Volunteering is a critical part of the work at nearly every United Way. United Ways spend plenty of time and effort organizing volunteering opportunities like Day of Action or Day of Caring, web portals are set-up to connect people to volunteering opportunities at local charities, and volunteers are often sought for United Way allocation committees. With the slogan of “Give, Advocate, Volunteer,” there is no question United Ways should be promoting volunteerism. The question we’ll answer today is “How do you do volunteering right?”

Pass-Through Volunteering

Most United Ways do what we call “pass-through” volunteering. Pass-through volunteering is when United Way connects volunteers to volunteering opportunities at local organizations. The two most common examples of pass-through volunteering are Days of Action/Caring and volunteer web portals. In both instances, United Ways are “passing-through” people to volunteer at local charities.

There is no question that pass-through volunteering benefits local nonprofit organizations. When volunteers give their time to help a local charity, they have helped contribute to the wonderful work being done by the local charity. They better understand the work of the local charity and they have developed a relationship with that local charity.

However, pass-through volunteering provides little, if any, benefit to United Way. Since United Way is merely connecting volunteers to volunteering opportunities, the volunteers do not develop any relationship with United Way. United Ways rarely receive any financial compensation for promoting volunteering and organizing volunteering opportunities. In fact, pass-through volunteering costs United Way in both staff time and communication expense.

Direct Volunteering

We use the term “direct volunteering” to describe volunteering opportunities directly for your United Way. Some examples of direct volunteering include: volunteering for a United Way run VITA program, volunteering for a United Way event like a book drive for childhood literacy, or volunteering for a United Way fundraiser like HomeWalk to end homelessness. Note that all of these direct volunteering opportunities are directly “for” United Way not “through” United Way.

Note how all of these volunteering opportunities benefit United Way. These volunteers understand what United Way does and develop a relationship with United Way. These volunteers save United Way staff time and expenses and can even help United Way raise more money.

Here are four reasons your United Way needs to be doing direct volunteering:

1. Build a relationship with your United Way outside of workplace campaign. If someone does not work at an organization with a workplace campaign, providing volunteering opportunities gives them a chance to build a relationship with your United Way.

2. Connecting with younger donors. Young people are far more likely to volunteer for your United Way before they give to your United Way. Volunteering opportunities for your United Way will allow young people to see how they can change lives by volunteering and then giving to your United Way.

3. Reconnecting with retired donors. Once a donor retires, invite them to reconnect with United Way by volunteering for United Way. Our donor research has found that long-time United Way donors who retire are willing to give or volunteer for United Way.

4. Build an emotional connection between your donors and your work. Our donor research has found that about one-third of current United Way donors would want to volunteer for United Way to help change lives in addition to support United Way financially.

Doing Volunteering Right

Direct volunteering will require some work on your part to identify volunteering opportunities for your United Way. The easiest first step is to look at recruiting volunteers for a program or initiative your United Way operates. Structure your volunteering opportunities to allow as many people as possible to participate. Asking 200 volunteers to participate for two hours each will be easier and expose more volunteers to your United Way than asking 50 volunteers to participate for a day.

In some cases, you may be able to make some of your current pass-through volunteering opportunities into direct volunteering opportunities. For example, instead of asking people to volunteer to pack meals for a local food pantry or food bank, ask people to volunteer to pack meals for United Way to end hunger. Hold the event at a neutral location and be sure to communicate what United Way does to all volunteers attending. Once the meal packing is over, you can deliver the meal packs to local food pantries or food banks.

There is no reason why your United Way’s volunteering work cannot benefit your United Way. In fact, when your United Way does direct volunteering, it not only helps people in your community, it helps your United Way.