Tag Archives: Volunteering

12 Communicationist Contributions of 2012

Posted on December 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Today on 12/12/12, I continue my annual tradition at looking back at my year of giving. I do this not to brag, but give some attention to the causes I care about and to hold myself accountable to make sure I always walk the walk and give back. You can read 11 Communicationist Contributions of 2011 to catch up.

I didn’t make a donation or volunteer my time to the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL), but I helped them in their mission to rehome homeless animals. I adopted two cats (and paid their adoption fees) and am so happy to be giving them a home. I’m especially touched by Nemo’s story — WARL had a choice of either performing an expensive surgery to amputate his leg or give up on him and they chose to save him. When we visited the shelter for the first time he was recovering from his week-ago amputation and they were caring for him so well and we wanted to help. After a rough first month at home with many vet visits, he’s doing great with his little brother, Moo.

I attended Heartly House’s annual Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event. (Heartly House is a domestic violence and sexual assault center in Frederick, MD.) Men walk a mile in high heels to raise awareness and funds for violence against women issues. It was really one of the best events I’ve ever been to! I love seeing allies who don’t need to stick up for an underserved population doing it anyway. My pictures are here. They had a fun way to donate – Vote with your dollars for the best dressed man. I voted for a mustached man in red pumps.

I wrote about my January 29 speaking engagement in this blog post. I am so proud to have volunteered in this way and recommend it to anyone with a story to tell.

I had the opportunity to attend the National Sexual Assault Conference in Chicago during August. While I was there, I bought a T-shirt to support A Long Walk Home, an organization empowering girls who have survived violence.

 

I made a donation to support the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary when I attended their vegan potluck Thanksgiving event in Poolesville, MD. There was a feast for the turkeys! Cute pictures of rescued farm animals are here.

 

I had somehow never heard of Movember before this year. My friend Matt kept posting about it on his Facebook wall til I clicked and was convinced to donate. It was actually my very first time giving to a men’s cause. (The idea is that you grow a mustache for the month of November to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer.) When I went home for Thanksgiving I found out that my dad was participating and I ended up posting it to my own Facebook and sparking several more donations from Facebook friends.

 

This was my Kickstarter sponsorship of the year — An interactive theatre piece by my amazing writer friend Danielle Staubitz. She got funded!

 

This year I saw many individuals fundraising for their medical bills. I’m happy to see this trend of crowdfunding expanding in this way and wish I could have given to everyone. I made one small donation via GiveForward to the relative of a colleague undergoing cancer treatment.

 

A highlight of 2012 was my friend from Germany coming to visit the Americas. We toured Maryland, DC, Virginia, and West Virginia together, and then also a few days in Mexico! It was such a treat. We spent one night at Hotel Istirincha, which preserves land and wildlife. The state of Veracruz works with the hotel to help wild green sea turtles survive. My friend and I got to take part in releasing 100 baby turtles into the sea, an experience I will never forget.

I continued to re-loan my Kiva funds to individuals and groups on the site. I made a loan in January to the San Blas group from an organization I spent the summer of 2005 with, Fundacion Paraguaya. I also loaned to a women’s collaborative in Tanzania in September.

 

The organization I gave the most to this year was Marylanders for Marriage Equality, a coalition working to pass Question 6  in Maryland. I volunteered several hours during early voting days and Election Day in Bowie, MD and created a fundraising page that raised $270 from seven of my friends and family members. The emotional hours on the line and phone-banking were absolutely worth it.

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3 Volunteerism Apps for National Volunteer Week

Posted on April 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

How could I write a blog post on volunteerism apps without mentioning the industry leader? VolunteerMatch is a quality resource that went mobile in 2010. They have facilitated over 6 million volunteer referrals since 1998 and continuing to grow with new technologies has certainly been a key to their success. While other websites’ reviews of this app I have seen say it has a boring design and some iPhone user reviews say it regularly crashes, I am a fan of this app. I love that it brings all of the details of their tens of thousands of online listings to the mobile crowd. VolunteerMatch is my go-to place both for finding my own personal volunteer tasks and for posting non-profit volunteer needs.

Bottom Line: Search for volunteer opportunities, find volunteer opportunities. Simple.

Catalista takes it to the next level. While VolunteerMatch does have a rating function, Catalista’s focus is to make volunteering more social and interactive online. The time before and after a volunteer engagement effect a volunteer’s experience, too, so it’s wonderful to see that this generation has a place to have the interaction continue in their own way. For each volunteer opportunity, you have the option to rate it, share it, map it, log your hours, add to your faves, and of course, sign up. The sharing is limited to Facebook and email. The rating is youthful in it’s language (Would you recommend this to your friends? 1 = No way, 5 = Totally!) I like the “add to faves” option where you can save an opportunity to “My Catalista” for later. The general overall design and tone is right on for the audience (and very appealing to me personally).

Bottom Line: Adding a modern twist to a time-tested model, and gets the job done beautifully.

Then we come to the most complex of the three. Cause.it takes Catalista and adds in some Groupon and Zynga. I love the creativity here. You search for an activity that will help the world in some way – It can be an in-person volunteer task or you can post a promo for an organization to your Facebook profile. Each activity is worth a certain number of points (for example, 30 points to be a patient care volunteer at a hospice). Now here’s the especially unique part — You can redeem those points for real-life items and deals (10 points for 20% off your order at a pizzeria). You sign in with your Facebook account and it can be pretty addictive. On top of the opportunities to win, there is the pride of showing up on the leaderboard (the “Indy”), which currently has Daniel S. at the top with 200 points. There is tremendous potential here, but there isn’t enough content (especially volunteer opportunities that aren’t just posting to Facebook) yet. I hope it continues to reach more non-profits, businesses, and volunteers. This is an impressive example of cause marketing.

Bottom Line: Inspired and inspiring framework, just lacking some fleshing out from the community.

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Vintage Vignette: Reach Out and Read

Posted on March 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Vintage Vignettes glimpse into the Communicationist’s past, one to ten years ago from this day.

On this day in 2009 I was leading a group of volunteers to a clinic to read to kids in the waiting room. This was for three organizations. By that I mean the activity was supporting the mission of the non-profit Reach Out and Read, it was facilitated by the volunteer organization Boston Cares, and it was hosted by the Mattapan Community Health Center. This kind of collaboration is what I love about the volunteerism world. Organizations coming together to find where their missions overlap and the synergy of their cooperation helping even more individuals and communities than they could on their own.

Boston Cares needs non-profits who need volunteers. Reach Out and Read is a non-profits that needs volunteers. Mattapan Community Health Center has kids who could benefit from volunteers reading to them. It seems like such an obvious fit but getting partnerships like this to happen isn’t always easy. Thankfully there are a lot of people out there who love to jump in and get involved.

My role was as a Boston Cares Project Leader. When volunteers signed up through Boston Cares for the waiting room reading project, I would be in contact with them about logistics and questions. I’d supervise them on-site so the health center staff didn’t need to take time away, and I’d follow-up with them afterwards to see how it went for them and if they’d like to do it again. When multiple organizations are involved, it’s important that the Volunteer Coordinator have a clear role. Mine was clearly defined as being from Boston Cares, not the other two organizations, and that helped in the organization of the process.

If you’re looking to volunteer, chances are your local city has an organization that can help you connect to the cause, timing, neighborhood, and role that you’re looking for. This Vintage Vignette focuses on Boston Cares, but there are others like Greater DC Cares. No matter where you are, websites like VolunteerMatch will have listings near you and allow you to search by the type of opportunity you want.

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Speaking Out More Effectively

Posted on February 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

My views on activism have evolved significantly in the last few years. In college, I protested on the streets regularly, but I became discouraged when it didn’t seem to change anything. I tried phonebanking, calling legislators, street canvassing, and other outreach methods. But what I ultimately found is that living my daily life had the largest effect of all. By boycotting the meat industry in my diet, I helped meat consumption to drop in the U.S. By supporting ethical companies with my dollars, I helped workers earn a living wage. By living as out, I helped the national support level for same-sex marriage rise above 50%.

That’s why my most recent volunteering experience was with SpeakOUT, an LGBT speakers bureau founded in 1972. We simply tell our life stories to anyone who asks to listen. I did my first speaking engagement with them on January 29 for a group of Samaritans-in-training. I spoke for just about 5 minutes about my life story (yes, 20-somethings have life stories, too) and then answered questions for an hour. I was part of a panel with two other speakers. Between us, we told stories of everyday life, suicide, church, domestic violence, marriage, divorce, dating, and coming out. Some in the group of listeners had never met an out person before and they asked us the questions they would have been embarrassed to ask in any other setting. It was terrifying and empowering to speak and I can’t wait to do it again.

The way you live every day matters more than one action every once in a while. I still participate in fundraising walks and rallies occasionally, and there is nothing wrong with participating in public group actions, but the quiet form of activism can be the strongest.

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11 Communicationist Contributions of 2011

Posted on January 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s important to always give back, no matter what you have to give. Looking back at my own year of giving, I donated time, goods, and money towards lots of pretty cool projects. I hope by highlighting their work here you’ll consider adding them to your own 2012 giving list.

 

Community Servings runs a great fundraiser each Mother’s Day — Meals4Moms. For a $25 donation that covered the cost of a local ill mom’s food for herself and her family for a week, Community Servings sent my mom a card with a message letting her know what was being done in her name. My mom was really touched and raved about it for weeks – Her favorite Mother’s Day gift ever!

 

On the coldest day of the year I wanted to do something for those who didn’t have a warm home to go home to like I did, so I made a donation to Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. I already knew about them as a leading local non-profit organization and I want to make my donation an annual tradition.

 

Most of us have heard of Kiva by now. I love microcredit and I am able to give loans to the exact women’s group that I worked with during my 2005 microcredit internship in Paraguay. I made 4 loans in 2011 and am hooked! I will definitely keep loaning in 2012.

 

I gave to a few projects on Kickstarter too, my favorite new fundraising website. I want to give to every project! I supported my friend’s independent short film, but you can find anything from magnets that turn your fridge into a robot to an anti-bullying theater production to contribute towards. I recommend checking out my co-worker’s inspiring year-long voyage: Will Travel for Vegan Food.

 

Saint Francis House is the local shelter in my neighborhood. My wife and I donate our clothes and other goods here several times a year. Give locally, think globally.

 

Whenever my office doesn’t need something anymore, I give it away on Freecycle. For a little bit of extra effort, items from folders to furniture have been kept out of landfills and go to local people who can get some use out of them. They’ve made some major upgrades to their website since I started using it and I highly recommend joining your local Freecycle group (even if its just to get free stuff).

 

I give a monthly automatic donation to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. We want to be able to give to so many causes regularly, but if you choose the one you are most passionate about you can really feel you are making an impact.

 

Donations don’t have to be monetary. My workplace donated pro bono consulting time by me and a co-worker to Sexual Minorities Uganda. See these posts for the full story.

 

I donated my personal time to the Boston Pride Committee. I volunteered more for them last year when I had an official position on the committee, but I helped out in 2011 too, including organizing their volunteers for their 2nd annual holiday fundraiser which benefited Youth Pride.

 

The Network/La Red is a Boston-area domestic violence organization for the lesbian/bisexual/transgender community. Its a worthy cause close to my heart and this year I donated my old cell phone to them. When I upgraded to my first smartphone, I dropped my old phone off in the drop-box at my bank. (Eastern Bank is a caring institution that gives back to the local community not only with a percentage of its profits each year but with things like community rooms at their branches for non-profit meetings.) The Network/La Red does a great job reaching out for partnerships for creative fundraising with places like The Pita Pit.

 

The organization that I gave the holy donor trinity (time, money, and fundraising) to was the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center for their 6th annual Walk for Change. Doing something positive and active felt even better than hitting the “donate” button and I was able to raise $626 for their work from my family, friends, and co-workers. Here’s my post on how I did it.

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Walk is Codeword for…

Posted on April 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

fundraise! Yesterday I participated in the 6th annual Walk for Change, put on by the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC). My original fundraising goal was $250 but I quickly realized I should set my sights higher and changed it to $500. I am proud to say that today my total came to $626. I called on my network of friends, colleagues, and family to donate to this important cause and they came through. I used the tools through FirstGiving, the program that BARCC uses for its fundraisers. You can see my fundraising page here.

I used some of their provided text for emails to donors but edited most of it and wrote a lot of my own. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent yesterday to my connections who hadn’t yet donated:

[The $571.22 raised so far] came from 13 separate donations, most of them under $30. It has really inspired me to see what what can achieve when we all pull together. My fundraising page will stay open and active for 3 months after the walk is over this afternoon. Please consider making a contribution or send my page on to anyone who might like to donate. The amount we have raised so far will cover the costs of 9 free counseling sessions for survivors and I would love to make it 10.

The walk itself was a moving experience. There were speakers at the beginning of the event who shared experiences of desperation and survival and T-shirts bearing stories from the Clothesline Project were hung up around the starting area. There was a great turn-out and I met some incredible women. I’m fortunate to have been able to contribute to this cause.

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Volunteer Roulette

Posted on December 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Even though I stepped down as a Chair on the Boston Pride Committee, I haven’t quit altogether. I’ve been keeping a less active role as a volunteer. I helped organize the volunteers for a fundraising holiday party for them last night, and acted as a volunteer myself. We needed volunteers to help run the silent auction, black jack tables, poker tables, and roulette tables, as well as serve as waitstaff and bartenders. I helped with the assignments and set-up, then moved on to my table.

Me running the roulette table

Volunteers (especially at volunteer-run organizations) often end up wearing multiple hats at once. In addition to my roulette lady and volunteer coordinator roles, I was also a prospective donor and a community member. So in this case, Boston Pride would be trying to serve my wants as a constituent, hoping that I donate to the cause, hoping that I get others to donate to the cause, trying to make me happy so that I will volunteer again, supervising me, having me supervise other volunteers to make sure they are happy so they will volunteer again but also that they do their job and get community members to donate while recognizing that the volunteers are also community members who may donate…. Head spinning like a roulette wheel yet?

 
And all of that was perfectly OK because I feel comfortable volunteering for Boston Pride and am happy to take on more than one role. Putting a new volunteer in a volunteer coordinator role wouldn’t have been the right move, but if you find the right volunteer for the job, the roles can fall into place. It is important to keep in mind, though, that volunteers are never just your volunteers: They are the clients that you serve, the donors to whom you market, and the public to whom you advertise. Always put your best foot forward to them and keep them happy in all of their roles by choosing the best task for them as an individual.

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Vintage Vingette: MSPCA Walk for Animals

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

Vintage Vignettes glimpse into the Communicationist’s past, one to ten years ago from this day.

On this day in 2009, I stepped in as the Volunteer Coordinator for the day of the annual Walk for Animals, a fundraising event for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It was a fun day with lots of cute dogs and excited volunteers. I wasn’t involved with the volunteer recruitment or event planning — I had only emailed a few times with the coordinator to get my instructions. I got there early to set up and found myself organizing the volunteers who were there to help with set-up. Our labors produced this tent with Dunkin’ Donuts:

Me where I feel at home

Volunteers checked in with me to get their assignment and then again whenever they had completed a task. I was on Walkie Talkies with the MSPCA staff and would re-direct volunteers as necessary. Set-up and clean-up were the busiest times, and check-in was my favorite part of the event. I really like greeting people at the beginning of the day. The MSPCA passed their goal of $250,ooo and the event was a success!

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