Does your United Way group volunteer opportunities by category? Do you make it simple for your community members to select volunteer opportunities that interest them?

United Way of East Central Iowa (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) not only groups their volunteer opportunities by category (education, income, and health), but they also provide a map and an app for those opportunities.

Their volunteer map is listed on their Web site, which groups volunteer opportunities by category. Whether you are interested in issues related to education, income, or health, it is easy to find an opportunity that interests you. This map makes it easy for community members to get involved and is a good visual aid for community members to determine which volunteer opportunity is the closest/most convenient for them.

United Way of East Central Iowa has also created a volunteer app, which is free to download and allows community members to map volunteer opportunities in Cedar Rapids. The app also allows users to review, respond, and share listings, search for opportunities, and save their interests.

These are great examples of ways to get your community members involved. By showing your community members where the closest opportunity is for them to volunteer and providing volunteer opportunities by category, you will not only make it easy for your community members to volunteer, but will also give them a chance to get involved in something they are interested in doing.

If your United Way is focused on addressing a specific issue or issues in your community, we would encourage you to offer something similar to United Way of East Central Iowa’s map and/or app, with opportunities listed for your issue(s).

Does your United Way have a creative way of inviting your community members to volunteer? We would love to see your examples! Either share with us what your United Way is doing in a comment below, or send us an e-mail at info@perspectives4uw.com.