Volunteering is one of those activities that just has “feel good” built right into it. But not every volunteer role is smooth sailing, and depending on the role, you may need to take on a challenging or difficult task that pushes you outside of your comfort zone.

At Purposely, we act as the bridge between companies and nonprofits, and we’ve been fortunate enough to see how great it can be when company's volunteer for difficult tasks. It's the best form of team-building, bar none, and it's available to any company. It's the win-win of giving back to your community while forging strong team bonds. In our world, nothing is better than that ❤️

Cold Calling Donors

We had the privilege to partner up with Backpack Buddies, and incredible nonprofit that provides meals for children over the weekend when they don’t have access to their school’s weekday lunch program. This fills a critical gap in food security, and we’re thankful that nonprofits like them exist in the world.

Rather than package up food for distribution to thousands of children, the volunteer group at Event Temple, a Vancouver tech company, was tasked with calling Backpack Buddies’ donors to thank them for their contribution that year. This task wasn't as flashy as packaging up food bags, but it was an important part of the relationship building process with donors. This kind of volunteer work is essential.

Event Temple took up the challenge, albeit with some faces that visibly paled as they thought about calling donors. Cold calling just isn’t easy, especially if it’s something you’ve never done before.

After seeing how one of their web developers, visibly nervous, stepped up and made calls, Bob Graham, their CEO, said his respect for them “shot through the roof”. He realized how it brought their team closer together, and for a CEO, that’s invaluable.

Weathering the Elements

Sometimes the difficulty isn’t in the task itself, but in the unpredictability of the environment that you’re volunteering in. In our case, we brought teams out to volunteer with Fresh Roots to help them freshen up one of their schoolyard farms. While the weather had been beautiful all week, the Thursday we volunteered on had other plans.

The teams trudged out in the cold, windy, and rainy weather to pull weeds, pick kale, rake out beds, and more. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t exactly a “pleasant” day out on the farm. They were cold and wet, but despite all of that, there we smiles, laughter, and genuine team connection as everyone gave their time together.

And that’s really the keyword. They all did it together. They all went through a bit of adversity, but at the end, they saw the farm in much better shape than it had been in before they arrived. It meant the kids at the school had a beautiful space to come and learn about agriculture and our natural world. Volunteers left with full hearts and a deeper sense of appreciation for their colleagues because they went through it all together.

Bonding Through Difficult Tasks

Remember that feeling when you came back from a long, chilly hike and jumped into a warm shower? Or how satisfying it was to have dinner after missing breakfast and lunch because you couldn’t find a moment of downtime during a busy day? Life becomes a little brighter, a little more full, when we face something difficult and are able to come out on the other side.

So embrace the challenges and do some good in the world. That's what volunteering is all about.