“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:

Open this assessment to the broader higher education community and their partnerships for feedback and improvements
Share back out the insights and analysis of the results
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

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.

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.

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.
Have you been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19? See the CDC’s risk assessment guidance.
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.