Episode 18: Activating Volunteers

Mission and Markets: Episode 18

Please note: This is an AI generated transcription. There may be slight grammatical errors, spelling errors and/or misinterpretation of words.

Speaker: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Mission and Markets, a podcast by CAPTRUST, where we explore trends and best practices for endowments and foundations related to mission engagement, fiduciary governance, and investment management. Hosted by CAPTRUST’s Heather Shanahan, each episode shares research, resources, and recommendations from industry insiders.

So your nonprofit can focus on what’s most important, the mission.

Heather Shanahan: Hello and welcome to our next episode of Mission and Markets. I’m your host, Heather Shanahan, Today I’m joined by Rose Thompson, Executive Director of Activate Good. Rose, tell us a little bit about you, the history of Activate Good, and your programs and mission.

Rose Thompson: have a long history of working with nonprofits in the U. S. and I joined the organization in 2013. I’ll actually celebrate my 12 year anniversary this week, and stepped [00:01:00] into the executive director role last May as our founder took on other opportunities and Activate Good will actually celebrate its 20th anniversary this June

it was founded by Amber Smith and Heather Leah. After they had made a cross country trek together and volunteered and performed random acts of kindness in 20 states And along this journey they discovered that many people that they met were very interested in volunteering, but didn’t know how to get started So upon their return Their website quickly became their passion project and they launched it and activate good has evolved as a conduit of change in the triangle.

Heather Shanahan: we appreciate you joining us on your anniversary week. Congratulations.

Rose Thompson: Thank you.

you guys just do amazing work, and I think we feel fortunate to have you in Raleigh North Carolina. What can you tell us about your national partners and any efforts to scale?

Rose Thompson: in [00:02:00] 2013, we joined Points of Light, which is a global,nonprofit organization Love

on volunteer mobilizing and community service organizations, and it serves more than 145 affiliates across 39 countries And Activate Good is the local affiliate here in the Triangle Region of North Carolina. the goal of that network is to create a society where it’s just easy for every individual to take action and help to accelerate change within their community and ultimately around the world. And as an affiliate, we do the same. So our work has actually evolved over time to include, not only, Community programming, but youth programming, business programming, and our mission has remained the same.

But through that global network we also work with a lot of nationwide nonprofits as well as small local nonprofits here, and a lot of large and small corporations that are either nationwide or global as well.

Heather Shanahan: You may not have plans to scale, but you have a [00:03:00] model that other organizations could benefit from learning about, for sure. What types of projects have volunteersparticipated in?

Rose Thompson: through some of our programming, we have, youth volunteers that we activate, through two different programs as well as corporate programming, we have a Triangle Businesses for Good programming, working with 100 plus businesses in our area. We also host,

global and national days of service like MLK day, which we actually turned into a full week called dignity week, and national volunteer week and earth day, and the nine 11 day of service, which happens to be our largest, as well as family volunteer day, which is in November

we try to plug in volunteers to find something that they’re passionate about ultimately with the goal of having them have a longer lasting connection to those organizations that we are connecting them to. They can also utilize our website, which is a volunteer opportunity database that all of our partners can utilize

if they are not in our region. we also [00:04:00] work to plan large custom project and small custom projects for, businesses or civic clubs or churches even, or universities that come our way and need that type of support and planning for volunteerism.

On that note, I think we have co workers, at least I do, who tell me they want to get involved in the community. They’re not really sure how, if they haven’t really developed or identified their passion yet. What guidance would you give to folks that want to make an impact?

Heather Shanahan: How do they get started?

Rose Thompson: Say if they approach you definitely encourage them.

Heather Shanahan: Go do all the things.

Rose Thompson: It is important, exactly, and we use that, hashtag all the things all the time. it’s important to find volunteer opportunities that fit your schedule and your interests. our site and other sites like ours certainly make that easy for volunteers because they can search by cause or, in our case, location or date.

and,encourage them to decide what makes them tick. What are they passionate about? so I think it’s really important that we identify [00:05:00] skills that they might and just take that leap and sign up, plug into something that hopefully ignites them.

we nonprofits need those people right now more than ever.

Heather Shanahan: That’s great.so I think a lot of times people think they want to be involved on a board, but especially for maybe younger volunteers, they don’t have that experience. How would you encourage them to learn more, get up to speed, have a better understanding of what’s required to be a good board member?

Rose Thompson: do your due diligence and your research and maybe take baby steps. A lot of our board members have evolved through our organization. They might have come to us as volunteers and then served as project leaders and then joined our advisory board and then joined our board.

. Familiarize yourself with What it means to be a board member, good board development and training.

If you haven’t had that, I highly recommend, digging in, but finding a cause that you’re most passionate about and aligns with,how you want to use your time and skills to give back.[00:06:00]

Heather Shanahan: That’s great. Good guidance.one of the reasons that we were excited, there were many, but one of the reasons that we were excited about having you on as a guest today is really the change in uncertainty going on in the nonprofit world and many organizations are scrambling to rethink their funding strategies and your approach gives a different angle and different perspective.

Can you touch on why volunteers are so important right now?

Rose Thompson: So I’d said, nonprofits need them now more than ever, but those volunteers can also be our biggest advocates, activate good and nonprofits across the U. S. are just trying to abate these uncertain times by. Doing a lot of things. We’re researching and expanding our outreach to new volunteer pools so that we can hopefully expand our donor base, trying to diversify our funding sources.

a large part of our pie is that corporate piece. So if CSR programming is getting cut, that’s going to ultimately hurt [00:07:00] our work, right? So we’re trying to diversify where our funding resources are coming from.

doing things like crowdfunding, or something as simple as hosting a supply drive and sharing a non profit’s wish list with their networks. That’s one way to just spread the word about the need, and it’s a small, simple step. and then we are tapping.

Hopefully deeper into that corporate philanthropy. And I think a lot of nonprofits are in that space right now. but really tapping into those CSR programs and thinking about ways that we as nonprofits can bolster those and offer volunteer experiences as team building opportunities. These corporate spaces have the people power to get the good work done that we nonprofits need done So I think we also have to get creative with the sponsorships we offer In hope that we find and land more of those unrestricted funds to support our programming and keep them going and tap into the foundations, you know those corporate foundations and others in your area and those tallers for [00:08:00] doers programs that are out there.

and right now in the nonprofit space, I know I’m a part of a multitude of collaboratives that are evolving and growing and developing shared messages.

Rose Thompson: And I think it’s really critical right now for nonprofits to do that. We do not need to be working in silos. We do not need to be recreating the wheel. We need to be working together and community building and sharing our resources right now and really just joining forces for the betterment of the communities that we’re all striving to serve.

Heather Shanahan: Absolutely. And I think that kind of innovative thinking and collaboration is really appealing to grant makers and corporations that are saying, if I’ve got multiple organizations that are working to solve problems, then our outcomes are likely to be more impactful. What about an organization, a nonprofit that doesn’t have a volunteer program, either because they’ve just never started it or they are.

In the infancy of their development or, in some cases, I think it’s challenging [00:09:00] if, the mission of the organization doesn’t lend itself in obvious ways to volunteers. maybe their privacy issues based on, who they serve, there could be all kinds of issues that they haven’t started something.

What advice would you give in terms of how to get started?

Rose Thompson: And if they don’t have a volunteer program or they’re contemplating growing one, I think just. So we’ll start with a little bit of a background. there’s volunteers who are delving into their existing programming and really. Strategizing and thinking about, all right, what do we need to stop, start, or pause here?

And how can volunteers plug in to support our goals? once you identify what those volunteer needs might be, having clear descriptions of those roles, almost think of them as jobs, and really make them clear so that as you’re posting and sharing and taking that time. Step to put the needs out there on various channels.

I encourage them as I grow their volunteer program to cast the net wide, in order to expand their volunteer community and hopefully those volunteers are going [00:10:00] to have even more ideas to help spearhead, other ways that you can be plugging in volunteers to your organization.

it’s critical before you do all of that, though, to develop some proper training, in your onboarding methods, of course, and be prepared to just regularly check in with those volunteers, show them appreciation and try to create a pathway for volunteer retention and growth opportunities for them within your

Organizations. I think we’ve done a good job of creating a ladder of engagement. I’d love for that ladder to be even taller within activate good. And I think every nonprofit needs to think about that. our volunteers ultimately become our donors who then might become our board chair someday.

And that has happened, time and time again here at activate good. So I think it’s important as you’re growing that program. And you are onboarding those volunteers to also not be afraid to make asks of them. they want to be your advocates and your cheerleaders, and they want to put their time, talent, and treasures into your organization.

So thinking critically about how to best [00:11:00] plug them in, is key. And then how to approach, their networks, right? All of us have tremendous networks. And so I think it’s just key to think through that and offer them avenues to do that.

So a lot of our volunteers will often repost what we’re sharing on social media, and you sometimes have to encourage them. But if they love your cause, they’re going to support it and your volunteer programming will grow. Ours has grown traditionally via word of mouth because it’s a non profit and a small one at that.

We haven’t had that marketing money, so we

have to.

heavily on volunteers to further our mission here.

Heather Shanahan: All great words of wisdom. You mentioned acknowledging volunteers, and with your model, the fact that you partner with other non profit organizations, do you work on that volunteer acknowledgement and do you count on your partner, non profit organizations to do that?

Does everybody say thank you? How does that work?

Rose Thompson: Yeah, our, website has some [00:12:00] automated follow ups and, through our mail serve, we’re able to do that as well when folks are onboarded to activate good site. so I think that’s a critical piece, just thinking through how can you automate, some of this so that folks are regularly hearing from you, and you’re not ghosting your volunteers,

we.I think it’s critical that we have an annual appreciation night where we invite, our stakeholders and, try to celebrate them and the impacts that we’ve made in the year. I think it’s critical to plan those types of events, people look forward to them. And then plugging them in if you’re having fundraising opportunities or events and service projects and such and just bringing them more into your fold is key.

Heather Shanahan: What would you say is the range of volunteer opportunities that you see out there from simple to complex and what are some unconventional ways you’ve seen nonprofit organizations utilize volunteers to support their operations?

Rose Thompson: So on our [00:13:00] site and any given week there are probably over a thousand shifts available. So there’s quite a gamut that we see and I can be good. but we see our nonprofits posting a lot of micro volunteering, that’s the trend. small things like tree giveaways or,Being social media ambassadors and just resharing, and skills based volunteering, we nonprofits often don’t have professionally skilled volunteers at the ready to help us.

So I see a lot of postings for that. And we encourage our partners to post those needs. anything from. Grant researchers to graphic designers or language, translation. That’s one I’ve seen a lot lately. and then things like photographers for events, HR representatives to do virtual interviews with clients for workforce development programs and things like that.

So we nonprofits desperately need, skills based volunteers who are willing to help us, pro bono. And then those higher level volunteer opportunities. I always encourage our partners to post things. For needs for committee members and board roles, they are [00:14:00] volunteers. So it’s important to cast that net and, just see, who’s out there seeking opportunities.

I know in our area, it’s a very, transitional landscape. People are moving here by the droves every day. So we see a lot of people that come to our site that way they’re looking to plug in and they want to use their skills to do good. So I think it’s important as nonprofits to consider posting those skills based volunteer needs.

Our schools, that we support, we see a lot of volunteer needs for fun things like sorting books in the media center. To me, that’s fun. We’re demonstrating literacy to kids just by reading to them. and then supporting career days. That’s one thing that, we’d love for our business partners to do so that we have helped our schools have an array of professionals go out.

I’ve even done it. It’s been fun to explain to kids. What nonprofits are,

but we encourage, our community partners, just saying, when in doubt, put it out there, post it, you never know who’s looking at these websites like ours. And if you’re contemplating how they can help, just be sure to keep your opportunities fresh so that [00:15:00] you’re maintaining that FaceTime with them online and, just clearly show them the how and why the, why is there and how important and impactful their volunteer hours can be to your organization.

Heather Shanahan: you touched on Students and schools and youth. Let’s talk about trends that you’re seeing with younger generations regarding volunteering and social impact.

Rose Thompson: Yeah, we have been fortunate. We’ve seen an 81 percent increase over the last year in youth volunteerism through our programming. younger generations, particularly Gen Z and millennials, they’ve shown a strong interest in volunteering with a focus on more flexible and impactful opportunities and seem to prioritize causes related to social justice and the environment.

We know they’re digitally driven

Heather Shanahan: Right?

Rose Thompson: and like to use online platforms. So that’s why it’s important. We nonprofits post these volunteer [00:16:00] needs out there. and they also prefer to align their volunteer work with their personal values. As a Points of Light affiliate, we participate in one of their global days of service that I mentioned, Family Volunteer Day.

It’s always the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and for years, parents in attendance would commend us for hosting this massive event with 12 service projects and 400 people in one space, and say it was great, and ask, what are the other ways to plug in beyond this? day, so we’ve been very strategic in growing our youth programs.

years ago we had summer camps and COVID of course put the end of those. We had virtual youth programming during those wonky COVID times. but we’ve been able to launch Activate Kids, which is a program for youth ages five to 10 and their families. They do service projects. Every month in our community and the Youth Volunteer Corps.

This is actually a nationwide program, and we are the first affiliate in the state of North Carolina. Those two groups ages five to 18, took on 50 service projects [00:17:00] last year, so been booming for us. I think it’s really important to engage youth of all ages because they are our pipeline and they’re the next generation of

Heather Shanahan: Absolutely. That’s excellent. What about corporate groups? When you see them come together to volunteer, and that seems to be often tied at this point, if a corporation is going to be involved. be involved with a non profit in some way, shape, or form. They really also want their employees to be able to show up and help out.

And what would you say the impact is on corporate culture for organizations that volunteer together?

Rose Thompson: Yeah, team building, we know is critical in the office, even in the nonprofit space, we need to team build. And even my team, we go out quarterly and we volunteer at a different place once a quarter, just to keep our finger on the pulse. But I think choosing volunteerism as a team is critical. You’re helping to meet community needs.

You can go out to lunch afterwards [00:18:00] and have a good time there too. but nothing fosters this team building experience as volunteers like, painting in a school and mulching trails or wrapping diapers for the diaper bank or packaging meals. And just knowing that you as a team are giving back to a nonprofit and the community as a collective while hopefully representing your community.

Company’s commitment to the community.

we have seen quite a boost in corporate volunteerism and a boost in that employee morale and engagement and, their overall sense of community in the workplace and outside of it. And I think it leads to all kinds of increased, loyalty to the company, job satisfaction, and even better recruitment and retention rates from the employee pool.

So I think it’s just critical and it’s clear that volunteering as a team can also foster leadership skills, activate good. We provide these custom service projects for volunteer teams of all sizes. [00:19:00] And we also bring together, our leaders in the community through our triangle businesses for good program.

And I think that these custom services we’re trying our best to just scale them and make them suitable for what those teams are seeking. So we as nonprofits need to think about that. how can the businesses in our areas really plug in to support our mission and how can we, align our programming to match, what they’re seeking to do in the

community

and many of our fellow Points of Light affiliates across the globe offer similar services. So we’re trying to plug in, businesses to do good across the board.

Heather Shanahan: That’s excellent. It seems with so many organizations returning to work in person now, you probably have Employees that have not worked together in person. So coming together to volunteer might be a great way to get to know each other on a different level too. So for anybody listening, that’s a corporate decision maker there on HR, reach out and get [00:20:00] involved in your community.

Rose Thompson: Yes, indeed.

Heather Shanahan: So you’ve been part of Activate Good since 2013, and of course recently just stepped into that executive director role. When you think about the stories that have resonated the most with you over the years, and you’ve got a lot to pull from, I’m sure, what stands out as some of the most memorable for you?

Rose Thompson: this is a very hard question because they’re truly countless, fond memories of impacts that our little grassroots organization that’s not so little anymore has been able to,provide in our community. And for me to be at the helm of some of that planning, it’s just been amazing to see, that old adage, many hands make light work is so very true.

and I love seeing our days of service come to fruition after months of planning them and seeing thousands of people just come together on one day. for me. National Volunteer Week is right around the corner. We have [00:21:00] three mural projects coming up at schools. So to transform those spaces, it’s so moving to see volunteers and their paint by number project, all interacting to create this amazing mural with the school community.

And then, our 9 11 day of service always has had a very soft spot in my heart. My whole team pours their hearts into planning that as we really strive to honor those. I’m not sure how many people have seen that. I think that the city of Davis is lost with acts of service in our community. Had 1100 volunteers help out at 40 projects on that one day last year.

It’s just. Phenomenal.some that really stand out in my earlier years to activate good. I worked to plan philanthropic birthday parties for more than one person that reached out. And instead of going out to celebrate their birthday, they wanted to plan a service project. And to me, that was just so inspiring. For my 40th years ago, my husband actually did that just for me because he knew how important that was to me in planning those for other people.

So we went out and volunteered as a group of friends [00:22:00] together.

that’s

Heather Shanahan: neat.

Rose Thompson: an amazing day. I’ve witnessed that, time and time again, people coming together to make a difference has just been amazing. I could keep going and tell you some really tremendous stories.

Heather Shanahan: Oh, that’s wonderful. I love that idea. I’ve never thought about that. That’s great. thank you, Rose. You’ve been tremendously insightful. As we take a look at. Volunteering from both sides of the equation, both for individuals who want to be involved as well as organizations who need volunteers and how to connect those together.

We like to close our podcast with the question for our guests, mission impact. What does that mean to you? So I’d love to hear your take on that.

Rose Thompson: I have learned that service unites us. It’s the one thing I think, especially right now, that

definitely

can. And so we need to, as a country and a global village, double down on that to support these nonprofits [00:23:00] that are striving to make impacts in our community.

Heather Shanahan: Very timely advice. I love that. Thank you so much.

Rose Thompson: Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all.

The discussions and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker and are subject to change without notice. This podcast is intended to be informational only. Nothing in this podcast constitutes a solicitation, investment advice, or recommendation to invest in any securities. CAPTRUST Financial Advisors is an investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.

Nancy: This presentation does not contain legal, investment, or tax advice.

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