Volunteer Circles Keren Lavi Director of Ruach Tova’s Business Department
A t one of last year’s 'Business Community Leading Volunteering' meetings, an initiative organized by the Business Volunteering Department, we brought up examples of corporations that decided to expand their volunteer circles to include employees’ families, the company's customers, suppliers and even to the company's retirees! Just before we dive into the eight examples from representative businesses which truly value volunteering, I invite you to look at a broad view of volunteering among the business sector. Each company has a very large impact potential. If we look at our circles and direct doing good to other circles, we will get back a positive effect both on the company's brand and on the employees' sense of connectedness. According to Points of Light: Engaging Americans in Civic Life (May 2020): 41% of adults and 52% of Gen Z young adults made purchasing decisions based on corporate social responsibility. 18% of adults and 41% of Gen Z young adults have considered applying for a job at companies because they believed in the companies’ commitment to social responsibility. Here are some examples of ways you can expand volunteering circles:
Customer Volunteering Once a week, a brewery in Georgia, USA hosts community organizations, representatives from shelters and student enrichment programs and makes volunteer options available to customers such as food packaging and making blankets for the homeless. On the Ynet news site, there’s a widget that asks news readers where they would like to volunteer and in what field. With a simple click you could surf the volunteering options page. Easy app - a search engine platform with a map for finding local businesses in Israel - the app makes volunteering accessible just like restaurants, institutes and businesses are. You can find a nearby place to volunteer from anywhere in the country. Starbucks - the American coffee shop chain is considered one of the leaders in combining social and environmental impact. They joined the Volunteer Match organization and built a website for customers to find volunteering - on the website you can search for projects, or publish projects and recruit volunteers for them. They joined the volunteer match organization and built a website for customers to find volunteering - on the website you can search for projects or publish projects and recruit volunteers for them.
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