CSU Monterey Bay VIPs launch MLK Service Pledge Drive

 The largest MLK celebration near CSU Monterey Bay is the City of Seaside’s annual March and Celebration Program organized each year by the Monterey Peninsula Chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.  The dilemma posed to our cohort of CSUMB VIP Fellows was how to include a service event that would not compete with this venerable local tradition.

The solution was the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 40 Days of Service Challenge.  We realized that year after year, the program had included exhortations from various key note speakers for community members to “get involved” – but this goal was left undefined and no concrete list of volunteer opportunities were provided.

So VIP Leader Steven Goings collaborated with the program’s principle coordinator, Alice Jordan, to design a volunteer service pledge drive that would kick off the MLK Day of Service and extend it through February’s Black History Month.   Our goal was to get 1000 hours of service pledged to selected non-profit organizations featured in the program as MLK Challenge Organizations with a focus on health and education.  Other prominent MLK Challenge Orgs other than our VIP sites included the Food Bank of Monterey County, the Salvation Army, African American HIV/AIDS Wellness, Kiwanis Club and the United Way Monterey County Volunteer Center.

When the day arrived, all our VIP Fellows were given volunteer roles to facilitate the set-up, smooth running, and break down of the event.  From working in the kitchen, to stuffing pledge cards in the program, to monitoring parking and of course picture taking, our Fellows were a real presence at the event.  We marched with both the AmeriCorps Week and MLK Day of Service banners and of course our VIP partner sites were among those official MLK Challenge Organizations that tabled at the event.

At the end of the program, VIP leader Steven Goings announced that the number of pledged hours collected came to a grand total of 2385!  Through our collaboration with the United Way, we also made community members aware of services they could take advantage of such as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program and dialing “2-1-1” for a wide variety of health and human services.

Non-profits, VIP Fellows, program organizers and program goers alike all expressed appreciation and enthusiasm for this welcome new service element to the annual festivities and in fact we have heard from many organizations who vow to duplicate our efforts at local schools and other arenas.

All-in-all our VIP Fellows managed to put service closer to the center of our community’s celebrations of the legacy of Dr. King, raise the profile of both AmeriCorps and our local partner sites, serve in support of the march and program, and initiate a pledge drive that took minimal coordination with maximal impact.  We couldn’t be prouder of CSU Monterey Bay’s AmeriCorps VIPs.

Trending: engage businesses in volunteering

CSR, or corporate social responsibility, is the buzzword of the times in the volunteer management world.  As consumers become more concerned, more community-minded, and more aware of how every dollar they spend makes a difference, more and more people are driven to support businesses that are doing good.

In turn, businesses are responding by doing good in a myraid of ways - including organizing teams of employees or fans to support a certain cause.  More and more, businesses are sending their built-in people power to support good that's already going on around them.  Their strategy?  Create an employee volunteering program. And this is where nonprofits can help these businesses make a difference.


Have you reached out to businesses to seek volunteers?  If not, you're missing out on an opportunity that could not only provide  your organization with more time, volunteers, and expertise, but an opportunity that businesses are looking for to boost their reputation and gain favor of the communities they work in.

Here are some ideas to help you get started in approaching businesses about forming an employee volunteering program:

• Make the case.  Do your homework and figure out why a business and its employees would be interested in partnering with your organization in the first place.  Does their business connect somehow to the service you do in the community?  Do their employees benefit from your organization's services?  Also consider: what can your organization offer in return for their partnership?  Highlighting the business logo on your website, featuring their volunteering efforts in your newsletter or social media are a couple of common ideas.  Check out this resource from HandsOn for more information on EVPs.  And be sure to take a look at these 10 reasons why doing good is good for business.  

• Have a plan. Take your research about the company's interests and get creative.  Come up with a couple of options for the business to consider that align with their goals.  A couple of potential plans might start with:
• The business invites all employees to an all-day service day with your organization twice a year or once a quarter.  The business takes on the responsibility of recruiting a minimum number of volunteers for each service day.  (This is a great way for businesses to promote a positive work culture and build relationships among staff members.)  In return, your organization will organize all logistics for the service days, provide opportunities during or around the service activity to allow employees to connect, and will list the business as a sponsor on the organization's website.
• The business allows employees to use up to 4 paid hours per month volunteering at your organization.  (This is a great system for businesses whose employees have a special interest in specific programs run by your organization.)  In return, your organization will recognize the business's employee volunteers at fundraising dinners and will feature an article in the organization's newsletter twice a year that highlights the business and its volunteer contributions.

• Find a contact.  To establish an EVP, upper management levels of a business will need to be involved.  You may start your conversations with employees in the Human Resources (or maybe even Marketing?) department, but to establish a program like this you'll need to know  the key players at the company who make the big decisions.

• Make the pitch. Create promotional materials, a presentation, handouts (like this one from HandsOn), or anything else you might use to make your pitch look polished.  This is key if you're trying to make the point that your opportunity will be good for the business's image.  You will need to establish that your organization is a great one that does great community work and carries a great image in the community.

Do you have any wisdom to share in generating corporate volunteers?  Tells us in the comments!

Learn more: attend a VolunteerMatch Webinar

What could be better than free learning?  Check out this opportunity from Volunteer Match: a free webinar on engaging millennials in volunteering, happening tomorrow:
 http://learn.volunteermatch.org/webinars/friends-benefits-how-nonprofits-should-engage-millennial-volunteers

Pledge to serve on MLK Day: Monday 1/21/13

Last week we featured a blog article to get you inspired to serve on MLK Day.  Have you made the commitment to serve yet?

 In the words of MLK,

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Take a step towards living and serve the community this Monday.  Join us and other citizens around the country, and make a pledge to make a difference.

Reading to make a difference: OneOC's Spirit of Giving Project

Last month, groups of volunteers, including Union Bank employees, joined the OneOC AmeriCorps VIP team in reading to kindergarten and first grade classes in Title I schools throughout Orange County for the annual Spirit of Giving Project, one of OneOC’s Days of Service. Our volunteers read to the students about sharing, giving, and helping others in times of need. In demonstration of these qualities, Spirit of Giving was able to donate “Lend a Helping Hand”, a Berenstain Bears story, to each child in every classroom that participated in the reading project.

Pictured to the left are twenty-four students in Ms. Meyer’s blended kinder and First Grade

classroom at Davis Elementary proudly showing their teacher the new books they received. Also pictured are Michael Nussbaum, a volunteer reader from Union Bank, and Jessi Kraai, the AmeriCorps VIP Fellow, serving at KidWorks in Central Santa Ana.

New Years Resolutions: VIP Style

By Alex Rowan, AmeriCorps VIP Local Leader at CalSERVES

The CalSERVES VIPs in Santa Rosa have a lot to look forward to as we enter the New Year.  2013 looks like it will bring tremendous growth for our VIPs, who will make a lasting impact on their organizations.  Here is what some of our VIPs are looking forward to:

Heather Seney, VIP Fellow at the Sonoma County Family YMCA, says, “I look forward to continue recruiting volunteers for the Y’s programs, while establishing partnerships in the community. I am also helping launch a college prep program for high school freshmen, Your Path Your Way. I am eager for the spring, when I plan to get my hands in the dirt and garden with Y kids. This will be a fantastic opportunity for me to talk with kids about something I’m very passionate about.  With 2013 in full swing, I anticipate the remainder of our VIP service term to be the best stretch yet!”

Briana Keating, VIP Fellow at Catholic Charities, says, “I have a lot of exciting new projects for 2013.  For starters, the inaugural edition of a Catholic Charities Volunteer Newsletter will be sent out this month. But, what I am most looking forward to is getting volunteers into new positions at our adult-emergency shelter who can implement a Friday Game Night, lead a library revamp project, and develop healthy living activity classes. I have high ambitions for the rest of my term as a VIP, and I am excited to take on the challenge of implementing all these new projects and am eager to see what 2013 has in store for us!”

Meghan Schuttler, the VIP for the CalSERVES Office, “looks forward to the bright and eager volunteer faces that will soon fill our office and school sites. From training and mentoring, to agreeing on education goals and surpassing them, 2013 will be full of challenges and new beginnings. Another project I am excited to help create is our Volunteer Roundtable, which will offer helpful professional skills that our volunteers can take with them even after their service. 2013 will be a great year of ongoing creation, innovation and education!”

One of Extended Child Care's dedicated volunteers!

Sydney Tanimoto, one of the VIPs at Extended Child Care, is “excited for this new year and the opportunity to continue building sustainability at ECC.  One project I am especially excited about is creating an internship position for a volunteer coordinator to keep the volunteer program running smoothly after our term is up.   This will take time and work but I believe it will be a great benefit to the organization.”

 

Cody Cibart, Statewide VIP Leader, says, “My resolution for the new year is to provide more leadership development opportunities for VIP Leaders around the state. As a volunteer coordinator, I hope to transfer skills to my sites that will result in sustainable volunteer retention techniques without the assistance of a VIP. With determination, hard-work, and collaboration with some very important people, 2013 looks to be a great year!”

2013 will be an amazing year for the Santa Rosa VIP Team.  I’m excited to see them build upon the accomplishments, and overcome the exciting challenges ahead.  I hope VIP Fellows at programs across the state are as excited as we are about the opportunities that 2013 is sure to bring. Happy New Year!

Join VIP to make MLK Day a "Day On, Not Off"

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is just around the corner.  In honor of Dr. King's iconic service, AmeriCorps members and community members around the country will gather together to serve their community.  Even President Obama will be out and serving for MLK Day on January 21! 

Will you join the the thousands of us who will be serving that day?  Here are some resource to help you make an impact:

First, get inspired by watching this great video on MLK Day Service:

 Now, do you want to join in on a project?

• Find a project happening in your area by searching by your location on MLKday.gov, or check out the volunteer section of Craigslist in your area.
• Search your local newspaper's calendar or volunteer section for service events happening around MLK Day.
• Contact your local Volunteer Center to ask about MLK projects in your area.
• Check out some great MLK resources and projects from our partner OneOC.

Or, are you looking to start your own project?

• Get some MLK project ideas.
• Check out the MLK Day toolkits to help you plan.
• Get out the word using the MLK media tips and by registering your project with Points of Light.

Want MLK updates, tips, and resources? Check out the MLK Day of Service on Facebook.

How will you make it a "Day On, Not Off" for this upcoming National day of Service?