Corporate volunteer opportunities are the key to a functional employee volunteer program. These opportunities connect your employees to the community, enabling them to assist individuals and groups in need.
All it takes is to find a charity for your organization to volunteer on behalf of (which is only applicable in some circumstances), select a suitable volunteer activity, and maximize volunteer participation among your employees. By fulfilling these three requirements, the following benefits will naturally follow: employees will feel accomplished, have a renewed sense of purpose, and have a deeper appreciation for their employer.
Below are 8 corporate volunteer opportunities that can be accomplished as an organization. Whether partnered with a charity or executed on your own, let’s explore further:
8 corporate volunteer opportunities
Tree planting
Coordinate with an environmental nonprofit to source the best area for tree planting in your region. Break employees into small groups, each responsible for one area of tree planting. As trees provide a habitat for 80% of the world’s biodiversity, every tree planted on this volunteer day helps to create a cleaner environment.
Beach cleanup
Think about how much litter can be picked up alongside a beach during one volunteer day. Gather the necessary supplies, such as trash bags, gloves, and litter pickers. Let employees choose how they want to participate during the volunteer day: whether they help distribute supplies, pick up litter, or oversee the entire cleanup process.
Soup kitchen
Find a local homeless shelter that needs assistance with serving meals, setting up tables, and general cleaning duties. Ahead of the volunteer day, gather input from your employees to see who would like to be responsible for what task. Regardless of the duties assigned, employees will come out of this volunteer day with a heightened sense of compassion, empathy, and unity.
School supply drive
Send out an announcement encouraging your employees to bring in backpacks and an array of school supplies (i.e., markers, pencils, journals, rulers, etc..). Once the resources are collected in your office, arrange a day where employees can spend a few hours stuffing these backpacks full of supplies and delivering them to local schools in need.
Animal shelter
Choose an animal shelter and spend a day sanitizing cages, feeding animals, and providing general animal grooming. In whatever capacity the staff at your local animal shelter might need assistance with, this volunteer day is the perfect opportunity to alleviate some of their burdens.
Women’s Shelter clothing drive
Whether women are seeking safety from abuse or homelessness, donated clothing helps these women who may not have the means to buy clothing on their own. Following the receipt of clothing donations, your employees will need to sift through each piece to determine if it is reusable, sort them into categories (i.e., dresses, shirts, shorts, etc.), and fold each piece so that it can be distributed.
Senior’s recreational activity
No matter where your organization volunteers, whether it is at a retirement home, a long-term care home, or a senior’s day recreation center, each place always needs enthusiastic individuals to help host a stimulating and memorable activity for seniors. Have your employees plan an engaging activity that is suitable for a wide range of cognitive levels during company time. When the plan is finalized, the activity can be carried out during a volunteer day for seniors.
Fundraiser (BBQ)
Host a BBQ during lunch hour at your office (if applicable), providing catered food and drinks from selected vendors. Alongside providing a free lunch to your employees, have a donation box where employees can make a donation, with all proceeds going towards any nonprofit or charity your organization would like to support. Prior to the BBQ fundraiser, employees can volunteer to help select food and drink vendors and plan fun carnival-themed games the staff can participate in.
