Although donations are a vital component of the American spirit, the value of volunteering one’s time cannot be underestimated. In fact, the Independent Sector estimated that an hour of a volunteer’s time in 2007 was worth $19.51. This means that, over the course of a year, a person is worth more than $1,000 to a nonprofit organization by volunteering just five hours per month.
Inspiring the Volunteer Spirit
In case your small business wants to inspire a volunteering spirit in your employees, here are some questions that you can ask them:
- What causes or issues matter the most to you?
- When volunteering, do you want to use the skills you apply in your career, or do you want to do something completely different?
- Do you want an ongoing, regularly scheduled assignment or a short-term or one-time assignment?
- Do you want to volunteer alone, with a group or as a family?
There are so many different ways to get involved. For instance, organizations that had the most volunteer hours last year included religious organizations (36 percent), educational/youth-service related (26 percent) and social or community service organizations or sports-related organizations (13 percent). In all, about 60.8 million Americans volunteered through or for an organization at least once between Sept. 2006 and Sept. 2007.
Based on my experience, I find that both employees and customers appreciate it when companies care about and volunteer in their communities. Check back next month for further insights about connecting employees with volunteer opportunities in your community.
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