking some time off before graduate school. After spending a couple months job searching, my idea seemed more like a faraway dream, as I found myself moving back in with my parents in Atlanta, Georgia.

My best friend had started an AmeriCorps term of service at Points of Light, and she mentioned that I may find an opportunity there. I had never considered a career in the nonprofit sector, so I was a bit skeptical of this opportunity, initially. Despite my apprehensions, I applied to an AmeriCorps position at Points of Light where I would work with their Digital Strategy team.

After a grueling interview process, I landed the position! I spent my first week of service at week-long National Service retreat with the rest of the HandsOn Corps National Direct Team. I met so many amazing young people who were so willing to give themselves to their communities to make a difference, while developing professionally.

After returning from this retreat, I was ready to serve! Through my position, I became the manager of the HandsOn Network social media platforms and a writing contributor to the HandsOn blog content. Through the use of online tools, I was able to make volunteering easier. I had no experience with volunteer resources prior to my term of service. I am now extremely knowledgeable in the field of volunteer work, and I can tell you anything you need to know about starting a project. I gained experience with creative professional writing through writing daily volunteer resources on the blog.

At the end of my term, I was able to put my skills into action, while planning the Points of Light staff volunteer project at the Atlanta Tool Bank. I engaged over 25 volunteers successfully. It was amazing to see the skills I have been developing all year come to life!

From spending time in an office cave to hanging out with a blow up penguin, I can truly say that choosing to do AmeriCorps was a great decision. I feel more prepared to tackle the next path life throws at me, than I did at this time last year. I finally have goals that I am trying to obtain thanks to the skills and personal development I have gone through this year. I am excited about what the future holds for me and I know AmeriCorps has made a lot of contributions to my future success.

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Posted in Inspire, Stories from the Road | 1 Comment »

Michelle Nunn’s Cross-Country Trip to Discover People at the Center of Change

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

 

 

This post originally appeared on the Points of Light blog site on July 12, 2012.

For a month this summer, Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, is taking a cross-country trip to learn from the people across the country who are rolling up their sleeves and tackling the critical issues before us. Across the nation, she will search out and share the stories of change agents – people who are creating new ways of using their time, talents, voice and money to address the problems they face in their communities. While the political parties are talking about the things that divide us, Points of Light will be identifying the enormous common ground that unites us – our patriotism and embrace of the responsibilities of citizenship, willingness to help our neighbors and desire to leave the world a better place than we found it.

Along the way, Michelle will be visiting HandsOn Network affiliates, AmeriCorps Alums, corporate leaders and civic innovators to check out citizen-led projects across the country. Her goal is to place a spotlight on people taking action and unearthing innovative solutions that leverage the power of individuals.

Michelle kicked off her trip by delivering a speech in the historic Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institute on July 9. Chautauqua is a forum for big ideas and conversation, inspiring audience members to commit those ideas to action.

Click here for The Chautauquan Daily news article on Michelle’s speech.

Michelle, joined by her family, will head west though Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, ending her tour in Seattle. She plans to be in Buffalo, N.Y,, July 10-11; Columbus, Ohio, July 12; Cincinnati, July 13-14; Detroit, July 15-16; Minneapolis, July 22-24; Portland, Ore., Aug. 6-7; and Seattle, Aug. 8-9, with lots of stops along the way.

 

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Posted in Events, Michelle Nunn | 1 Comment »

iHubs: Strengthening Our Civic Network

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Today’s post originally appeared on the Points of Light blog site on June 18, 2012.

HandsOn Network is engaged in a focused field investment strategy called Innovation Hubs (iHubs), designed to dramatically accelerate the growth, effectiveness and impact of our network. Through iHubs we are engaging a cohort of our strongest, most progressive market leaders to formulate innovative approaches and pilot best-in-class initiatives with the intent of scaling the most impactful opportunities to benefit the entire network, and ultimately, the communities we serve.

In 2011, through a competitive application process, 10 affiliates were selected to comprise the initial iHub cohort. Leveraging resources provided by Points of Light’s Service Generation Campaign, these affiliates also received leadership development training, coaching and $30,000 in seed funding to launch and learn from their own concepts of innovation. By 2014, we plan to expand to 30 iHubs.

Our strategy compels a conversation that teams with possibility. Imagine the potential of a learning cohort of nonprofit executive leaders and funders who are committed to identifying, testing, implementing and evaluating replicable models for 21st century volunteer engagement. Imagine the power of 30 iHubs to change local communities and to influence, guide and mentor an additional 230 HandsOn Network affiliates. As a result, we have the opportunity to lift up the work of the entire network and test cutting-edge strategies for engaging more than 70,000 nonprofit partners and millions of volunteers.

Current HandsOn Network affiliate iHubs include:

  • Volunteer Center of Bergen County
  • Boston Cares
  • New York Cares
  • HandsOn Twin Cities
  • Chicago Cares
  • HandsOn Central Ohio
  • Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County
  • Seattle Works
  • Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership
  • HandsOn Greater Portland

Below are a few examples of the innovative work from iHubs:

Boston Cares believes their future and the future of HandsOn Network depends more than just telling stories, but requires showing them. They use new tools including info graphics, data animation and visual statistics to reveal volunteerism for what it is – our nation’s most untapped resource.

Seattle Works is building on the concepts of collective giving and team-based volunteering to break down the silos between donors, volunteers and causes. Their innovative concept is to develop an integrated service model that brings together groups of investors and creates unified teams to seed, lead, staff and support projects from concept to evaluation.

One of the more provocative iHubs projects comes to us from HandsOn Greater Portland. As a way to lessen their dependence on more traditional funding sources, this affiliate seeks to test market the feasibility of offering tailor-made service learning experiences and issue-based service opportunities to individuals and groups for a fee.

By investing in iHubs, there is an opportunity to significantly expand and transform the nation’s long-standing civic infrastructure. We can help reimagine a network of service and civic geographically based hubs that have been vital to local communities for 100 years. The iHubs initiative can ensure the vitality and efficacy of this network for a new generation of engagement for the next century.

For more information please contact Paul Hollahan at , or .

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Posted in Impact, News & Links | No Comments »

Volunteer to help a recent college grad!

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

With the plethora of graduation ceremonies I’ve attended recently, I began to think about how myself and others can hopefully help college graduates find jobs. I’ve compiled a list of five ways you or someone you know can volunteer your time to help recent graduates secure employment.

  1. Mentor a graduate student. Mentoring a college grad can include suggesting job openings, submitting a resume to someone in your organization with a job opening that your mentee may be interested in, reviewing and editing a resume, or simply providing encouragement. While college grads are excited about their recent accomplishment, the quest for employment can be daunting. Encouragement from a mentor can mean a lot to someone who has loss motivation and hope while searching a job. 
  2. Review and Edit Resume. While, there is no right or wrong way to write a resume, a college grad may need some assistance with adding their newly acquired education, formatting their resume, or help with the content for their qualifications and responsibilities of past jobs and activities.
  3. See a job opening? Since you’re mentoring an awesome college grad, they’re always on your mind. So, if you happen to come across a job posting that is applicable to your mentee, send it to them, whether it’s an email, pigeon, or the actual mail, get the word out to him or her. They may not have seen the posting or felt unqualified for the position. Additionally, remind them to keep their options open and to not discount jobs that may appear unqualified for.
  4. Help with the Cover Letter. Since, the cover letter is just as or maybe even more important as the resume; your awesome college student will be hopefully waving you down with all flags and flashing lights seeking your help with their cover letter. So, here’s what you can do: Set up a meeting or make edits with additional suggestions for their cover letter; provide cover letter samples.
  5. Advise your mentee to volunteer! Volunteerism is an excellent addition to a student’s resume. Since a college grad may lack work experience, they can make up for it with volunteering. We’re HandsOn Network are (surprise!) strong advocates for volunteering. And as a mentor, you can join them! Volunteering can be a rewarding experience for both you and your mentor, and an edition you can also make to your resume ;-)

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Posted in Economy, Education, Family Volunteering, Service | 7 Comments »

Time to Get on the Fundraising Train

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

At HandsOn Network, we love to celebrate silly holidays. We are so excited for the May themes including National Bar-B-Que month, Strawberry Month, and Duckling Month! Why are we so excited? These May themes can be used at your next fundraising event, as well.

Fundraising is a great way to build up your nonprofit’s presence in the community. Although fundraising events can be very fun, they can also be a lot of work. The following tips will help you experience more fun than exhaustion when planning your next fundraising event.

1.      Develop your fundraising goals.

You should have well developed goals for your next fundraising event. Establish why you are having the event, where the money should go, and designate supporting roles.

You will most likely have a variety of goals, and therefore will need to develop multiple goals. Get your organization’s board members to help organize the fundraising goals. If possible, get your community’s support of the fundraising goals, as well.

2.      Write down your fundraising plan.

Organize your different fundraising events, to ensure that they will not overlap and happen all at once. Develop a written plan to state how much you need to raise, from where, and how you will do it. The plan can be changed, if need be, it is most important to have a visual idea.

Find the gaps where your organization will benefit the most from donations. Work with your organization’s accounting department when making this preliminary plan.

3.      Estimate how much your fundraising program will cost.

Brainstorm about the various costs that your event will take from staff to advertising. It is important to include these costs in your event budget. Be cost-efficient when making these decisions and cut costs when possible. It is most important to work toward your company’s mission when promoting your event.

4.      Develop a timeline for your fundraising plan.

Mark a blank calendar with certain deadlines for each fundraising event. The calendar will certainly change, but a brief overview of the year will help you feel less stressed about the upcoming events.

5.      Identify funding sources.

Have you considered all fundraising sources? You can tap into resources such as companies in the community, churches, the government, and designated grants. Do you need to tap into new audiences, or do you already have a dedicated following?

6.      Evaluate your fundraising plan throughout the year.

It is important to evaluate your plan frequently to better ensure success. Make a monthly plan for fundraising goals to ensure that your organization sticks to the goals. Assess the pros and cons to see what works and what does not work.

Fundraising is a necessary aspect of nonprofit business. Although it is necessary, save the hassle and make it organized to ensure success. Try one of May’s themes for your next event to make your event even more fun!

How did your organization start its fundraising plan? We would love to hear your suggestions below!

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Posted in Fundraising & Development | No Comments »

It’s That Time of the Year to Celebrate Volunteers!

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Happy National Volunteer Week! Yesterday started the kickoff for the week. How will you celebrate the power of volunteerism? If you stick with HandsOn Network and our friends, you won’t be disappointed this week!

President Barack Obama officially the week of April 15-21 to be National Volunteer Week April 9th. National Volunteer Week is a week long celebration of volunteer recognition and the power of service. It is the perfect time for beginner volunteers to start giving back, families to come together through volunteering, and organizations to recognize their volunteers and partners.

How can you celebrate this week with HandsOn Network, Points of Light, generationOn, and AmeriCorps Alums? The list below will make it easy for you to get involved!

  1. Learning time: Our partners have many volunteer learning resources happening this week. GenerationOn is hosting a free webinar on April 18 “With Honor! May Moments of Service.” This is a great opportunity for youth to learn about service projects or organizations and individuals who work with youth to participate, as well. AmeriCorps Alums will be hosting a webinar on “Resume Assistance” April 17. This webinar is a great tool for adding volunteer experience to your career resume. You can also find many webinar resources on our website! Register for the above webinars by clicking on the webinar titles.
  2. Reward volunteer hours: Cabot Creamery Cooperative, All for Good, Create the Good, and Points of Light have teamed together to make volunteer hours count for even more. Thanks to the “Reward Volunteers” mobile Smartphone application you can get prizes just for sharing your volunteer hours.
  3. Volunteer with our friends: HandsOn Network has over 250 action centers who are all hosting volunteer projects across the nation. Whether you are interested in the environment or you just want to play with some cute animals we know you will not have a problem finding something to do.
  4. Recognize volunteerism: There are so many ways that you can tell your volunteers “Thank-you” this week. From a simple thank-you card to a volunteer parade just show them that you care.
  5. Tell us what you do: your story of volunteerism with Points of Light this week. By sharing your story, you could have a chance to win one of five cruise tickets to Alaska for you and a guest thanks to Cabot Creamery Cooperative.
  6. Girl power: Do you know a woman who is making a big difference in the community through the power of volunteerism? Nominate her for the 2012 L’Oreal Paris USA’s Women of Worth contest. Your nomination could help her win money for her nonprofit!
  7. Feed the hungry: Join generationOn and No Kid Hungry as they team up for the Great American Bake Sale. All you have to do is register your bake sale and donate your profits to Share Our Strength who will put your donations toward the fight against hunger.
  8. Visit the Extra Mile Pathway: Want to be inspired by great acts of service? Visit the Points of Light Extra Mile Pathway, if you will be in the Washington DC area. There is a great bunch of dedicated volunteer stories just waiting to inspire you along the way.
  9. Join Clifford: Know someone who is making an impact this week and beyond? Whether they are young or old nominate them for Scholastic’s BE BIG Challenge today!

National Volunteer Week is going to be awesome! We hope that you will get out and celebrate people in action.

Got questions? Let us know in the comments section below, after all we are a fun bunch so don’t be scared to ask!

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Posted in Events, Family Volunteering, Mobilize, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteerism | 3 Comments »

3 Ways to Use Your March Madness Bounty for Good!

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Now that March Madness is over and the national championship has been decided, it’s time to celebrate all of the amazing things that are happening in April!

We at HandsOn Network are challenging you to give your March Madness bracket bounty to charities
April is National Volunteer Month, which means it’s a great time to honor the amazing service that volunteers have done in your community. One way to celebrate the awesomeness of volunteers is by sharing their story via  the Points of Light Facebook tab! Simply, go to , click on the National Volunteer Week tab (located below our cover photo), complete the form. This should take up too much time of your day, but hey we’re sure that volunteer is well worth your time! that promote awesome causes, recognize volunteers during National Volunteer Week, share a story to win an Alaskan cruise, and just be awesome!

  1. Give your March Madness bracket bounty to a great cause! Every parent knows that a hungry child is a disadvantaged child. He can’t grow, develop and learn like other kids. She has trouble focusing and getting along. They complain often of headaches, stomachaches and other ailments. They fall behind in virtually every way. It doesn’t have to be this way. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® strategy provides that access to families all across the nation, so that every child, regardless of circumstances, can get the healthy food they need to thrive. Help the fight against child hunger by donating to Share Our Strength.
  2. Host a bake sale! In addition to donating money to Share Our Strength’s mission to end child hunger, you can also participate in the Great American Bake Sale and help a youth host a bake sale or host your own! The Great American Bake Sale happens all across the country, all year long. Awesome youth and caring adults sign up to hold bake sales and send their profits to Share Our Strength. Share Our Strength uses that money to end childhood hunger. You can schedule your bake sale whenever you want, but the National Challenge is April 20-22. It would be sweet if your bake sale won! The first 300 bake sale hosts to submit $275 or more from bake sales held on National Challenge Weekend will receive a Jay at Play’s Little Miss Muffin Pop N Flip™ toy!

Whether you’re donating your money to an awesome organization or celebrating volunteers, we are grateful for all of the philanthropic contributions and hope that you have fun celebrating all of the great generous service of those around you!

 

 

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Posted in Economy, Family Volunteering, Fundraising & Development, Kids, Volunteerism | No Comments »

We Are Superstars!

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Breaking news! We have just been informed that the United Nations finally MET its top eight Millennium Development Goals as of last night!

This is a call for celebration!

The United Nations announced their Development Programme at their Millennium Summit in 2000. They hoped to have all goals met by all 193 United Nations member states by 2015.

Well guess what these goals were met early!!!

  • Everyone has enough to eat!
  • Everyone can access primary education no matter where they live!
  • Women are treated the same as men!

Infant mortality is nearly zero!

  • Every mother has the prenatal care they need to have a healthy baby!
  • HIV/AIDS and malaria are gone!
  • The environment is great!
  • There’s a development plan in place for the third world!

While you were busy watching Dancing with the Stars, HandsOn Network, Points of Light, generationOn, and AmeriCorps Alums were working with our affiliates and partners for months to come to an answer for these problems.

Last night, we came to our final conclusion and all eight goals were met, thanks to our awesome volunteers. (Unless you actually mean superman)

So what does this mean?

Well of course we are about to receive many awards from across the world because we basically saved it through our volunteer work. After the hype is over, we will not need any more volunteers.

We’re developing a new path to promote social good after we relax from saving the world, of course  Soo sit tight, we will be hibernating for spring and winter, sorry if you are inconvenienced from our world saving aftermath!

Think twice…..HAPPY APRIL FOOLS EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Don’t worry we still need volunteers and we are still working on these goals, but we thought it was a good joke, right?!

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Posted in News & Links | No Comments »

How the phone patent changed volunteering!

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

 

It’s March already?! Sheesh! But hey cheer up because spring is right around the corner! March is also awesome because in March, Alexander Graham Bell patented the phone, an invention that changed the world AND volunteering! That’s right, the phone-which paved the way for other technological inventions, allows for people to participate in virtual volunteering! Here’s how:

  1.  Call, text, skype, or email someone who is homebound, in a hospital or a rest home! By simply using some form of communication and letting someone know that you care and are thinking about them is inspiring and can brighten someone’s day! Whether sick or healthy, it’s always nice to know that someone took the time out of their busy day to contact you.
  2. Staff an e-mail or chat room answer/support line: Whether it’s a phone answer/support line, people can write in questions and trained volunteers can answer them; or, volunteer to be part of an online support group, where members provide advice to each other via a chat room, list or newsgroup.
  3. Conduct online research: find information an agency can use in an upcoming grant proposal or newsletter. Gathering information such as similarly –focused organizations’ web site addresses or a particular government program or legislation could greatly benefit an agency’s clients.
  4. Welcome people in advance who are about to enter the hospital, go to summer camp, etc. from volunteers, via email or a special Web page or Intranet, and post-service follow up to the same group via email or the Web! This provides them with support and care!
  5. Help an organization dot their eyes and cross their T’s by proofreading papers and online publications to ensure that they convey a grammatically correct message to their audience!
  6.  Add an agency’s volunteer opportunities into online databases: We totally understand the benefits of a volunteer doing this as this is very beneficial to an organization and volunteers seeking volunteer opportunities.

These are just a few ways that technology and phones have contributed to the expansion of volunteering. Let us know how you plan on celebrating the phone patent anniversary in the comments!

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Posted in Technology, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

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