It's no small feat to maintain a team of happy and healthy employees, and in the midst of a global pandemic, you may find yourself feeling like Sisyphus pushing the boulder ever upwards. However, much like mushrooms growing out of cow dung, beautiful things can sprout up from otherwise unfortunate circumstances. Covid (read: "cow dung"), is fundamentally changing not only how we work, but what it means to work.

Options like workplace volunteering are becoming increasingly popular as a way to help employees contribute to causes they care about and create broader meaning at work. You already know how valuable employee volunteering can be for a workplace. So to make things easier, we put some tips together to help you find the best volunteer opportunities for your employees.

They're Around Here Somewhere...

Let's start with the problem. As an employer, you hired smart and talented people, and they want to give back and volunteer more than ever. And guess what? As the charitable sector looks to recover from this pandemic, they're clamoring for talented people just like the ones you hired! Great. So finding the perfect opportunity should be easy, right?

Well, easy might be a stretch. Anyone who has spent time searching online for some knows how difficult it can be to find the right volunteer role. It's not that the resources don't exist, but the ones that do are often outdated, don't leverage your employees skills, and make it difficult to share roles with team members. To put it bluntly, they're not made for companies or for the modern web.

Pick up the Phone

So what can you do to find a role that helps your employees give back in meaningful ways? Sometimes it starts with a simple phone call. Sites like Charity Data can help you find organizations and causes that matter most to you and your company. By giving them a call, you're starting a valuable dialogue where you can not only learn about the charity's needs, but you can let them know what skills your employees are able to contribute. Let's say you have a great web developer. By letting the charity know, they may just realize their website is quite outdated and could really use a makeover! It's a win-win.

Use a Better List

If a phone call sounds intimating, or simply a lot of effort, don't worry about it! We got you covered. At their best, a great list of volunteers opportunities helps facilitate a relationship between company, employees, and charities.

That's why we created purposely.co, a one stop shop with filterable results based on your needs. If you're looking for solo roles, team opportunities, or COVID-friendly remote roles, we have it. And if we don't, drop us a line, help us understand what your company needs, and let us find the right opportunities for you. Hassle free.

Being Right Matters

Simply allowing employees to volunteer during work hours isn't enough. Companies that don't help employees find a suitable opportunity often face stagnating participation rates. Why is that?

Just like finding the right job, finding the right volunteer opportunity that can make all the difference. Opportunities that match well with employee skill sets and values increase the likelihood that they'll participate. It's necessary if you want engaged employees and a volunteer program that helps build a team culture infused with the spirit of giving.