Spring Into Action - Volunteer Opportunities
Spring Into Action
As a mission-driven brand, EcoVessel keeps the planet in mind all year long. We want to continue to provide you with helpful tips for giving back to your community and to help you reduce waste for years to come.
Aside from proactive purchases and at-home routines which contribute to a sustainable, environmentally friendly lifestyle, there is always further action you can take to reduce waste and protect the planet.
That is why we have compiled a list of online platforms and message boards that our customers can use to find volunteer opportunities, get out, and “spring into action!”
Vetting Non-Profit Organizations
Before deciding which organization to give your money, time or resources to, you want to be sure that your donation or volunteer work will make an impact. Below are a few sites that you may find helpful while figuring out which causes and organizations you’d like to support.
Charity Navigator
CharityNavigator has ratings available for approximately 200,000 nonprofits. Their website can show you different donors and social investors, and how effectively a charity uses the support of donors and volunteers. Additionally, Charity Navigator can show you how well a nonprofit has sustained its programs and services over time, as well as their level of commitment to good governance, best practices, and transparency of information. Furthermore, Charity Navigator provides tips for donors, curates lists of nonprofits responding to disasters and current events, and more.
Through their guiding principles of leadership, collaboration, equity, fairness, and usefulness, Charity Navigator aims to make impactful giving easier for everyone, and oversees the shift of 1 trillion dollars to better outcomes.
GuideStar
If you’re looking to make donations and support specific causes, you can also utilize GuideStar. GuideStar provides donors with a variety of information about a number of nonprofit organizations. They provide access to current and comprehensive information about nonprofits.
With a mission to revolutionize philanthropy via access to information, Guidestar hopes to enable the advancement of transparency, enable donors to make better decisions, and encourage charitable giving.
However you choose to vet the organizations you would like to support, be sure that your time, money and effort will not go to waste.
How To Find Volunteer Opportunities
While researching potential nonprofits to volunteer for, it is important to note the difference between an educational nonprofit and an action-based nonprofit. Though both are worthwhile, you want to be sure that you are able to meet the needs of any organization you volunteer for and, perhaps just as important, fulfill yourself in a meaningful way. An action based nonprofit will have volunteers go out and actually do the work, while educational nonprofits often provide courses for people to learn more about a cause or movement.
If you have an interest in environmental stewardship and land management, there are tools you can use to volunteer for organizations that share those same values. If you have a passion for education regarding sustainable food production, there are websites you can visit to help you find programs you may find interesting.
VolunteerMatch
One such website is VolunteerMatch, which lets volunteers utilize their skills, talents, and interests to help nonprofits in their neighborhood or around the country that need passionate individuals to support important causes.
Since the late 90s, VolunteerMatch has utilized the power of technology to manage over $14 billion worth of volunteer time. A nonprofit itself, VolunteerMatch has become one of the largest and most popular platforms for volunteer recruiting. Each month, a million volunteers are connected with one of over 100,000 nonprofits through the site.
JustServe
JustServe is another website where volunteers can search for places to serve within their communities. It is a service to help connect volunteers possessing the necessary skills and interest to the available opportunities to meet the needs of a community. JustServe and its affiliates welcome all, and do not discriminate against anyone who wishes to volunteer, when posting projects or encouraging volunteers to serve.
Whether you volunteer to clean up trash in your local park, or take a course on how to sustainably grow a vegetable garden and compost, be sure you choose an experience you will find worthwhile and believe will make a difference.
Get Out There!
Here at EcoVessel, we believe that by assisting each other in the care and maintenance of our local communities and the environment, we're setting a precedent for broader change. The individual efforts of one person don't need to be grand. Small efforts can quickly add up to make a lasting difference.
By volunteering and working together, we learn from each other, form connections, build community, and create an impact that can last for generations. No matter the time of year, it’s always the right time to spring into action.
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