Finding ways to micro-volunteer can be as simple as signing and sharing a petition, filling out a survey for a specific non-profit organisation (NPO), purchasing a raffle ticket, donating time to start or contribute to a fundraising or crowdfunding campaign, donating goods, watching/reading and sharing videos and articles about specific causes, retweeting or liking online and sharing donation opportunities on social media, or volunteering much-needed skills to projects.
Businesses today are increasingly making micro-volunteering part of their staff volunteerism programmes because of its ability to make a big impact with little difficulty and just small commitments.
“At heart, everyone is a giver and hardwired to do good deeds that will ultimately help others in their communities. It is, however, vital for companies to continue the momentum with their staff volunteering programmes to make it easier for staff that want to make a difference to get involved in micro-volunteering activities,” Patronella Sono, staff volunteer programme specialist at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings.
Sono shares some tips that organisations can use to encourage and make it easier for staff to micro-volunteer:
This will likely differ from company to company but typically covers the spectrum from volunteering time, donating goods, offering their professional skills to a wide range of non-profit organisations all the way through to match-funding and payroll-giving.
Many of these forms of micro-volunteering are now facilitated through online platforms such as forgood, which is a matching service between volunteers and organisations in need to make it easier to connect people to causes.
Sono advises organisations to share stories from individuals and organisations that have benefited directly from a particular contribution and show the tangible difference it has been able to make in their lives.
This makes the value of volunteering concrete and gives it a human face, and it can also help encourage others to volunteer in whichever way they can.
Companies need to be able to show that the spirit of volunteerism and intent to help communities and make a difference starts at the top.
Leaders need to act as role models because their voices and actions hold real and far-reaching power and have the potential to act as a force for good. This will help ensure that volunteerism filters through all levels of the organisation and truly becomes part of the company’s culture.
Sono encourages companies to support micro-volunteering efforts as much as possible as the little good deeds “will come together to form a tidal wave that will change and grow South African communities”.
