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Civic Engagement

There are 15 posts filed in Civic Engagement (this is page 1 of 2).

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A Nation United: Moving Forward From the 2020 Election

As we await the results of this year’s general election, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past year, and to consider what comes next. 2020 has been a year of challenges and fortitude, in politics as in our daily lives. From Congress and the Supreme Court, to our homes and work environments, politics have perhaps never felt more personal. Our country has been asked to decide our stance on issues that impact human rights, healthcare, equity, climate change, and more. We were asked to choose the type of leader and future that we would like to see. 

With so much at stake, we knew this was a crucial year to join these nationwide Get Out The Vote efforts through our pledge functionality. As we approached the election, we found much to make us feel hopeful. From the surge of young people voting early and by mail, to the poll workers and frontline workers putting themselves at risk for the good of their community, we have seen that giving and forgiveness, empathy and energy, can coexist and move us all forward. 

The America we live in remains riddled with uncertainty and division. The fault lines in our nation have been revealed; they are not so easily covered back up, nor should they be. There is work to be done, and it is the privilege of living in the United States that we are able to do it. 

In this post, we will discuss how we can come together in our communities, bridging ideological divides so that our democracy can act as a beacon of equality and progress. Here, we will share actionable steps that you can take — now and in the future — to move your community forward. 

As you read and reflect, we encourage you to create an action group with friends and family to determine which steps you can take, together or separately, to stay engaged. Create an online meeting with tools like Zoom (or socially distanced in-person event) to debrief and figure out where to go from here. We hope that this post will help guide these discussions as you build a plan to stay engaged and make an impact. 

Remember, no matter how you choose to engage in this time, COVID-19 is still with us, and likely will be for some time. Practice good hand hygiene, wear masks, maintain social distance whenever possible, and isolate if you are showing symptoms. For more information about screening and testing protocols, see our post here. 

The Power of the Polls

While the 2020 presidential election is over, this does not mean exercising our right to vote is on hold for the next four years. There are many things that you can do to engage, and to ensure that others are able to do so, in the crucial elections and referendums in your community. 

Local and State Engagement 

While federal elections tend to receive the most attention, using your voice remains just as important in state and local decision-making. From local elections and midterms to referendums on budgets and bills, important decisions are being made on a regular basis that will directly impact your community. 

Action Item: Finding out about these local elections and referendums can be tricky; they tend to be less splashy, and don’t have the widespread engagement of federal elections. Use  GivePulse’s TurboVote to keep track of future elections.

Voter Access 

While we were thrilled to see so many people making their voices heard in this year’s election, we know many were stymied by voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Challenges such as restrictions on absentee ballots, felon disenfranchisement, closed poll locations, lengthy wait times, and more made voting difficult, or even impossible, for many in our country. We know that in a democracy by the people and for the people, we are strongest when everyone is able to exercise their right to vote.  

Action Item: Learn about voting requirements and restrictions in your state. If you see something that you know needs to change, don’t be silent — make your voice heard! Contact your local and state representatives, donate to organizations fighting voter suppression, or, if your state is voting on changes to voter access, make sure you get your ballot in on time.

Fight Against Misinformation

In recent elections, social media usage and dedicated efforts by foreign and domestic entities spread misinformation about voting and political parties. In order for our democracy to be truly by the people, for the people, we must fight against misinformation. Informed voting is the foundation of a healthy democracy. 

Action Item: One way to make a difference is by learning the signs of voter misinformation and inviting thoughtful discussions with family and friends on both sides of the aisle. These conversations are deeply important — dialogue with trusted individuals can open the communication necessary to share conflicting viewpoints and reconsider sources of information. When using social media, always fact-check articles with a variety of different sources before sharing; algorithms feed information that you are likely to agree with, so don’t be caught in a confirmation bias loop without double checking your facts.

Beyond the Booth: Advocacy and Public Office

Voting is important, but there are many other ways to make your voice heard in political concerns. Whatever path you choose to take, make sure you are staying safe and careful during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Contact Representatives

In addition to making your voice heard at the polls, you can make your voice heard in between election cycles by contacting your representatives over the phone or email. These representatives work for the people; if you are troubled by something in your community, you can let these individuals know and ask them to work for change. 

Action Item: If you do not yet know them, look up the elected officials for your district or county, including your representative, senator, governor, town or city councillors, and more. Add their phone numbers and email addresses to your contacts. These will save time when it comes to letting them know your thoughts.

Run for Office 

Sometimes, contacting your representatives just doesn’t feel like enough. Maybe you see a role where your knowledge, your views, and your voice would make a difference on a broader scale. Our nation is strengthened by a variety of life experiences being heard and amplified through public office. These offices should, and must, reflect the diversity of our country. No matter what your career path and experience thus far, running for office is something you should seriously consider. 

Action Item: Visit your city, state, or county’s election website to find information about roles and requirements. You can also sign up for programs or bootcamps to get helpful information and build a community (for example, She Should Run offers support and community for women who are considering running for office). For more hints and help, this NPR article offers clear steps to take!

Engage in Peaceful Protests 

In the wake of the 2016 elections, protests erupted. The Women’s March, the March for Science, and protests against travel bans, immigration policies, and more offered a voice to those who disagreed with the policies enacted. Over the past year, we have seen the power of protest amplify stories of ongoing and systemic racism. There will continue to be choices made by any administration that leave constituents feeling angry and disheartened. Peaceful protest is a protected right in the United States; make use of it and make your voice heard. 

Action Item: Join local political and advocacy groups to learn more about causes you care about, and to stay in the loop about upcoming protests and marches that you might be interested in participating in. Just as you have to make sure you are fact-checking when sharing information, make a conscious effort to educate yourself before engaging in protests. Learn how to protest safely, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Give Back in Your Community 

Whether or not you are voting, ongoing community engagement is a key component of a thriving democracy. Consider the following options to make an impact in your community. 

Philanthropy 

With November underway, the giving season is upon us. Philanthropic giving is a great way to make an immediate impact for the organizations and individuals that need you most. Challenges of COVID-19 have hit many organizations financially; any dollar donated can go toward making a real change for those who may be left vulnerable due to COVID-19, uncertainty from political changes, and more. 

Action Item: If you are a first time donor looking for somewhere to start, you can search for fundraisers and organizations by going to www.givepulse.com/search and selecting “Fundraiser” as the type of opportunity. If you are a returning donor who wants to share with your organization, you can create a peer-to-peer fundraiser; contact your organization admin for help getting this set up! For more information about crowdfunding, see our blog here.

Social Entrepreneurship 

Social entrepreneurship encourages the creation of wide-ranging and long term solutions to social justice issues. Now is a great time to find ways to turn your ideas into a reality. If you see a problem that you believe your skills and knowledge could help solve, social entrepreneurship might be the right path for you to make an impact. 

Action Item: If you aren’t sure where to start, there may be events or groups that you can join to meet like-minded individuals who can help you develop your idea. You might even meet your cofounder at one of these groups, or make headway on your mission! For example, GivePulse co-founders George Luc and James McGirr developed and began building out GivePulse at the ATX Hackathon for Change 2013. Look for social entrepreneurship organizations in your field or in your area to get started.

Volunteer

One of the most impactful forms of giving is that of your time. Organizations are looking for volunteers to help them through pro bono volunteering, long and short term opportunities, research projects, in-person and virtual engagement, and more. Whether you are interested in volunteering virtually or in person, there are many opportunities and organizations who could use your help. 

Action Item: Go to www.givepulse.com/search to find opportunities to make a difference in your community. Decide whether you want to look for specific causes, dates, times, and more. You can even filter to look for virtual and remote opportunities, to make sure you are making a difference from a distance.

No matter what you decide to do, and no matter how you feel about the outcome of this year’s election, now is the time to come together and make a difference. In these challenging times, we must work toward community wellness and success, and make our voices heard to ensure that we are able to move forward and make progress together. 

in Civic Engagement, Fundraising and Donations, GivePulse, Giving, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 1,836 Words

2020 Civic Engagement: Make Your Impact Through Census and Elections

The many challenges of 2020 have reminded us that our actions and choices are inextricably linked to the wellbeing of our communities. Nowhere is this more evident than in civic engagement. Just as every individual’s choices impact the wellness of the community, every individual’s voice impacts the outcomes of elections, the census, and referendums. We truly are a nation of the people, by the people, for the people.  

This year’s general election will take place shortly after the 2020 census ends. The census determines how resources and representation are allocated; an accurate census builds the foundation for a healthy democracy. The decision to end data collection on September 30th, 2020 has led to concerns about underreporting and inaccurate data collection. With COVID-19 complicating data collection efforts, supporting community efforts to get census forms completed is critical. For more information, visit the 2020 census website.

Last September, our National Voter Registration Day blog highlighted the importance of civic engagement. With the general election coming up in under fifty days, making sure you are able to vote is paramount. 

With this in mind, we are collaborating with TurboVote (of Democracy Works) to augment our platform, connecting our community to additional resources that will make voting easier.

You can start planning now to make sure your voice is heard! In this post, we break down: 

  • Steps to safely vote, absentee or in person 
  • The integration with TurboVote
  • Pledging to vote, its importance — and following through

Get Ready to Vote! 

COVID safe! Our GivePulse team member Skyla, pictured left, dons a mask and provided finger protection to vote

On July 14, 2020, our Austin-based GivePulse team took the opportunity to safely practice civic engagement by going to the polls. But this was not a one step process — in order to make sure our voices were heard, we had to make sure we took the following steps. 

Step 1: Make sure you are registered to vote

In the 2016 national election, about 25% of eligible voters were unregistered, and these numbers are even higher for underrepresented communities. Voters may be unable to vote if their registrations are outdated or if they miss the deadline to register. You can register to vote and check on your registration status through the United States government website, or by pledging to vote using the Turbovote and GivePulse integration! Learn more below.  

Step 2: Confirm the dates of upcoming elections 

The U.S. Vote Foundation can help you determine any upcoming elections in your state. In addition, it shares deadlines for registration, changes to party affiliation, and absentee ballot requests. You should also double check whether or not your state allows early voting, and if so, when early voting begins. On GivePulse (through our collaboration with TurboVote), you can make a pledge to vote and keep track of important dates using the following link. With this augmentation, TurboVote will automatically provide SMS text and email reminders with important election information, key dates, and deadlines.

Step 3: Learn about the candidates and issues being voted on 

Learn as much as you can about the candidates and issues to make an informed, conscientious vote. Ballot Ready offers information about the candidates and issues based on your home address, with clear and peer-reviewed information to help you decide who the best candidate is. In addition, talk to and listen to friends and family and review multiple news sources to gain insight into new, different and changing viewpoints. And most importantly, always verify any information that you read or hear using peer-reviewed, fact-checked sources! Be particularly thoughtful about information you glean from social media and online sources.

Step 4: Determine your polling location (or request a mail-in ballot)  

Websites such as USA.gov will help you locate your polling place or request an absentee ballot. Vote.org can also help you find your polling place. Note that if you are going to request an absentee ballot, you should leave ample time before the deadline, which you can find out through our collaboration with TurboVote. For both in-person and absentee voting, you will likely need some form of ID. You can learn more about what you need through your State or Local Election Office Website. The National Conference of State Legislature offers an interactive map; hover over your state to learn about your identification requirements. 

Step 5: Vote! 

Absentee: 

Depending on your state, the coronavirus pandemic may have updated the absentee ballot policies to allow for greater flexibility in using this secure and beneficial voting option. Learn more through vote.org. Once you have requested your absentee ballot, follow all instructions very carefully to make sure your vote is counted. Our civic engagement platform can also help you plan when you need to request your absentee ballot. Remember that once you have voted absentee, you can no longer vote in person. Decide which will be the best choice for you, and only vote once. Voting more than once is against the law.

In person: 

Our team members were able to vote in-person in Texas — and one in Connecticut as well (#WFH)! These voting experiences were entirely safe and secure. When they reached the voting booth, each of our team members was met with masked and shielded poll workers, hand sanitizer options and socially distanced polling booths. In Connecticut, our team member was offered a pen to fill out the ballot that could be taken home after voting. In Texas, small finger coverings were offered to press the buttons on the ballots. Remember, voting early may mean a shorter wait for voting, so check to see if your state allows early voting today.

TurboVote Integration 

As you can see from steps 1-5, there is a lot to consider when it comes down to voting. The collaboration between GivePulse, a comprehensive community engagement platform, and TurboVote, a tool to help people vote, pairs the knowledge and abilities of both to reach a broad audience and provide the rules and steps for absentee, vote-by-mail, and voter registration. 

This integration will encourage registration, education, and participation in the upcoming election this November. To this end, we have implemented the following: 

  1. A platform-wide banner on GivePulse to encourage users to pledge to vote
  2. Those who pledge can then register for election reminders powered by TurboVote
  3. After the November election, users who pledged to vote will receive an automated email confirming their voter engagement

Our team knows that this partnership can make all the difference in this year’s election. Our democracy only works effectively if every citizen is able to make their voice heard. 

Pledging 

Our TurboVote partnership utilizes pledge functionality to encourage voting, but you can also make your own pledge event, as an individual or an organization, to encourage your own community to vote! Our new Pledge Event functionality allows anyone to create a Pledge on the GivePulse platform to ask friends, group members, and others to commit to a specific action. In this case, that action might be voting! Check out our example Pledge Event below. For help creating your Pledge, email support@givepulse.com. And join the other users on the GivePulse platform pledging to vote through the link here. 

Other Forms of Civic Engagement

Voting is just one of many crucial aspects of civic engagement! Volunteer in your community, whether virtually or in-person; phone bank, send letters to congresspeople, and share information with your peers. And again, don’t forget to also fill out the 2020 census if you have not done so already! 

Higher Ed Resources 

Our higher education partners may also want to learn more about the impact that can be made by groups of voters, especially students, in this year’s election. Learn more through these excellent resources from our partners: 

Pledge to help students vote: Our partners at Elon shared the Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights, which is currently seeking to recruit signers for its Faculty Pledge for Student Voting Rights. Making sure that students across the country are able to participate in this year’s election is of the utmost importance. We encourage faculty members to learn more about this network and to consider whether they want to sign the pledge. 

Learn about the imperative of this year’s election: The Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University has released Election Imperatives 2020: A Time of Physical Distancing and Social Action. Read and share to learn about recommendations to encourage voting given the current social, political, and cultural context. 

Learn about student voting realities on your campus: The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) allows campuses to learn about student registration and voting rates, and make decisions and plans accordingly. 

Survey results reveal young people’s voting interests: The Center for Information and Research based on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) has created a comprehensive survey of young people to learn more about their voting interests, and how this translates to efforts to Get Out The Vote. 

Recruiting student poll workers: Given the anticipated shortage of poll workers for this November’s election, the Council of Independent Colleges encourages college students to power the polls in order to both meet this need and learn more about critical civic processes. Note: faculty can use the Council’s additional resources to help augment student experiences. 

We hope that these resources will help all of our partners get out the vote. For more information about our partnership with TurboVote, pledging to vote, or just how to find more information, contact civic@givepulse.com.  

in Civic Engagement, GivePulse | 1,606 Words

7 Steps Toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

A diverse workplace not only recognizes and fights against the pervasive systemic racism underlying discrepancies in everything from hiring decisions to wage gaps; it also has been proven to help organizations succeed. According to a 2017 Boston Consulting Group study, diverse management teams lead to a 19% higher innovation revenue than average. The Harvard Business Review reported in 2019 that nearly 95% of directors agree that diversity brings unique perspectives to the boardroom. 

For our partners in the community engagement sector to better meet the needs of their communities, a diverse organization made up of volunteers, donors, and board members that reflect the diversity of the region with which they work is a must. Yet all of these indicators continue to underperform in critical equity factors. For example, according to information shared by BoardSource, 90% of nonprofit CEOs and 84% of nonprofit board members are white. If organizations want to fight inequity, this must be an internal process as well. 

While many organizations have sought to actively increase their diversity and inclusion, they may be unsure of immediate steps they can take to ensure they are successful, such as how to update policies to incorporate dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Here, we share seven key steps to creating a more diverse organization and workplace. 

1. Assess your organization’s current structures and policies 

Before you can create a diversity and inclusion plan, you will first need to determine whether your organization has any policies and practices already in place, and if so, how these are being implemented. From there, you can assess your current resource allocations, as well as examine buy-in from the board, staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders. 

In addition, examine the big picture: look at the composition, structure, culture and dynamics of your organization, as well as the current communication, mission and strategic direction. If necessary, update these to reflect recognition of the importance of your diversity and inclusion efforts, and start laying the foundation to have it better represent your constituents. 

2. If you don’t already have one, designate a specific leader for diversity and inclusion efforts

In their 2019 survey, Weber Shandwick found only 34% of respondents had diversity and inclusion leadership positions in their company, while only 28% reported positions dedicated solely to diversity and inclusion. This signposts that diversity is considered tangential to other jobs, rather than a critical area of focus in its own right. Make sure that your organization doesn’t fall into this trap. If possible, create a full-time paid leadership position for diversity and inclusion efforts, and make sure that this leadership position reports directly to the CEO or executive director. For smaller organizations, DEI should be core elements of the leadership composition, and a designated responsibility for one of the executives to take ownership of. Management and top-level promotion of diversity and inclusion will trickle down, improving equity throughout the organization. 

3. Communicate and educate stakeholders on importance of diversity and inclusion 

For any diversity and inclusion plan to work, it will need to involve buy-in from all stakeholders. You will have to communicate your plan clearly and effectively — which means making sure that you have clear definitions and plans. Make sure your organization knows, agrees with and understands your definitions of diversity and inclusion, as well as your expected goals. Determine who this message needs to be tailored to, and use these elements to develop your diversity and inclusion policy. As always, reinforcing and creating opportunities for ongoing learning and improvement are of the utmost importance.

4. Update hiring policies to instill diversity from the top down 

Hiring is one area where implicit biases can play an insidious role in slowing diversity in your company. As mentioned in the previous step, reinforce the education of DEI with the entire team, including the existing hiring team. Technology is not necessarily protective against bias; algorithms are only as unbiased as the humans who create them, so it is important to test for biased technology. Implicit bias training and reminders to HR staff of the importance of diversity and inclusion can go a long way in improving diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Beyond the actual hiring steps, make sure available roles are flexible, with options for part time and remote work. During the hiring process, emphasize concrete steps for recruitment, job training, and leadership opportunities. Once hired, onboarding should offer opportunities for long term growth. 

5. Factor diversity and inclusion into day-to-day policies 

There are various ways that you can involve diversity and inclusion into day-to-day policies. The keys are to relate diversity and inclusion to the organization’s success, to tackle the culture of the organization, and to maintain a focus on growth. Mentoring programs that pair underrepresented individuals can show sensitivity to the ways in which the organization may negatively impact underrepresented groups, while also promoting community and partnership. 

You can also consider changing your HR and complaints system. The Harvard Business Review shared innovative alternatives from sociologists Frank Dobbin from Harvard University and Alexandra Kalev from Tel Aviv University. Dobbin and Kalev suggest “changing leadership mindsets from seeing complaints as threats to valuing them as insights that can spark positive organizational change.” Make clear that this is how reports are viewed to encourage crucial feedback that will help identify areas for improvement. 

6. Avoid tokenism 

Merriam-Webster defines tokenism as “the practice of doing something (such as hiring a person who belongs to a minority group) only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly.” Whether or not you believe that you are engaging in tokenism, hiring one or few members of underrepresented groups can lead to employees associating their presence with tokenism. Feeling like a token can be draining on employees, especially if they’re the only (for example) female, African-American, or millennial in their department. Do not pigeonhole employees from underrepresented groups into roles or conversations related to diversity and inclusion. Recognize and applaud everyone’s strengths, and if possible, connect individuals from underrepresented groups through mentoring as described in point five. 

7. Monitor and measure often

Creating and implementing a plan are crucial first steps, but they are not the end of the process! Prioritizing diversity and inclusion is a cycle. You are investing in a new way of thinking and a new culture, a process that does not end when you meet your first goals. Set a timeline to check in on hiring procedures, training protocols, promotions, wages, terminations, and other markers to see if there are any patterns that need to be examined. Remember, there is always room for improvement: make sure that you are listening to the voices of underrepresented groups in your organization or company for feedback and concerns. 

Ongoing Effort 

These steps will go a long way toward improving your organization’s diversity and inclusion. However, it is important to recognize that there is no silver bullet — this will be an ongoing, rather than one-time, effort. Over the course of updating diversity and inclusion policies, you may face uncomfortable conversations and situations. These are crucial to building emotional intelligence and supporting marginalized identities in your workspace. 

As a technology company providing a service to the community, the GivePulse team constantly aims to learn and grow as we work toward creating the inclusive organization we are striving to become. To do so, we will continue to regularly review the above steps, just as we do with our platform’s accessibility, performance and security. We will ensure that our values are developed and reflective of our own evolving community. As of this summer, we are working to add specific language regarding DEI to our code of conduct, and will be reinforcing our dedication to radical candor. Recognizing the risk of implicit bias in hiring processes, we ensure that job candidates meet a diverse range of interviewers and evaluators. Our promotions and payscales offer regular opportunities for reevaluation for any reason, and we acknowledge and celebrate the differences that our diverse set of experiences, identities, and stories brings to our decision-making processes. 

DEI will look different for every organization, city, and region. But true diversity efforts will also extend beyond the workplace. Being truly open to dialogue and showing a willingness to have conversations around issues of discrimination, current civil rights movements, congressional bills such as HR-40, and upcoming elections are crucial to building bridges and forging strong partnerships. Engage with your community, and encourage your organization to do the same. Push yourself and lead by example.

in Civic Engagement, GivePulse | 1,424 Words

“This is a Time of Relationships”: Strengthening Community in Uncertain Times

Swearer Center staff, pictured above, celebrate partners, students, staff, and community 

In this time, it is crucial to be socially close, even while we are physically distant! Now, more than ever, community engagement requires us to reevaluate existing relationships and double down on cultivating them further. Your program, no matter where or how you work with the community, can deepen connections and plan alongside others in this period of uncertainty. 

This is an opportunity to take important steps: 

  1. Foster community both with like-minded partners and within your organization 
  2. Dig deep into the wicked challenges and social justice issues behind the work you do in the community through advocacy and public policy
  3. Listen to a variety of voices, working together to find creative solutions and sharing these findings with peers and affiliates 

The relationships that you build now, and the ones that thrive even in these deeply challenging circumstances, are the ones that will be strongest on the other side. In this post, we share how our partners at the Swearer Center at Brown University are building on and working toward the ongoing strength and success of their community, and share our takeaways to help you do so as well as you work in or alongside community organizations. 

Cultivate relationships with like-minded partners 

Associate Dean and Interim Director of the Swearer Center Betsy Shimberg recalls the Swearer Center’s first Community Partner meeting after Rhode Island went into lockdown. “We thought three community partners would show up,” she says. “Over twenty showed up. We were thrilled to be in that role. The vision we had for the network is finally being realized.”

Now more than ever, communities are looking for spaces to ask questions and offer support. Consider how your organization, business, or campus can foster these community connections. Perhaps, like the Swearer Center, you can serve in a convening role. Maybe you can offer space, web conferencing tools, and other resources for community meetings, or create an informational network where volunteers and partners can share their successes and learnings from these times. In addition, you can work with partners to develop safe in-person engagement opportunities and virtual alternatives, as well as to evaluate program readiness to create virtual or safe in-person opportunities. 

Strong partnerships and affiliations will help communities to thrive, together — and the relationships that are fostered in these times will be vital after the pandemic. #StrongerTogether

Create and engage community within your program 

This community must be internal as well as outward-facing. Whether you are a business connecting to employees, an organization maintaining volunteer engagement, or a campus supporting students, you are likely figuring out how to foster a strong community with little or no in-person connection. 

This is certainly true at the Swearer Center. For many students at Brown, Shimberg says, the Swearer Center “functions as their community on campus. It’s their social life; it’s their cohort.” Because of this, it is crucial that they work to maintain this sense of engaged and active community. To do so, the Swearer Center is developing new virtual workshops, meetings, and Zoom orientations for the fall 2020 semester. “Now, more than ever, people want to be connected,” says Shimberg. “It’s just figuring out how to do it in a way that’s best for the students.” 

This is an opportunity to ensure that your community is accessible after the pandemic. The communities that are able to strengthen now will be able to maintain accessibility and connectedness moving forward. At Swearer, Shimberg recalls that community partners would often be unable to contribute to trainings and orientations for students due to the time it took to reach campus; now, she says, these partners can contribute pre-recorded video footage in order to facilitate reflection. Offering video options in addition to or as an alternative to in-person workshops and orientation makes opportunities more accessible to students and volunteers. 

Because this accessibility is so widely beneficial, Shimberg says that the Center is planning to keep these alternatives even after the pandemic. Changes you make now can improve accessibility and retention moving forward. For example, creating regular video content with information from community partners and offering smaller group in-person or remote reflection opportunities provides both greater input from the partners whose voices must be amplified and greater opportunities for students and volunteers to connect. Make sure that these efforts occur at regular intervals that all of your community can benefit from. 

Focus on project-based opportunities centered on advocacy, policy and social innovation

“Direct service is really important, but there are a lot of other tools in our social justice toolbelt that we want students to learn about,” says Shimberg. “We’ve been asking ourselves, okay, how might we pivot and go beyond direct service? That’s the innovation you see lots of places doing in this time around COVID.” 

Shimberg notes that virtual options such as advocacy and public policy are areas where student and volunteer voices can make immense change, particularly in an election year. These opportunities can “get to the root cause of social justice,” Shimberg says, adding, “we think it’s important that people donate a can of food for the food drive, but can the Swearer Center be a place where we ask, ‘Why are other people hungry?’” Advocacy and policy are tools to address these underlying systemic issues.  

Both virtual and in-person engagement can incorporate advocacy and public policy work, such as writing legislative briefs and researching best-practices for partner organizations to move the needle. In this way, these project-based opportunities are transformative and accessible tools in our social justice toolbelt. 

These can also be opportunities where skills-based and pro bono volunteering are effective.  There are many areas – legal research, marketing and social media, fundraising, insurance, and more – where businesses and individuals might be able to offer expertise pro bono. In other cases, organizations or universities can support training in these fields, shifting their volunteer bases and students to focus on these imperatives. 

All of these options will remain equally important after the pandemic is over. The planning and transitioning that you work on now can create new, crucial facets of your community engagement program after the pandemic, helping to alleviate the many social justice concerns endemic in our country. 

Listen to a diverse set of voices

To work through these uncertainties, it is crucial to make space (physically and virtually) for the community to share their needs — and to act on what people share. 

At the Swearer Center, a lot of the most critical innovation is coming from students and community partners collaboratively. From creating English as a Second Language lessons to help communities order takeout and drive-through, to compiling lists of how volunteers can be involved in assisting people experiencing homelessness, students have been “leading the way.” Kate Porter, Swearer Center Assistant Director of Communications and Public Engagement, says, “If we’re able to follow their lead and help implement their ideas, that’s huge.” Swearer has made space for these collaborations by virtually sharing ideas, feedback, and resources.

Your organization and community can facilitate the important and innovative conversations that will allow for creative changes to happen. This is the most crucial aspect of successful community engagement in these changing times: make sure that you have actively sought out the input of your communities in order to understand what “successful” means to them. 

Innovation, pivots, changes during these times are a good thing! We see people of all backgrounds come together to help one another. Whether or not you have settled on a plan for the upcoming months, starting a dialogue and working on the fundamentals of sustaining your community will lay the foundation for real and ongoing change. 

in Civic Engagement, Emergency Response, Higher Education, Spotlight | 1,307 Words

Contact tracing: how volunteers can help the nation safely reopen

As the country continues to gradually reopen, we will continue working to not only flatten the curve, but also to shrink the curve of COVID-19. In addition to the practices that we have been getting accustomed to like physical distancing, hand hygiene, and mask wearing, contact tracing is a crucial method that has been adopted in several forms throughout the world and can be adapted to smaller settings like a college campus or non-profit organization staffed by volunteers. Collectively, these methods can lead to a reduction in transmission by up to 61%. 

In this blog post, we will provide important information about why contact tracing is so crucial and effective. We will also share guidelines and best practices as to how our partners are implementing contact tracing and activating their staff & volunteer base to take part in these crucial efforts to help safely reopen. 

We hope this will help you consider how your own organization, business and institution can engage with contact tracing efforts and play an important role in flattening the curve. If you have any questions or would like to participate in our COVID-19 task force, don’t hesitate to contact us at covid@givepulse.com. We will also be discussing contact tracing further in our July 14th webinar “New Volunteering Reality Part 2: Deep Dive w/ Contact Tracing”, which will feature a clinic on making activities safe, silo’d, and protected, as well as discussing how to  implement contact tracing for large and small organizations. To register, click here.

What’s the goal of contact tracing?

Contact tracing is meant to promote rapid diagnosis and treatment of new cases, and to prevent further spread of infection. These are particularly pertinent for our nonprofit, business, and university partners — contact tracing can help prevent volunteers from spreading COVID-19 in vulnerable communities, as well as fostering a safe and healthy community. 

How does it work?

Step 1.  The contact tracing process is initiated when an individual who is symptomatic and seeking treatment tests positive for COVID-19. 

Step 2. A contact tracer or case investigator then determines the number of contacts this person spent time within 5 days of symptom onset.

Step 3. These contacts are notified that they may already be carrying the virus and need to stay at home, and are told to look for any signs of the virus in case they need to be tested and/or seek treatment. 

Step 4. During that time, a care coordinator will be available to support contacts by identifying local resources and aids to help address any arising needs while trying to maintain isolation.

These steps help to both direct resources to those at risk and to prevent further spread of the virus. For our partners, offering contactless temperature checks along with pre-and-post screening questionnaires for staff and volunteers can act as a rudimentary contact tracing method within your organization. 

The data gathered from contact tracing can also alert officials and inform immediate decisions close certain high traffic areas or other preventive strategies.

The CDC has developed an in-depth guide to contract tracing and how to set up a contact-tracing program on a local level. 

What does it require?

Identifying Contacts

The contacts that are critical to identify are those that have been within six feet for at least ten to fifteen minutes within five days of symptom onset. In order to identify these contacts, COVID-19 positive individuals, confirmed through a medical center or testing site, either need to record recalled social encounters in a diary, undergo an in-depth survey, or leverage a sensing platform such as a mobile app that has tracked the encounters. Incorporating the use of a sensing platform is not only more thorough, but can also be utilized on a large scale. 

Mobile Apps

Using a mobile phone app has become the sensing method of choice to not only track contacts, but also to avoid delays in identifying contacts. A recent study found that with the rate of spread of SARS-CoV-2, a delay in notifying contacts could render the method ineffective. Mobile phone apps have been utilized across the world in different forms in Singapore, China, South Korea, and Israel. Apple and Google have collaborated to create an API Exposure Notification framework that utilizes bluetooth technology and promises to maintain privacy. The API can then be utilized by mobile phone apps like GivePulse to aid in tracking cases and informing end-users if they have been in close contact with exposed individuals. We are excited to share more soon about how our platform will be readying to help our partners this fall. 

Security

It is important to encourage everyone to opt into these sensory platforms in order for the method to be effective, but some worry about how to maintain privacy while gathering and storing accurate data. However, research has found that it is possible to utilize a data-minimizing solution. As mentioned in the above point, Apple and Google’s Exposure Notification framework prioritizes the security of health data. Alabama will be among the first three states in the US to incorporate this technology for not only our partners in the University of Alabama system, but also around the state and in Birmingham-based companies.

Contact Tracers

Along with technology, there is still a need for contact tracers to follow up with contacts. Two of our partners have been at the forefront of research on contact tracing needs.  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health originally estimated that 100,000 contact tracers would be required in the United States. George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity created an estimator tool that can be used at the state and local level and estimated that about 184,000 contact tracers needed across the country. 

The need for contact tracers can be fulfilled by trained volunteers; training new contact tracers and creating helpful tools and applications are also areas where volunteers and students can help make a difference. There are many ways that volunteers and staff can help with the crucial logistical stages of contact tracing — and we are here to help you do so. 

What does this mean for your institution?

Recruitment, training, and organization are significant challenges. Several states and institutions have already begun to recruit volunteers to this effort, creating apps and training resources to aid the rest of the country in organizing task forces. A large and powerful source of volunteers lies among our network of college and higher education students, staff, faculty and alumnae. They have been a very important source of innovative strategies. 

For example, our partners at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have created a six hour training course that will be required by all New York based contact tracers and is open to the public. The University of Houston has created an Epi Corps Contact Tracer Certificate Program, in which students will receive a thorough and unique course to not only learn about contact tracing for COVID-19, but also core public health concepts as cultural competency, gaining trust while interviewing, and maintaining confidentiality. 

Implementing similar courses at your institution and within your community engagement centers can help you to mobilize students, staff, and volunteers to help with contact tracing. This will help the nation reach the critical number of contact tracers needed for this method to be effective. If you would like help in setting up courses and groups to offer these courses and track engagement, please let us know by contacting at covid@givepulse.com. 

With all of these efforts, large scale contact tracing can become a much more tangible reality. This large scale mobilization effort will only continue as more and more organizations, businesses and campuses decide to open this fall. 

Reopening in the fall will require a combination of strategies to keep members of these communities safe including not only contact tracing, but also widespread testing, isolation and quarantine of exposed individuals, continued physical distancing, symptom assessment, and temperature checks. 

This is only the beginning stage of the reopening strategies. As more institutions develop plans for reopening, we will continue to provide resources and be a platform to share insight, connections, and support in any way we can as we all continue to overcome the challenges of COVID-19. In all of these strategies, community voices and volunteer efforts can help maintain a safe place for all. For more information, see our recent blog posts highlighting the new methods we will help to support and reopening guidelines for our partners. And as always, feel free to contact us at covid@givepulse.com for more information or to join one of our COVID-19 task forces. 

Stay safe and keep in touch!

in Civic Engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility, Emergency Response, GivePulse, Higher Education, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 1,456 Words

A call to action for real change

We stand in solidarity with the Black community in calling for effective and tangible change. We share the sadness, anger, and resolve reflected in the demonstrations within our home city of Austin and across the United States. We also share the hope we hear in these demands for justice, and remain committed to moving toward equity and inclusion. 

GivePulse was founded on the principle of addressing the inequities in our system and serving as a catalyst for positive social change. We are humbled to work with partners who dedicate their lives to fighting against injustice, many in areas directly impacted by systemic racism. We now call on this community to focus their efforts on the broader tenets of systemic racism and inequity, which have for too long been pervasive in our society. 

We ask all of our partners — nonprofits, corporations, campuses, cities — to reflect on what steps you have taken and will take to ensure equity. We will be reflecting as well, and looking for ways that we can use our position of privilege to push for equity in our community. 

We believe that one critical way for us to do so is by disseminating information to our partners and our community. In this post, we highlight ways that you can make an impact at this crucial junction in our country’s history, at the individual or organizational level. 

If you are participating in an in-person protest or march:

COVID-19, which has taken a disproportionate toll on black communities throughout the country, remains a significant threat. We encourage you to adhere to public health regulations by wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, and exercising sanitation methods such as frequent handwashing. If you are able to do so, consider quarantining for 14 days following the protests. We also encourage protestors to follow local laws and observe any curfews set in place. 

Cities and police forces, coordinate with and march alongside protestors. Look for ways that you can help rather than hurt. Show that protestors are heard by resolving to create policy-level change that goes beyond symbolic gestures at demonstrations. 

If you are unable to participate in-person: 

There are many other ways you can get involved in addition to or as an alternative to in-person social activism. If you are able to do so, donating to organizations devoted to fighting against police brutality is a crucial way to increase capacity and efficacy of their efforts. At the end of this post, we share several such organizations. 

You can also bring food, water, masks, and medical supplies to demonstrations to support protestors. If you have first-aid training, consider offering medical assistance at the demonstrations. 

Advocacy work, such as making calls and sending emails, can amplify the message of protestors. Call attorney generals, police chiefs, and elected officials in your city and state to ask how they hold police officers accountable for police brutality. 

Finally, organizing, researching, and disseminating information are crucial. We encourage you to deepen your understanding of anti-racism through this resource from the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian. There are many further resources available, including from the organizations listed at the end of this post, for you to learn and take action. Share this information with family and friends. Challenge yourself and your loved ones to show up. 

For our organization partners: 

Brick and mortar locations in protesting cities have been creating pop-up foodbanks, medical supply centers, and more to help respond to needs in these areas during the demonstrations. Consider whether this is something that your workspace or center is equipped to support. If it makes sense, let us help you set up a donation drive or fundraising campaign, whether for masks, hand sanitizer, medical supplies, monetary donations, or anything else that will help to keep protestors safe. If you need help getting started, email us at support@givepulse.com. 

Moving forward, nonprofits must diversify their boardrooms and workspaces. According to information shared by BoardSource, 90% of nonprofit CEOs and 84% of nonprofit board members are white. If organizations want to fight inequity, this must be an internal process as well. 

For our corporate partners: 

Ask if you can donate funds or goods to demonstrations. Consider whether your business can support pop-up foodbanks, medical supply centers, and similar efforts. Match donations from your employees to organizations dedicated to promoting social justice and racial equity. And moving forward, actively seek out black candidates for management and board positions. In other words, reach out to your community and diversify your workplace. 

Additionally, it’s now more important than ever to have open dialogues with your team and identify opportunities to find healing together with employees, colleagues, and partners. 

For our higher education partners: 

We believe that engaged scholarship and service-learning are crucial to creating lasting change in and beyond higher education. Addressing systemic racism through service-learning programs is necessary for such change, as well as to the goals of our higher education partners. Actively seeking black faculty members and expanding course offerings dedicated to unpacking racism in the United States and around the world are additional necessary steps for institutions to take. 

We encourage you to also open your institution’s knowledge, resources, space, and time to the community for meetings, discussion, and activism. This will help to move your foundation of learning beyond the classroom and into your community, critical to making real change happen. 

Continued action: 

In his much-viewed Medium article posted on June 1, Former President Barack Obama said that if we want to bring about real change, “then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both.” 

This is a time to consider how you will take action for continued change. State, local, and national elections will determine whose voices are heard. We must vote for individuals who will fight against systemic racism. Advocate for policy changes that will protect and uplift your community. Canvass, phonebank, and consider running for office. Most importantly, make sure you are registered to vote if you can. 

Remember that there are primaries today, June 2, in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. For our partners in any of these states, please encourage your communities to vote. 

For everyone else, if you haven’t, complete the 2020 Census and make sure you are prepared to vote, through an absentee ballot or in person, on or before November 3rd, 2020. 

Some organizations to consider supporting:

We’ve set up a fund to match 100% of all our employee donations to these organizations within GivePulse. We hope you will do the same. 

NAACP: https://www.naacp.org/

Campaign Zero: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/

Be the Bridge to Racial Unity: https://bethebridge.com/ 

The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/

Equal Justice USA: https://ejusa.org/

Reclaim the Block: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Whatever actions you choose to take, we are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help. 

in Civic Engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility, GivePulse, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 1,193 Words

#GivingTuesdayNow: Generosity and Unity in a Time of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all sectors of our lives. Financial strains and an unprecedented transition to newfound forms of virtual and remote volunteering have combined to create a multifaceted burden on nonprofits. For organizations who would like to connect regarding additional resources or best practices for any of these items, please don’t hesitate to reach out to covid@givepulse.com.   

In light of these changes, GivePulse chose to partner with GivingTuesdayNow, an initiative that encourages communities to donate time, talent, and treasure to the organizations that need them most. In doing so, we hope to elevate all the great community work that is happening. We know that asking for help right now can be difficult; we believe it is worthwhile to assess whether your organization feels it is appropriate to seek monetary donations at this time in your community. If not, perhaps a donations drive, volunteering campaign, or some other alternative will offer more approachable forms of giving. 

Whatever you decide is an appropriate path for your organization to take this #GivingTuesdayNow, we hope that this guide will help you to communicate and plan effectively.

GivingTuesdayNow will take place on May 5, 2020, in addition to the regularly scheduled GivingTuesday on December 1, 2020. Created in response to urgent needs produced by COVID-19, GivingTuesdayNow promotes a concentrated generosity surge to help organizations when they need it most. 

On GivingTuesdayNow, individuals can share their resources of any sort, whether that’s by donating money, volunteering virtually to share their time, fulfilling needs for an organization, or sharing a skill to complete a crucial project. In this way, GivingTuesdayNow encourages all communities to give as they are able, no matter what form this giving takes. As with virtual volunteer efforts, GivingTuesdayNow campaigns are strongest if they are built on transparency and connectedness. Below, you will find information about topics including: 

  • How to effectively communicate needs
  • How to convert volunteers to donors
  • How to use this opportunity to strengthen connections to your cause and to your organization

We also want to highlight a product enhancement that we hope organizations will benefit from this GivingTuesdayNow: in response to feedback from our network, our team has developed a new in-kind donations functionality, just in time for this day of generosity. Donation Drive events create a space for wishlists and in-kind donations, for everything from food to hand sanitizer to books for children. GivingTuesdayNow is about more than just financial support; it’s about generosity in all of its forms. Donation Drives can help you to request whatever your organization and your clients need most, in addition to (or as an alternative to) financial forms of giving. If you have any questions about Donation Drives, contact our team at donationdrives@givepulse.com. 

Communicating needs

In order to effectively drive donors and volunteers to your organization, you will want to find a compelling way to communicate your organization’s needs. Through conversations with our partners and through our own research, we have identified the following aspects as keys to successful communication: 

If you are seeking monetary donations, recognize newfound burdens 

Language that conveys your understanding of the financial instability of this time will show that you recognize that not everyone will be able to give, while doubling down on showing the need for donations from those who can. In fact, according to Fidelity Charity’s survey of regular givers, 54% of donors said that the amount that they would donate would not change in light of COVID-19 — and 25% said that they would donate more. 

Diversify the digital resources you use

At a time when virtual stimuli can be particularly loud, using a variety of digital resources helps to ensure that everyone on your network will learn about your GivingTuesdayNow campaign, no matter their preferred mode of virtual communication. A few ways to diversify digital resources include creating a virtual countdown on both your website and your Instagram stories, sending email calendar invites from GivePulse registration and linking to the calendar event in your newsletter, posting more regularly on every social media platform, sending newsletters to volunteers and donors alike, and making sure to use the hashtag #GivingTuesdayNow to amplify your message. 

Convey urgency through transparent communication of needs

Now is the time to be honest and explicit about your organization’s needs. Authenticity and transparency are more critical than ever to indicate how COVID-19 has altered your organization, and how investments of time, talent, and treasure now will strengthen your programs moving forward. Let folks know about loss of revenue, about depleted funds, about staff reductions and center closures. This vulnerability will underscore your understanding that these times are unprecedented, and will also authentically portray why GivingTuesdayNow is of the utmost importance. 

Show the impact of donations

Explain how a donation will help your organization, in as much detail as possible.Tell the story of how funds and goods are used. Ask volunteers to send in reflections on how they have seen their programs impact the community, and share these stories through your social media and through newsletters. If you can, put a name and face to your donation requests. 65% of donors say that they would donate more if they knew the impact of their donations — the more transparent you are, the more volunteers and donors will choose to give if they can. 

Set and track specific goals 

Give donors something tangible to contribute toward. Set a specific target goal, and if possible, indicate why that target goal is pertinent. For example, if a certain amount of money allows your organization to feed a family, make your dollar goal correspond to the number of families fed. If you are running a donation drive, the same principle applies. Maybe you want to deliver one new book to every student your organization works with, and your organization works with 600 students. Set the target goal at 600 books and underscore that this means every student your organization works with will receive a new book. Donors can see that their donation corresponds directly to an individual student, and you can send regular updates throughout the day as you get closer and closer to your goal. 

Converting volunteers to donors

This chart shows responses to our Program Assessment Survey question asking respondents whether they would consider using this time to convert volunteers to donors. 67% said yes; 33% said maybe, but unsure how. 

From our Program Assessment Survey, we learned that about one out of every three organizations would consider using this time to convert volunteers to donors, but aren’t sure how to do so. While some programs might be concerned about asking those who already donate their time to shift this to a financial donation, statistics suggest that this is in fact a very common transition: according to data from the International AFP Conference, the average volunteer is four times as likely to donate as someone who doesn’t volunteer — and they typically give ten times as much! To encourage this transition, we suggest the following: 

Relate donations to volunteering time shared 

Whether or not your volunteers have been able to engage virtually with your organization, you can emphasize donating as analogous to their usual time shared. Indicate how donations directly impact their usual volunteer efforts. How much does it cost for supplies that your volunteers typically use? For the space that they work in? For the staff who train and work with them? Use your volunteers’ own experiences to display the value of their donations. 

Encourage reflection and sharing of stories

Go even further in using volunteer experiences to display the value of donations: use the days leading up to your GivingTuesdayNow campaign to ask volunteers to share stories and anecdotes about their volunteer experiences. This will both provide content that you can share to your volunteer and donor networks in requests for their assistance on GivingTuesdayNow, and encourage your volunteers to reflect on the impact that the organization has had on their lives. Drawing their attention simultaneously to your donation campaign and to the positive experiences they have had will align the two, a link that may lead to more giving. 

Emphasize connection

GivingTuesdayNow offers an opportunity for volunteers who might normally get to connect in-person through trainings, celebrations, and engagement to combat isolation. Ask them to engage in peer-to-peer fundraising efforts and invite them to a celebratory event at the end of the day — see our section on thanking donors and staying connected for more ideas! 

Overall, your volunteers are individuals who care deeply about your organization and their community. Even if they do not typically donate, you can be confident that they will do what they can for your organization. Once you show how donating will impact the cause they care about, it’s more than likely you will find that these volunteers are excited to donate if able in these times. 

Setting up donations and donation drives

For any donors, whether they are new or returning, it is important to make the donation process clear and easy. How you decide to set up your donation and donation drive campaigns will impact whether and how much people donate. Taking into account how donors are driven to your page, where funds are placed, and how long your campaign will extend can make all the difference. Here are some tips for how to do so: 

Use a general fund 

Your funding needs during the COVID-19 crisis will most likely be unpredictable, so fundraising for a general or emergency fund where you can easily access and use donations will be essential. You don’t want your funds to be locked into a certain fund as your needs continue to change over the upcoming weeks. 

Send automatic reminders

Use a calendar invite to both remind donors of GivingTuesdayNow and to provide a link through which they can easily donate. For example, if your organization plans to set up a donate button on your GivePulse page, you can link to that page on the calendar invite. You can also create a fundraising campaign or donation drive event, which will automatically send reminders to registrants! Decide how often you want to remind your network of the upcoming event — perhaps three separate reminders, scheduled for one week, three days, and one day before? 

Keep donors updated 

Once your donors get to the donations page, you’ll want to have a way to show the target goal and how close you are. GivePulse can help to keep donors informed, whether through the landing page for the fundraising campaign as shown in the image below or through email, SNS, SMS, or another communication method (reach out to support@givepulse.com for more information about these options). Similarly, share regular updates throughout the day on your social media! If donors see that you are close to the target this may encourage them to bump their donation to reach the goal; for those who haven’t donated yet, seeing reminders throughout the day on social media will encourage them to join in the effort. 

GivePulse can help to keep new and returning donors up to date with its automatic display of the dollars raised versus the goal. 

Extend your campaign 

Consider making this a longer campaign. GivingTuesdayNow offers an excellent focal point, but it certainly does not mean that your fundraising campaign needs to be limited to only May 5! You can make GivingTuesdayNow the end or start date of a longer campaign, framing it as a kickoff for or celebratory end to a successful giving campaign. 

Thanking donors and staying connected

Both during and after your campaign, you have a perfect opportunity to strengthen connections to your organization and cause. There are a variety of ways that you can show your appreciation for donors: 

Send a thank you letter

This is a classic for a reason. Receiving a physical reminder of their donation and an acknowledgement of the difference it makes shows a donor that their giving matters, and makes them feel personally connected to your organization. This physical reminder can be digital — an email, for example — or physical. No matter what the format, a tangible indication of your gratitude will connect the donors to your organization. 

Host a virtual thank-a-thon

Meeting virtually can help donors and volunteers to connect with one another, and also to deepen their connection to the organization. Create a structured virtual event where you show the impact of donors’ efforts and thank the top donors individually. To make it easy for everyone to find and access your event, you can create a virtual event on GivePulse and add a conferencing URL to help everyone access the thank-a-thon at the click of a button. Give everyone the opportunity to applaud the end results. Extend this into a happy hour and encourage casual conversation. Get to know your donors and volunteers as individuals, and learn more about why they care so much about your organization. 

Use a leaderboard and donor wall

Show donors that you appreciate their efforts by highlighting a virtual donor wall! GivePulse users are able to activate a leaderboard and be updated concerning recent giving activity for any fundraising campaign. Donors can be updated on the campaign and are able to share this with friends and family to drive further donations.

GivePulse fundraising campaigns automatically generate a Campaign Leaderboard and Activity.

Use volunteers for stewardship efforts

Message your volunteers asking them to send thank-you videos to donors and to let them know how their funds will impact volunteers. This will show exactly what donors’ funds are going toward, and might encourage them to become long-term donors. If your volunteers have already recorded impacts on GivePulse, you can look through their shared testimonials and reflections to collectively tell the stories and impact they make to the organization!

Stay in touch

Send out follow-ups to show the impact of donations; this will help to turn one-time donors into lifelong proponents of your cause! Add your donors and volunteers to a listserv and regularly update them on how funds are being used. When possible, include pictures, as well as specific stories and anecdotes. 

We hope that this guide helps to give some starting points for this GivingTuesdayNow. Remember to post your efforts with the hashtag #GivingTuesdayNow on social media, and to tag us if you are using our platform! Join us at our Open Office Hours this Friday May 1st at 1pm CT or reach out to support@givepulse.com for help with setting up donations, fundraising campaigns, and donation drives for your organization. Contact our COVID-19 taskforce at covid@givepulse.com if you’d like to brainstorm and discuss how your organization can best shift to virtual opportunities to connect with volunteers at this time. 

in Civic Engagement, Emergency Response, Nonprofit Management, Product Spotlight | 2,496 Words

Virtual and Remote Volunteering Best Practices

As COVID-19 continues to severely affect our communities, all forms of engagement are more important than ever. We are so thankful to the volunteers, doctors, and nurses risking their lives on the frontlines, and are honored to help support teams in drive-thru testing, call centers, and contact tracing. We are dedicated to supporting continued community engagement in light of rapidly changing protocols regarding shelter-in-place and physical distancing. 

Kaitlin, a Community Engagement Success Manager at GivePulse, spent the weekend volunteering remotely through the Boys and Girls Club

These protocols and safety recommendations have led many of our partners to look for ways to facilitate virtual/remote opportunities for volunteers to allow everyone to make an impact. In light of this, we created this guide of best practices for virtual and remote volunteer opportunities, using input from our partners and resources we have compiled on our COVID-19 support portal. Below you will find:

  • Tools for an internal assessment to determine capacity and readiness for managing virtual/remote opportunities
  • Important steps for setting expectations and guidelines with virtual/remote volunteers
  • Suggestions for creating and facilitating virtual/remote opportunities

When you are ready to post or find virtual/remote opportunities, you can do so through the GivePulse search portal. 

Evaluating your organization’s ability to facilitate virtual/remote opportunities 

As you consider implementing virtual or remote volunteer opportunities for your organization, it is important to first evaluate whether your organization is able to facilitate these options. Some important questions for self-assessment include:  

  • Does your organization have stable internet access? For example, can you stream and watch video on Youtube or a Webinar? 
  • Do your volunteers have access to phones/computers? Have they been accessible through these technologies for previous communication? 
  • Do your volunteers prefer email, text, or call communication? How can these be utilized for virtual or remote opportunities? 
  • Do your clients have the technology needed to access virtual content? 
  • Do your volunteer opportunities require handling or providing resources? If so, can these be transitioned to contactless methods? 
  • Have your clients’ needs changed due to COVID-19? Are there ways that your organization can assist with these needs while still aligning with your mission? 
  • Can you use this opportunity to convert volunteers to donors in order to ensure that your organization is able to operate at full capacity after COVID-19? 
  • Have you asked volunteers how they can help and what their availability is at this time? 
  • Can your organization identify short and long term projects that can be worked on virtually and remotely?

You can fill out our Program Assessment to determine your organization’s readiness. If you are already able to answer these questions with specificity, you should be primed for success. In this case, we recommend adding your virtual/remote opportunities on here for volunteers to apply! If not, feel free to reach out to us here and we can schedule a time to help you think through this together. We hope that this guide will help you to get started! 

Communicating your remote/virtual opportunities 

In order to effectively communicate these opportunities, it is important to first make sure that your volunteers know what you mean by virtual and remote. We have found the following definitions helpful:

Virtual: Any opportunities that use technology to replace traditional face-to-face contact. This technology often includes phones (mobile applications, texting, calling) or computers (internet, desktop apps). 

Remote: Any opportunities that can be completed remotely from the organization facilitating and evaluating the engagement. These opportunities may or may not be virtual. 

Note that organizations may not necessarily have the same definitions of remote. For example, some organizations refer to an organization as remote if the volunteer experience takes place at a location other than the organization headquarters; if a volunteer works with students at an elementary school, this opportunity might be marked as remote because it occurs at the school rather than at the headquarters. Because of this, it is important for organizations to communicate what they mean by remote to their volunteers! 

Beyond these definitions, it is important to also communicate expectations, intended impact, and method of evaluation. 

Expectations include the anticipated timeline of the project (is there a date by which you need the volunteer to complete this opportunity?) and any aspects of the volunteer experience that may not be obvious to the volunteer (for example, if your organization is running a digital read-aloud, should the volunteer ask questions at the end of the story, or should the volunteer ask questions throughout the reading? How many questions should they ask?). 

Intended impact should indicate who the audience is (is it meant to reach the usual client base? Consistent volunteers? Donors?) and how this work will be directed to the clients (for example, if your volunteers are being asked to write a reflection on their time with the organization, will it be directed through a newsletter? A blog post? Will it be posted on social media, or sent straight to the client(s) the volunteer works with?). 

When discussing methods of evaluation, you should include whether you will be evaluating based on hours served, in which case the volunteer should be tracking these hours, or whether instead it will be based upon reflection or on the output of the opportunity. In addition, make it clear whether the opportunity is a complete project on its own, or if it is one step toward a larger overarching project (for example, if you are seeking pro bono skills for web development, you might only ask that an individual volunteer create one web page, with the overarching project working toward a new website). 

Overall, communication is critical in this time. Your volunteers, like you, are experiencing uncertainty and newfound strains. Fostering connection through virtual meetups and regular, thorough communication will help to alleviate these uncertainties and make the experience of virtual/remote volunteering a positive one! The more transparency you can provide, the more comfortable your volunteers will be — and, by extension, the more they may be able to volunteer. 

Common-use cases, updated 

Many organizations might benefit from hearing what similar organizations have found effective updates to their programs in this time. We have compiled particularly effective options below, divided by the type of organization that we think might find these particularly effective: 

Tutoring/Mentoring: 

For programs that rely upon face-to-face connection, this pandemic has changed the very nature of their volunteer opportunities. Luckily, there are many alternatives that maintain the core connection and trust so critical to these programs: 

  • Video conferencing: To maintain the immediate connection of face-to-face content, you can promote video conferencing. Security is of the utmost importance in these scenarios. If you are using a platform like Zoom, make sure the rooms are password protected so that only your volunteer and their tutee/mentee can access it. We also recommend having a third party, such as a staff member of your organization, present on this call to ensure that nothing inappropriate is said or shared. 
  • Pre-recorded content: Ask volunteers to film themselves teaching 15-20 minute lessons that students can follow along to anytime, particularly with interactive elements students can try at home! Similarly, volunteers can film themselves reading aloud a favorite book, which can then be shared with families who have young children. 
  • Mobile apps: A variety of mobile applications, such as KidzLit and Marco Polo, offer helpful hubs for organizations to organize video content and back-and-forth communication between client bases and volunteers.  
  • Pen pals: Connection can be maintained through digital postcards, emails, or Messenger Kids (which requires that parents read messages before kids), as well as traditional postcards! In addition to maintaining connections, these also emphasize writing skills for students. Bonus: if you ask volunteers to create a digital postcard, you can ask them to attach it to their impact on GivePulse so you have a record of it that you can look at later! 

For example, the Boys and Girls Club of Atchison offers opportunities to record videos to provide to mentees; one such opportunity is Activity Videos, which asks that volunteers submit footage of them sharing an interactive project for the kids to complete! 

Hospice/Elderly Assistance: 

Like tutoring and mentoring, elderly assistance programs often rely strongly on face-to-face connection. Once again, alternative forms of connection will help to keep a sense of connection and community strong: 

  • Technology assistance: Offer virtual technology support/lessons to help folks stay connected to family and friends who may no longer be able to visit. These lessons can be through videos, clear and thorough written guides, or video chat (see next point). 
  • Video conferencing: As with tutoring and mentoring, connection can be maintained through virtual face-to-face communication. Security will once again be of the utmost importance — for a platform like Zoom, make sure the rooms are password protected. We also recommend having a third party, such as a staff member of the elderly community or hospice, present on this call, whether in the room or online, to ensure that nothing inappropriate is said or shared. 
  • Pen pals: Letter writing and exchange of postcards is another option that, as with tutoring and mentoring, can maintain valuable connections without using technology or face-to-face communication. 

For example, Ohio University Center for Community Engagement is facilitating “Smile Mail”, which allows volunteers to brighten a senior citizen’s day with a drawing or note of encouragement. 

Food Security: 

Food banks and food pantries are experiencing increased need for donations and assistance. Some of the most important things volunteers can do to help include offering donations of goods and money and helping to deliver food. For centers, other ideas include: 

  • Food drives: Run virtual food drives and in-kind fundraising campaigns. For a virtual food drive, indicate your needs through an online campaign, and ask that donors order food to be delivered to your food bank/food pantry. 
  • Emphasize donations: You can set up donation and fundraising campaigns for money as well as for goods, requesting funds that can be used to order the food directly to the center and maintain its operations during this time. 
  • Cleaning supplies: Request donations of in-kind gifts such as cleaning supplies. These will allow you to deliver/safely prepare food for clients without putting them at undue risk. 
  • Ask volunteers to answer phone calls requesting resources in order to track client needs. 

For example, Mile High United Way’s 211 Call Center connects individuals and families to a variety of necessary resources, including food. Helping out with call centers is a great way to virtually connect to your community. 

Animal/Pet Centers and Humane Societies: 

As individuals have quarantined in their homes, many have recognized that they can help to support an animal without a home of its own. This is a perfect opportunity for animal centers to emphasize the mutual benefits of caring for a shelter animal: 

  • Promote fostering: Particularly for those quarantining, fostering is a perfect way to offer care for an animal in newfound free time. While some might have previously been unable to foster due to hours spent out of the house, they may now find themselves with enough time to care for an animal while it waits for its forever home. And who knows — maybe some of the fosters will be converted to adoptions! 
  • Campaign on social media: Share photos of the animals who need love and care widely. Seeing the sweet face of one of your shelter’s dogs or cats might just garner the attention of someone who is looking for company during quarantine! You can also share needs for goods and funds, volunteers, and foster homes. Beyond social media, you can ask local media outlets to bring attention to your shelter. 
  • Share your needs: Provide a wish list for supplies and goodies for the animals, and campaign for donations (in-kind donations & monetary). With Giving Tuesday right around the corner (May 5), this is a perfect opportunity to share your needs widely. 

For example, the Austin Animal Center Foster Program has been seeking foster homes for pets they’ve taken in during and before COVID-19; contact them to see if you can offer a pet a temporary (or forever) home! 

Museums: 

Museums have had to close their doors to the public in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, this does not mean that the opportunities to spread knowledge and culture have stopped: 

  • Virtual tours: Ask volunteers to send photos or videos they have taken of the museum that you can post on your social media or website. You can use these to create a virtual “tour” of the museum! 
  • Virtual open house: Similarly, you can host a virtual open house to share information about the museum and maintain community connections to this space.  
  • Focus on funding: You can set up donation and fundraising campaigns for money as well as for goods, requesting funds that can be used to maintain the operations of the museum now and moving forward. Virtual tours and open houses can be helpful to showcase what the funds will be used to protect! 

For example, DoSeum has set up a Volunteer Virtual Open House where folks can learn about opportunities, benefits to volunteering, the application process, and more from the Volunteer Service Coordinator. 

Civic Engagement: 

While the pandemic may be overshadowing politics for many, 2020 is a critical year for civic engagement. Now is a perfect time to focus on actions that folks can take from their own homes: 

  • Promote Census engagement: Explain the importance of the Census, and share how to complete it online. 
  • Absentee ballots: Guide individuals to the forms they need to fill out for absentee ballots, and help them to come up with a timeline for when to request the ballot for primaries, referendums, and general elections coming up. 
  • Phone bank: If your community has a primary or referendum coming up, phone banking can remind people of how to vote, particularly how to vote absentee. If quarantining remains the norm closer to the general election, phone banking will continue to be important to maintain focus on elections and to share candidates’ views on crucial issues. 
  • Activism: This period has reiterated for many the importance of policy changes that will support and protect the American people. Organize campaigns to share concerns with congresspeople and to help folks find likeminded political activists to organize in favor of these policy changes. 

For example, the Sunrise Movement out of Lawrence University is organizing a phonebanking initiative in support of the Green New Deal. Volunteers participate in an initial meeting to learn about the Green New Deal and phonebanking, and then participate in a virtual phonebanking meetup. 

We know these may not cover every situation; here are some ideas from our community to get you started if your organization does not fit into one of the above categories: 

  • Thank doctors and nurses on the front lines (see, for example, University of the Incarnate Word’s “Thank Our Heroes” postcard campaign) 
  • Promote donations of money and goods for Giving Tuesday on May 5 
  • Ask volunteers to translate materials into additional languages 
  • Use video conferencing to maintain connections, whether volunteer to client, volunteer to volunteer, organization to client, or organization to volunteer 
  • Encourage your volunteers and donors to share their efforts to create a peer driven effort 
  • Set up donation campaigns, and take advantage of Giving Tuesday on May 5
  • Ask volunteers to help with social media campaigns and content creation to drive attention to your organization even if it is unable to convert its opportunities to virtual opportunities 
  • Ask volunteers to research best practices and grant opportunities for your organization 
  • See if there are any long-term projects that volunteers can work on from home 
  • Seek pro bono skill sharing for things like taxes, accounting, and more. For example, a web designer might be able to help update your website, a lawyer might be able to review contractual agreements, and a Certified Public Accountant might be able to help you or vulnerable clients complete taxes
  • Check in with your volunteers through calling, texting, regular email updates, and more — make sure they are still thinking about your organization, even if they can’t volunteer
  • Have volunteers perform these check-ins! Help them to set up a new email or a phone number that they can use on top of their personal number in order to avoid any breaches of privacy 
  • Lean on reflections from volunteers; use this time to compile anecdotes and feedback, which you can use to recruit and retain volunteers going forward 
  • Share Bev, the Best Ever Volunteer, to inspire engagement! 

We hope that this guide will help you evaluate whether virtual/remote volunteering is an option for your organization and come up with a plan to maintain volunteer connections, whether or not they are able to volunteer. Feel free to share the work that Bev, the Best Ever Volunteer, is doing. We hope that this graphic will inspire everyone to find a way that they can engage with their community while physically distancing! 

If you are using GivePulse, remember that you can tag opportunities as virtual/remote to help volunteers search for them. GivePulse supports donation and fundraising campaigns as well; by the end of this week, we will also support in-kind donation campaigns. Keep an eye out for more information! Beyond this, feel free to contact our COVID-19 taskforce (covid@givepulse.com) for help in thinking through how your organization can mobilize volunteers at this time to continue helping your community. We are happy to brainstorm, troubleshoot, and help list opportunities.  

in Civic Engagement, Emergency Response, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 2,991 Words

“They’re needed now more than ever”: Finding new solutions for NPOs, campuses, and volunteers

Last week, as communities adjusted to updates about COVID-19, GivePulse asked partners to share information about the changes they are making to respond to this public health crisis. Thanks for the responses from so many of you. We hope that the data might be useful for a broad range of allies wanting to take tangible action in their communities, now and moving forward. As we speak, we see many institutions and partners collaborating and learning from each other.

Additionally, in response to feedback and conversation with many of you, we were encouraged to do the following:

  1. Open this assessment to the broader higher education community and their partnerships for feedback and improvements
  2. Share back out the insights and analysis of the results 
  3. Collectively identify how to collaborate with partners to help scale their efforts, virtually or not, to assist those in impacted populations

We appreciate all institutions who respond to this assessment. Those who want to participate now can navigate to the link provided. We have updated the assessment to include a few public health questions to gauge the challenges and gaps as it relates to community engagement activity. Data on these assessments will be anonymized and shared publicly for the benefit for the community. We’ll also make sure to monitor and provide an analysis of the results to facilitate further discussions, brainstorms, and video conferences to help each other navigate this changing landscape. We look forward to offering future webinars on the intersectionality of public health and community engagement in the weeks ahead.

In upcoming blog posts, we will be focused on providing information about best practices and sharing stories highlighting how communities are coming together at this time. If you have stories you would like us to share and highlight, please send them to blog@givepulse.com.

Here are some highlights from the responses we received to last week’s surveys: 

Community partners are still hosting volunteers — and are impacted by students leaving campus 

Higher education survey responses

Only 13% of campus respondents reported that all community partners had suspended hosting volunteers; the remaining 87% had at least some partnerships still hosting volunteers in person. Since all of the responding campuses said that classes had been moved online — whether temporarily or until the end of the spring semester — this means that the movement of students away from campus leaves many organizations in need of volunteers. 

Possible responses: Campuses are responding in a variety of ways. Some are asking that able and well faculty/staff volunteer; others are allowing students to continue volunteering if they wish to do so and the community partner agrees. Many are moving their focus to alternative opportunities such as research, content creation, assistance with blood drives, virtual connection, and more  in order to continue supporting community partners. Read on for further suggestions of virtual/remote volunteering ideas.

The majority of nonprofit respondents have suspended volunteer opportunities or events — but those who still need volunteers are struggling to find them


NPO responses — nearly a quarter of respondents indicated that they have not suspended all volunteer opportunities

While the majority of organizations have suspended volunteer opportunities and events, indefinitely or for a defined period of time, those who have not are particularly hurting. Often, volunteers are retired adults — precisely those who are most vulnerable to coronavirus. In addition, general concern about spreading and catching coronavirus has impacted willingness to engage in the community. Because of this, shortages of volunteers are a real issue. 

Possible responses: First and foremost, organizations should speak with local city/health officials about any engagement they are considering, given the unprecedented nature of this crisis. Make sure that any opportunities adhere to city guidance and regulations to maintain the wellbeing of your community. Generally, we suggest that you take the following steps for volunteer safety: 

  • Ask vulnerable volunteers to stay at home
  • Make sure that information about symptoms and risk factors is widely available 
  • If volunteers are able to engage, deploy in limited and targeted manners to minimize risk
  • Make sure that liability forms and waivers are updated
  • Check in with volunteers and clients to ensure they are fully informed about proper protocol such as maintaining six feet of physical distance, washing hands regularly, and taking other responsible safety measures 

Forms of volunteering that might be particularly amenable to those practicing physical distancing include park clean-up opportunities, which can be undertaken as an individual or as a group so long as the proper distance is maintained (please note that proper distance may depend upon your city/state; again, reach out to local officials to ask about any plans you are considering); food delivery; donations and online fundraising campaigns; and fostering of pets — if you are in quarantine, now is the perfect time to take in an animal that could benefit from your consistent love and attention! 

Donations of money, food, supplies, and blood are depleted 


While only 13% of organizations don’t have any supplies, ideally all or most would have access to all of these critical safety measures. Less than half have access to gloves; less than three-quarters have access to hand sanitizer. Some reported running low even on soap and paper towels, as they are running through cleaning supplies at an unprecedented pace. 

Some nonprofits are short on cleaning supplies such as hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and even hand soap. This means that if they have in person volunteers or clients, they cannot provide the necessary safety precautions to keep them well. Organizations that provide food to those in need — a group that has expanded as many vulnerable populations are encouraged to stay home from the grocery stores and restaurants — are in need of food and supplies, as well as volunteers for deliveries. Perhaps most striking was the number of organizations reporting severe decreases in their funds. This may be in part due to the fact that many have had to cancel major fundraising events. 

Possible responses: Organizations have suggested that corporations looking for ways to give back, now and in the near future, utilize the corporate matching abilities of GivePulse — organizations will need to replenish funds and volunteers even after this pandemic is under control. Beyond this, nonprofits can start fundraising campaigns, seek in-kind donations, and organize meal deliveries. Reach out to our emergency response team (covid@givepulse.com) or our support team (support@givepulse.com) if we can help you match you to excess resources or to add your fundraising campaigns, for both money and for in-kind donations of food, supplies, etc. 

Online classes mean changes to curriculum 


Every campus responding said that they had moved classes online for some defined period of time, whether until the end of the spring semester or for another temporary defined time. 

Every campus that responded to our survey has moved classes online for this time. For community based learning, this means a significant shift — classes can no longer be based on in-person engagement, typically the crux of a community based pedagogy. This has led campuses to consider solutions that will still work toward the same learning goals without putting students or communities at risk. 

Possible responses: Institutions have offered a range of responses, but all align in that they offer greater flexibility to students and partners alike. Some campuses have waived all service learning requirements; others are allowing, but not requiring, virtual alternatives. Some are allowing students to continue working with their CPs and making decisions situation-by-situation. Overall, the switch to online classes has prompted a deeper focus on reflection and research. From researching social determinants that lead to the need for their partners’ work, to analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on these partners; from research papers to Zoom reflection meetings; from responding to civic dialogue prompts to watching educational videos and reading pertinent articles — curricula have changed to focus more deeply on reflections and on adaptability. Join our group to brainstorm with peers as this new situation continues to change. 

Many organizations and institutions are looking for creative ways to shift to virtual volunteering 

Many organizations are attempting to determine whether they can move some or all of their volunteering to remote/virtual activities. While many will still rely on hands-on engagement, others are working to come up with ways to engage volunteers who may be quarantining or isolating at this time. 

Possible responses: Organizations and institutions have come up with a variety of creative virtual/remote opportunities, such as creation of educational materials, filmed reading aloud of children’s books, development of curricula, engagement in tutoring/mentoring over video conference if available, and more. In addition, translation of materials already available is necessary — if you speak multiple languages, reach out to the nonprofits you work with and see if you can help translate information both about the organization and about health/hygiene in this time into multiple languages. Other efforts include capacity building projects such as fundraising campaigns, social media efforts, and researching best practices and grants. For more ideas, join our group! 

Now is a great time to focus on civic engagement

With primaries and elections interrupted by calls for social distancing, maintaining a focus on civic engagement is more important than ever. While we do not know exactly how every state will respond to this crisis, we do know that this year’s election will be pivotal — perhaps even more so given the uncertainties of the time. 

Possible responses: Campuses and organizations can help students, and those who anticipate that they will not be able to leave home to go to primaries, with absentee ballots. Students and volunteers can research and advocate for policy changes, particularly based on the events of this time. Voter registration initiatives will be of the utmost importance. We anticipate sharing some exciting new partnerships to help with this effort.

NPOs and campuses can be hubs for safety/wellness information, positive communication, and social connection 

Access to information and to positive messaging is critical at this time; people need encouragement and will benefit from seeing the many incredible ways that our communities are coming together. If we have learned one thing from the responses we received, it is that our partners are working to connect with community members in need, devoting themselves in this time of crisis to the wellbeing of others. We look forward to highlighting these stories in the days and weeks ahead. NPOs and campuses can similarly highlight these stories, becoming hubs for the communication that will lift spirits and encourage safe practices going forward. 

Possible responses: Many organizations are checking in individually with clients over phone call or video. Many are also sending emails and newsletters to share hygiene tips and safety practices, particularly if volunteers may be engaging with in-person volunteer opportunities. Promoting social connection even in this time of physical distancing, and facilitating volunteer connectedness, can create a strengthened sense of community. 

GivePulse is dedicated to providing resources, facilitating discussions, and promoting connectedness. Part of our efforts to do so include the creation of COVID-19 forums for higher education admins and nonprofit admins. Please join these groups and introduce yourself on the discussion board; we look forward to working with all of you to best accommodate your needs and to encourage the creativity needed to help our communities thrive. 

Our mission to transform everyone into engaged citizens has not changed at this time. We look forward to continuing to engage alongside all of our incredible partners.

in Civic Engagement, Emergency Response, Higher Education, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 1,934 Words

Supporting Our Communities in the Time of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed, and will continue to change, how we engage with our communities. Calls for physical distancing (commonly referred to as social distancing — we want to emphasize that social connection is of the utmost importance at this time; physical distancing refers to recommendations that we avoid unnecessary interactions, and maintain six feet of physical distance if we must engage in person) remind us how connected our actions are to the lives of everyone around us. Communities have rallied to provide care for those who are vulnerable or whose livelihoods are precarious in the face of changing suggestions and legislation. We know that we are sick together and well together. Our actions shape our communities’ health, in the most literal sense of the word. 

Many direct service organizations, businesses, and higher education institutions work with populations particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, which makes it extremely important that we all find ways to keep our communities together and cared for while also being careful not to spread illness. We’ve been working to gather resources, processes, requirements, and tools to help our partners — institutions, nonprofits, volunteers, and communities — find the best paths forward. We are actively seeking input from our partners to ensure that we are making changes that best reflect the pressure points for these organizations and institutions. Please fill out our surveys for both higher education and community organization partners to help us make changes to our platform that will support you at this time, and email our Emergency Response Team at  covid@givepulse.com if you have any additional suggestions, questions, or concerns.  

We will continue to update this blog over the coming days and weeks, and will keep you informed on social media and through support articles as we make changes to our platform in order to best support our engaged communities at this time. Below are highlights of how community engaged teaching, nonprofit work, and volunteering are changing in light of COVID-19, as well as further resources for you to dig into. If we’ve missed a resource, feel free to send it to us through our support channel and we will add it to the list. We know that many institutions and organizations are engaged in conversations like this, and that information is changing quickly. We hope that we can be a hub for disseminating this information widely in order to ensure that the work of our incredible volunteers and partners can continue as our understanding of this virus and its impacts continues to grow.

Community Engaged Teaching 

Engagement with partners is a core aspect of any community engaged pedagogy. With both universities and nonprofits shifting away from face-to-face interactions, this engagement will have to shift accordingly. Here are some of the crucial steps to take in addressing these changes: 

  • If you have not done so yet, contact your community partners and learn how to best support them. Many are no longer doing any face-to-face service; however, some still are, in which case students leaving campus might create a sudden burden through lack of volunteers. 
  • Determine the best path for moving community based teaching online (see resources below from our partners for some excellent suggestions). 
  • Come up with alternative ways to have students volunteer. Ask your community partners if your students can help with research, content creation, or virtual forms of connection, or if there is any other form of virtual volunteering that they can help with. Keep an eye out for updates from GivePulse about how we are working on our platform to best support virtual volunteering at this time. 
  • Use this as an opportunity to dive deeply into student reflections. You may not be able to track hours, but you can active your group wall and encourage students to discuss their experiences so far and their feelings at this time, getting a robust sense of how engagement has impacted their semesters thus far. This feedback will help you develop contingency plans now and plan for direct service going forward, and will also offer students an opportunity to engage with their community based learning in a different but still useful way. 
  • Work with us to integrate with your current Learning Management System. Be it Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or some other variant, let us know; there are currently a few different mechanisms to facilitate the integration. If it’s too soon for the spring semester, we can help gear you all up for the fall semester.

Below are resources that offer further support and ideas: 

  • The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Indiana University Bloomington have come out with resources for community engaged teaching at this time. In this blog, they also talk about how to utilize the concept of Retrieval Practice (recalling information when it is not in front of you) as an aspect of this online learning. 
  • Portland State University has created a guide to community based learning in times of isolation and a collection of resources for community based learning in an online environment. Check out their great list of virtual volunteer opportunities as well. 
  • Iowa Campus Compact has put together a guide based on communications with other Campus Compact schools to help engaged campuses at this time. Going forward, Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact will host a weekly virtual discussion on this topic every Friday at 2:30 pm central, which you can register for here. Campus Compact has also created an extensive resources list for institutions in this time. 
  • Vanderbilt University’s teaching in a time of crisis article helps guide those who are teaching online courses. They recommend providing resources and guidance to students in this time, and acknowledging the mental stress that students are under. Inside Higher Ed also has helpful suggestions for creating community in a time of crisis. 
  • This one-hour video by the Bonner Foundation offers helpful tips and suggestions for teaching an online social action course. From planning, establishing community norms, and creating an online community to structuring and evaluating, this video offers step-by-step and thorough information to help move teaching online. 

Brands, Businesses and Member Organizations

Corporations that regularly engage with their communities will need to move away from a focus on direct service. Corporations should now focus predominately on pro-bono skills and project-based endeavors, as well as donations and corporate matching campaigns: 

  • If you have not done so yet, contact your community partners and learn how to best support them.
  • Consider how your products, skills, or services might benefit those in your community (see resources below for some ideas). Offer up these services pro-bono in order to alleviate newfound burdens due to COVID-19. 
  • Encourage donations — now might be an excellent time to engage in a corporate matching campaign, particularly to organizations that are directly involved with the coronavirus pandemic. 
  • Use this as an opportunity to learn more about the causes that team members value most. You may not be able to track hours, but you can active your group wall and encourage robust discussion, learning more about how to encourage corporate giving moving forward. 
  • If your employees are able to work from home, encourage them to do so. If not, work to create a hygienic space, keeping surfaces clean, offering antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer, and maintaining six feet of distance between any two individuals within this space.

Below are resources that offer further support and ideas: 

  • The US Chamber of Commerce Corporate Aid form tracks private sector giving; submit your information to benefit other corporations, and look to see what other corporations have been offering at this time. 
  • This Google Doc tracks ways in which corporations have been working to alleviate the burdens on communities at this time (for example, Zoom is offering K-12 schools videoconferencing tools for free) — check to get ideas for your own business, and include any actions that you have taken so that organizations can reach out and benefit from your generosity. 
  • Engage for Good offers a guide to navigating the legal complexities of corporate partnerships and charity events for nonprofits, as well as additional resources they have compiled for corporate responses.

Nonprofit Management 

Nonprofits will have to decide how best to support those they work with. Some will be able to move away entirely from face-to-face engagement; others may find such engagement even more crucial at this time. In either case, we hope that the below suggestions will be helpful. 

  • For organizations that require the help of volunteers in person, work to create a hygienic space, keeping surfaces clean, offering antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer, and maintaining six feet of distance between any two individuals within this space.
  • Ask that any volunteers avoid engaging if they may be sick. Add registration questions and pop-up banners highlighting the steps volunteers need to take before engaging with the organization’s communities when physically present. Below is an example template of questions as requirements asked by  Mile High United Way on their GivePulse events: 

Wondering if you should register to volunteer. Based on the CDPHE and the CDC, we are asking you the following questions. 

  1. Have you or someone in your household traveled to a country on the CDC’s Level 3 watch list in the last 30 days? At this time, these include China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. These may change. See the CDC’s guidelines for the most up-to-date list. 
  2. Have you been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19? See the CDC’s risk assessment guidance. 
  3. Do you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19? Symptoms can include a fever, cough or shortness of breath. See the CDC’s symptom information. 
  • Share the Volunteer Health Guide graphic above with your volunteers to help them to practice safe measures when volunteering.
  • For organizations working with vulnerable populations who may have considered or decided to stop all in person direct service, we can help support shifts to digital work (or opportunities to be completed remotely). Some online and remote efforts that volunteers can help with include tutoring virtually via webinars and conference applications or helping with creation of educational videos that can be shared in lieu of in-person mentoring, virtually connecting with vulnerable populations who may be lonely or anxious, donating in-kind supplies and money, and more. 
  • Nonprofits and Directors of Volunteers should update their liability and release forms, ensuring that volunteers know their rights when volunteering and the risks associated at this time. 
  • Start fundraising campaigns and enable donations on your GivePulse page, and publicize these as an alternative to direct service. Volunteers who are looking for ways to help may be able to donate money in lieu of time.  

Below are resources that offer further support and ideas: 

  • The CDC has offered resources for community based organizations. 
  • Portland State University has compiled a list of virtual volunteer opportunities; use this as a way to generate further ideas that may work for your organization. 
  • The National Council of Nonprofits has created a guide to how your nonprofit can plan and organize at this time. 
  • The New York Council of Nonprofits has created an article informing nonprofits about how COVID-19 might impact nonprofit insurance.
  • Emily Kane Miller, founder and CEO of Ethos Giving, has written about generosity in the time of COVID-19, which may serve as a helpful call to action for volunteers.
  • Learn about how the COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Bill will affect nonprofits. 
  • Giving City Austin has sourced a list of resources for nonprofits. 
  • Food banks have been particularly impacted by COVID-19 and might benefit from learning about how Feeding America has responded to coronavirus. 
  • The Center for Nonprofit Studies at Austin Community College has compiled a list of of resources for nonprofits.

Volunteers 

For many volunteers, volunteering is the best way to engage with their communities. Yet at this time, this has been severely interrupted. Some may be quarantined, isolated, or practicing physical distancing; others may hope to continue face-to-face service, but are unsure of the best way to do so. We hope that the below may help you to make decisions that will allow you to continue your engagement and support organizations at this time:

  • Make sure that you are healthy before volunteering. If you or someone you know has traveled to a country on the CDC’s Level 3 watch list, if you have come into contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, or if you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 (such as fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath), you should not volunteer. 
  • If you are going to volunteer face-to-face, maintain six feet of distance between you and any other people you come into contact with if at all possible, wipe down surfaces with disinfectant wipes if you can, and wash your hands often. See the above Volunteer Health Guide graphic for more information.
  • If you do not believe you should engage in face-to-face volunteering, look for virtual opportunities. Contact your local partners and ask if you can help them with organizing fundraising campaigns, help to create content, or perhaps even connect virtually with those they assist. 
  • Donate money and in-kind supplies to organizations. Food banks have been hit particularly hard at this time. Use GivePulse to search for your local food banks and contact their admins to see what you might be able to provide.

Moving Forward

We at GivePulse pledge to continue to work alongside you. Over the upcoming weeks, we are working to create designations for COVID-19 related opportunities and virtual opportunities and to identify resource gaps, as well as learning how to best support our partners in other ways. If you have been sent our higher education or community organization surveys, please fill them out when you have the chance. We will be using this to inform our changes, and will also be highlighting the data gathered in upcoming blog posts and social media campaigns. 

We will continue to update this post and our related support articles. Again, please let us know how we can best support you at this time. We are grateful to be part of this community.

in Civic Engagement, Collaboration, Corporate Social Responsibility, Emergency Response, Higher Education, Nonprofit Management, Why Choose GivePulse | 2,378 Words

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