A Food and Wine Festival Fundraiser, Made Possible with Empowered’s Tools
Tabitha Baca, a student at Miami Dade College, used Empowered to organize a Food and Wine Festival fundraiser. The event raised over $3,000 in just one night. Tabitha and fellow students will be using these funds to take part in a Medical Brigade trip to Ghana were they will set up mobile medical clinics providing free medical care to rural families.
Last month, our volunteer chapter was faced with a huge fundrasing goal and little time to accomplish it. We decided to organize a Food and Wine Festival with over ten different restaurant vendors in order to fundraise for our Medical Brigades trip. Without Empowered, this event would not have been possible.
We had to sell tickets for the Food and Wine Festival, but we didn’t want to spend money on printing tickets. With Empowered, we were able to create an activity online, share it on Facebook, and have people purchase their tickets directly through Empowered. With this process, we didn’t have to worry about printing tickets and receipts ourselves, as participants automatically received their tickets, receipts, and tax-exempt information via Empowered.
With Empowered, we were able to pull a donation history list of people that had purchased presale tickets. We used this list at the door and were able to take walk-ins paying with a credit card. With Empowered’s help, we were able to raise over $3,000 in just one night! By using Empowered’s Facebook share functions, we were also able to have our volunteers share donation links online and raise additional donations via social media.
Being from Miami, many of our volunteers have family members that live abroad. Through Empowered these family members were able to make donations from all over the world. In total, we have been able to fundaiase over $7,000 with Empowered, and I can’t wait to see what kind of impact our Medical Brigade will make when we arrive in Ghana!
Expanding Your Volunteer Organization
It’s been three years since you started your volunteer organization that connects willing citizens with local senior citizens who need help around their homes. It’s a successful program with solid funding. As the organization leader, you have secured regular donors who are pleased with what they have seen. Word has spread about your program, and how much good it is doing in the community. You think to yourself — maybe it is time to expand? Surely, other communities could benefit from your volunteer service as well.
Expanding your volunteer organization may seem like a daunting task, but keep it simple. Remember, you successfully launched and continued your program for this long. If you’ve done it once, surely, you can do it again. However, there are several logistical steps you need to take if you decide to expand your program to other states, or even to other countries. The following are several tips you can use when you move forward with the expansion.
Figure Out the Logistics
Expanding your organization internationally will require a lot of work, including additional manpower. Consider contacting the top moving companies Ottawa offers for your expansion to the north, or contact professionals who can help you get set up down south in Mexico. By keeping organized with the logistics, the actual expansion of offices will be much less difficult. Remember that when expanding into another country, you may also need to figure out currency exchange rates, local laws and ordinances and also common etiquette used by the local people.
Choose the Best Location
Before you decide to officially make the move and expand your organization, consider all your options for locations. Do research into the communities you are considering, and make sure that your organization is one that is needed in that area. If there are three similar groups that help out senior citizens in one community, consider choosing another location that may not have an organization like yours yet. When your program is needed desperately in the community you are expanding to, you will have a better chance of securing reliable and regular donors. Location is everything when it comes to expansion, and choosing the best location — be it nationally or internationally — is one of the keys to success when it comes to building on to your volunteer organization.
Don’t Forget the Government
Moving a volunteer organization to another state or another country also requires the collaboration of local, state and federal government. Be sure to check with local government agencies to find out what paperwork you need to fill out in order to successfully complete your expansion. When expanding to another state, it is common for an organization to have to register as a foreign corporation. In addition, most organizations need to apply for a Certificate of Authority in order to have an office or location in that state. However, there may be different requirements for an international expansion, so be sure to keep an open line of communication with government agencies and officials.
Growing a volunteer organization and expanding it to a new area is an exciting time, not just for you but also for the community you are entering. While there may be a few hiccups along the way, and certainly some challenges, in the end it likely will be well worth the effort. Some of the tasks may seem tedious and trying, but keep in mind the people who you will be helping once your service is expanded. Without your organization’s expansion, they may not be able to get the help that they need.
Religious Volunteering: How to Get Started
Religious Volunteering: How to Get Started
One of the most satisfying things you can do is volunteer. Volunteering is arguably as rewarding for the volunteer as it is for the beneficiary, and it’s also a great way to become involved in your community. But where do you start?
If you’ve never volunteered before, local religious organizations serve as a great starting point for getting to know your charitable side. Even if you don’t personally consider yourself a religious person, many churches and religious charities would welcome your help in meeting the community’s needs. If you still need some ideas for how your volunteer services could be put to good use, check out the tips below:
Charity Drives
Religious organizations often organize community outreach events that are designed to assist the less fortunate in meeting daily needs. If you volunteer with a church, you could help with a community outreach event that provides nearby residents with Bibles, Bible covers and a bag of groceries. Clothing drives are popular at the end of summer when school is about to resume, and you can probably find a food drive to participate in during the holiday season. If you can’t find a charity drive to participate in, consider organizing your own. You could garner the support of multiple religious organizations and non-profits in your area to achieve a common goal.
Serving Meals
Many organizations recognize that some people are incapable of preparing a hot meal for themselves – perhaps due to disability or homelessness. Some religious organizations have shelter projects designed to give these people a hot meal every day and a place to stay if needed. You could volunteer your time once or twice a week to serve lunches or dinners at a nearby shelter, or find a mobile meal service to deliver hot food directly to the doorsteps of people in need.
Fundraisers
If there’s anything churches, charities and other religious organizations are in need of more than volunteers, it’s money. By volunteering to help raise money, you can help fill two needs at one time. To get started, ask your local church when the next bake sale is, and follow up by donating some fresh homemade cookies or an apple pie.
Do the Heavy Lifting
Community outreach programs and churches enjoy helping other people, but those good deeds don’t come without a great deal of ‘behind-the-scenes’ work. Offer up your own elbow grease by helping with the less glamorous side of charity. Your work pushing papers in the office or cleaning up the parking lot will be much appreciated and is just as important as organizing a big outreach.
Regardless of how you choose to start volunteering in your community, the most important step is getting started. Charity work should never feel like a chore, so be sure not to overwhelm yourself at first. Choose to help in an area that you feel passionate about, and do so according the schedule that works best for you. Remember, it isn’t about your qualifications – it’s about your willingness to serve.
“Together we raised a total of $25,414″ — Another Fundraising Goal Reached with Empowered!
See How a Group of Students Raised $51,000 With Empowered to Support Communities in Honduras!
My name is Alana Hartley and I am a student at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. In December 2011 I traveled to Honduras on a Medical Brigade. By using Empowered.org to organize the trip, I was able to raise over $1400 only a few months before embarking on this incredible journey. I was able to send my Empowered.org link to family members who gladly and graciously donated to my cause.
I am very thankful for Empowered.org because it gave me an easy way to spread the word about my trip. It is also a very organized way to collect money (a donation is just a click away!). Empowered.org also made it really easy for my group to organize itself and for everyone to get to know each other a little better before we traveled to Honduras together.
As a result of our efforts with Empowered.org, the group of 34 students that I traveled with raised over $51,000 for the people of Honduras. We were able to help more than 500 patients in the community of Hoya Grande in just three days! We also helped with a Water Brigade in El Cantón by digging trenches and connecting water pipelines to homes.
This trip truly changed my life. I am forever grateful for Global Brigades and Empowered.org for making this brigade possible. Attending this brigade made me much more aware of the health problems that people face in countries like Honduras. I am much more grateful for what I have and motivated to help people in any way I can.
I am returning to Honduras in December 2012 and am excited to utilize Empowered.org for all my fundraising needs. I hope to utilize their social media features and ease of use to let others know how they can help the people of Honduras. With the help of Empowered.org, my goal is to raise as much as I did last year, if not more.
Without Empowered.org, raising the money necessary for my brigades would be impossible. I am grateful for 
the simplicity of this site and how it has helped me spread the word about a great passion of mine – helping others.
A famous quote, said by Mahatma Gandhi, captures the sentiment I felt after returning from Honduras. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
With the help of Global Brigades and Empowered.org, I was able to raise money to travel to Honduras and ended up finding myself through helping others.
“My Experience was Life-Changing, & it Would Not Have Been Possible Without Empowered”
Michelle Chen used Empowered to raise over $3,000 to help her and a group of students from the College of William & Mary travel to Honduras to work on medical & development projects in under-resourced communities. Michelle says her trip wouldn’t have been possible without Empowered’s fundraising and social media tools!
This March, we, the College of William & Mary’s Global Medical Brigades went on our first ever brigade to Honduras. During our brigade, we set up a clinic in the rural community of Mata de Platano. We worked stations where we saw patients during triage, consultation, dental, gynecology, pharmacy, and public health charlas (educational talks) for children. It was an amazing, inspirational experience during which, over the course of a week, we saw 900 patients, interacted with community members, got tackled by enthusiastic children who loved stickers, practiced our Spanish skills with amused locals, and experienced the beauty of a different country and culture.
I am forever changed by the short amount of time I spent in Honduras – the people I met were optimistic, kind, and beautiful and were appreciative of everything that they had. Their spirit and outlook on life has definitely made me re-evaluate my own and be grateful for how lucky I am to have all that I have been provided with.
To fundraise for our brigade, we used Empowered.org. Through Empowered, we were able to, as a group, raise more than $3,000 over a period of 6 months. With this money, we were able to purchase all of the medications and supplies that we needed in order to serve the people of Mata de Platano. In addition to being able to buy everything that we needed this year, we still have about $2,000 left in our Empowered account that we will use for our brigade next year.
The major benefit of Empowered is that it is one centralized platform that all of our members use; therefore, in addition to seeing just one person’s profile, donors can view other members’ profiles as well as the William & Mary group page. Empowered also connects to social media sites, such as Facebook, that made it easier for us to share our brigade page and information with family and friends. My experience on our brigade was life-changing, and it would not have been possible without Empowered.”
-Michelle Chen, College of William and Mary
Volunteer’s Best Friend: The Benefits Of Pet Therapy
Your organization focuses on assisting youth or the elderly at group homes, senior centers or hospitals. You try to do all you can to help these wonderful people get through an illness and feel less alone.
You read to them, play games with them, visit them regularly. You even have handicapped vans to take them out for shopping and other trips. But maybe you’ve overlooked something that has been proven to help with loneliness, depression and even physical ailments.
Pet therapy.
What Is Pet Therapy?
Simply put, pet therapy is the interaction of animals and humans. This can be through trained therapy animals – often dogs, but sometimes cats – who visit hospitals, nursing homes, senior centers or youth groups. The pet’s handler brings the animal to the location and residents or participants are invited to pet and interact with it. Dogs used in these activities are well-trained, well-groomed and should be certified as a therapy dog.
Another pet therapy program matches seniors living alone with older shelter pets who run the risk of not being adopted because of their age. The pet serves as a constant companion for its elderly owner, the health benefits of which are numerous.
Proven benefits of pet therapy are both physical and emotional.
Benefits For Seniors
1. Having a pet requires seniors to be more active. Daily walks are good for both the pet and its owner. The simple acts of feeding and playing with a dog or cat require more activity than an elderly person may otherwise get.
2. Petting an animal has been shown to lower blood pressure, regulate the heart rate and decrease stress.
3. Seniors living alone or even in an assisted living facility are prone to depression. Regular visits from a therapy dog or a pet of their own are proven to battle loneliness and improve emotional outlook.
4. The elderly sometimes lose self-confidence and withdraw from socializing. A therapy pet helps restore confidence and often gives the senior a trustworthy confidante. This can lead to increased interaction with other people.
5. Seniors who interact with therapy pets have been shown to smile more. Is there anything more beneficial to both the senior and the volunteer than a genuine smile?
6. Therapy pets are a source of unconditional love for seniors, something they may feel they’ve lost when visits from family and friends are fewer and farther between.
Starting Your Own Volunteer Organization
If you have a strong passion for helping others and giving back to your community you may want to explore starting your own volunteer organization. In the beginning the organization likely won’t need its own building or office, but as time goes forward and new recruits join you may need to find some land for sale.
If starting your own volunteer organization sounds interesting, but you have no idea how to get started here are a few tips:
- How much do you know?
If you are planning to run an organization you need to have knowledge on the subject. People who decide to join the cause may have questions and look to you for leadership. Unfortunately, if you don’t have any answers you will lose credibility.
- Game plan
Running an organization takes planning. As a leader of an organization you are in charge of others who are freely giving their time. Have a plan or schedule set for the volunteers, so they can plan ahead and decide when they’re available. If you just randomly call people on the day of an event you may discover people are not available.
- Write out goals
It is important to have a clear mission and goals. Putting those in writing can be a good way to keep you accountable. You can use social media by creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account and add the mission statement there. Let people know what you and the organization are about, and what they will be doing if they choose to join.
- Leaders
All of the most successful organizations have people chosen for leadership positions to balance out the responsibility, share ideas and delegate tasks to groups of employees. The same should take place in your volunteer organization. It’s a great idea to have a mix of older individuals and younger people to be able to see things from different viewpoints.
Passion is definitely needed to start a volunteer organization, but it takes more than that to have an impact. You have to plan things out and build a team. If you are able to bring on volunteers who are passionate about the cause; combine that with structure and planning, and your organization will make a difference.
Volunteering: Entertaining the Elderly
High school and college students who are looking to get some volunteering in to boost their resumes and give back often overlook working with the elderly. There are too many senior citizens who go for weeks and months without any visits or interaction with people. Fortunately, companies make things like life alert systems for seniors to assist them if something happens. Nevertheless, it’s good for seniors to interact with a young people who are interested in volunteering. These volunteers could benefit from the interaction, too.
Assisting the elderly is often overlooked because people think it will be all work and no fun. There are many older people who are still very active and like to get out and enjoy life. There are many activities you could do while volunteering to enjoy yourself and help out the elderly.
Shopaholics
Do you like to shop? There are a lot of elderly people who enjoy shopping, too. Many of them like picking up things for their grandchildren who could be around your age. You could help them pick something out. Some nursing homes take groups of residents out shopping and they could always use help in assisting them. You could request a trip to the mall with them if you get enough people who would be interested in going. It may feel like just another trip to the mall for you but for an elderly person getting out and going to different stores and being active could be a big thing.
Holidays
Nobody wants to be alone during the holidays and many senior living facilities are filled with elderly people who have out-of-state family members who are unable to visit with them. If you are into baking you could make some cookies or pies and bring them in to share with them. You may be able to bring the ingredients in and bake with the elderly people there. I’m sure you will come across some who used to cook for their families for years and they will be excited to tell stories and give out their recipes. Having dinner served to them every night is helpful and takes a load off them, but having a chance to get back in the kitchen and bake some cookies would be a big hit for some of them.
Workout
Your New Year’s resolution may be to work out more regularly and lose weight. Sticking to that could be difficult if you don’t have someone working with you and keeping you motivated on the days you don’t really feel like working out. Being active is big for the elderly but a large number of senior citizens are not getting the physical activity they need. You could volunteer to lead a workout program that would be a major benefit to them and you also. Going for walks around the facility or a park would be great to get them up and active – and you too.
Volunteering to assist the elderly is a great way to help but you can have fun too and learn some interesting things from them in the process.
Branching Out
When people rally together and work towards a goal positive things can happen, especially when it comes to volunteering. I have seen doors open for groups that started with no budget but with the goal in mind to help people. Before long, they were able to feed and provide clothing for thousands of people in need. They went from having no equipment to getting free service from various moving companies who signed on to help transport clothing and food to different areas.
Conglomerate
There are many people who volunteer on their own when they can and they are not part of any organization. There are groups who perform volunteer work and then there are bigger non-profit organizations that have funding to do it. If you are in a member of a smaller group that is looking to expand your reach and help out on a larger scale, look to team up with other groups or an organization. Depending on the size of the group your resources could grow by large amounts. People have different skills and connections they can bring to the table to help with the volunteer efforts.
Outreach
If you are looking to find some passionate people to join your volunteer team or you want to get the word of your efforts out, visiting college campuses is a great idea. College students tend to have a lot of free time (just don’t visit around mid-terms and finals) and they are into fighting for a cause they believe in. I have seen different groups come and set up a booth right on campus and talking to students about a charity they are fundraising for or signing people up to volunteer. Just a tip for reaching college students, if you offer free T-shirts or food your likelihood of grabbing their attention gets boosted up to 50 percent (just trust me on this statistic).
Build your brand
As you look to expand your charitable efforts and team it is important to let people know who you are by building your brand. Not because you are volunteering to receive credit for helping but because it can help your cause. If people see your team around town cleaning up parks or assisting in shelters or nursing homes they may want to join or donate money and resources to you. Have shirts with the team name or logo on it will help you to be recognized.
City to City, State to State
The issues that are facing your town or city are not only felt in your area. There is a strong possibility that the cause you are working towards is affecting other is surrounding areas and in different states too. Reaching out to volunteer groups outside of your area and comfort zone is a great idea because you can share ideas and experiences. The groups in neighboring towns may choose to come together to work on different projects and double or triple their numbers to have a greater impact. When you are working towards a common goal to aid others in need people usually are more receptive to helping out.
