In the grand scheme of the nonprofit world and its history, microvolunteering is an oddity. Traditional volunteering typically meant giving your entire day, weekend, or longer to assist with a program. You may even come back to volunteer on a regular basis because you have a standing relationship with the charity.
Microvolunteering, on the other hand, involves someone performing a small task that could take as little as a minute. Volunteers usually hear about microvolunteering opportunities online. Examples include signing a petition, picking up neighborhood trash, working an hour at a local community garden, donating an item to a food pantry, and sharing a post on social media. There’s a lot of variety, but the key is engaging people who wouldn’t ordinarily volunteer. In so doing, there are several ways microvolunteering benefits your charity.
More Helpful Hands
The first benefit is intuitive—canvasing for online help allows you to get more stuff done. Digital volunteers directly help you by completing petitions, surveys, and social media posts. The true beauty of microvolunteering, though, is that participants do good in the spirit of your charity even if the act isn’t directly attached to your organization. Giving people ideas for do-gooding helps your mission spread to areas you never thought possible, multiplying your message.
More Online Advocates
While asking people to share posts is a straightforward way to boost your online presence, volunteers you attract may choose to further advocate on your behalf if they buy in. What begins as a microvolunteering opportunity may evolve into regular appeals to their social media friends to recognize the issue you target or cause you support. Given that microvolunteering resonates with social media savvy young adults, some individuals are bound to take this advocacy route.
Grow Your Networks
When pondering how microvolunteering benefits your charity, the most important piece could very well be the networks you build. You never know who’ll come across your operation. If someone enjoys the small tasks you give them, they may want to volunteer in a more conventional fashion or financially support you. They also may have influence in circles you never had contact with before.
Make sure you provide a path where they can supply you with their email address if your network is a high priority.
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