Coordination is no easy job

It may come as no surprise that nonprofit professionals are piled up with large workloads to meet everyday demands. Among their many responsibilities and daily duties, organizing a large group volunteer day for corporates can be a significant opportunity for future fundraising and support for projects, however, it can also present a considerable challenge. The day of volunteering may appear seamless due to their hard work, but it does require great effort, coordination, and resources behind the scenes.

To provide more perspective, it can be a daunting task for nonprofits to organize a day for a group as they first must access, plan, and strategize for the intended help. This is to ensure it will align with their mission and be impactful. Nonprofits must consider the skill set of the volunteers while also addressing the project that needs to be completed. Projects often require a lot of correspondence and collaboration between team members to ensure the project is ultimately helpful at the end of the day and worth the extra effort.

A lack of resources can also act as a pain point for folks in nonprofits. Once a project is chosen, nonprofits are also faced with the responsibility of accommodating resources to meet the influx of volunteers. This can include extra staff who oversee the project operations and provide added value with a tour, initial training, and instructions. It also requires staff to be available for volunteers if questions arise. Other resources, like materials, tools, and equipment can be challenging to source. For some organizations, sourcing these resources can be overwhelming due to limited budgets. This is why partnerships within the community are so important!

We’re here to help!

We’ve witnessed this firsthand. Purposely partnered with Families Matter in Calgary to paint a much-needed fresh coat on a classroom and office. This space previously was not in use, but as the demand for Families Matter grew, they needed some extra space for staff and client programming.

Purposely hopped on a call with Families Matter to brainstorm and help determine what task needed immediate attention. We landed on the painting. Their team let us know, that without Puposely’s network of volunteers and coordination with those volunteers, they wouldn't have gotten the painting done as fast, and certainly not on the new speedy timeline. Folks at Families Matter explained it most likely would have been staff completing the painting on their own time, or hired help. The painting was completed in only a few hours, leaving staff with extra time to focus on their important work and saving resources.

Despite these challenges, the support of volunteers is invaluable for nonprofits. Purposely ultimately works to decrease the workload for nonprofits by organizing and coordinating details with volunteer groups to make it as simple as possible. Nonprofits working with Purposely can focus on the work at hand and continue to help their communities while fostering partnerships.