Thursday, October 16, 2014

Find Your Right Match With VolunteerConnect

Author: Anne-Marie Hess
            Senior marketing, communications, and investor relations executive

Find Your Right Match With VolunteerConnect

Being in transition can be more than looking for your next professional gig. It is an opportunity for personal and professional development – and the perfect time to try something new – like skills-based volunteering.


Everyone Wins With Skills-Based Volunteering

Skills-based volunteerism is a service that capitalizes on personal talents, core business skills, work experience, or education. Sharing your skills..... It can help you keep your professional skills finely honed and have a meaningful impact on your community. You can leverage your education and experience in new ways, continue to develop professionally, meet new people in the community, and expand your network. And if you have ever thought of working in a non-profit organization, here is a chance to explore the option.

With declining contributions and grants from government, corporations, and individuals, non-profits face increasing pressure to meet the demand for community services. Under these challenging conditions, many nonprofits are looking to skills-based volunteers to help them achieve their missions. Services provided by these volunteers can immediately provide cost savings and revenue generating programs to local non-profits, allowing them to direct more of their resources into community programs for their constituents.

VolunteerConnect of Princeton, NJ facilitates the relationships between skills-based volunteers and the non-profit organizations in Central New Jersey that desperately need professional services such as communications, finance, marketing, strategic planning, graphic design, program development, research, and digital/social media. It is a matching service of sorts – pairing the right volunteer and skills to the needs of non-profits.


How it Works

VolunteerConnect works with local non-profits to define an appropriate project with most projects only requiring about 25 hours of the volunteer’s time. Based on the project specifications, VolunteerConnect will review the credentials of its skills-based volunteers, interview candidates and match them to a project. The non-profit then interviews the candidate for the project to ensure a good match of skills and chemistry. Once selected, the volunteer will work directly with the non-profit to complete the project.


The Rewards of the Right Match

The professional rewards of skills-based volunteering are substantial: the chance to do what you love and expand your skills into a new domain. You can offer your fresh perspectives and innovations, demonstrate your adaptability, and enjoy the collaboration and teamwork aspects of a VolunteerConnect project.

But the big pay-off is seeing the value of your efforts translate into vital services for the children and families in your community. This is the best reward yet – one that can transform your transition into an amazingly positive and valuable experience.


About VolunteerConnect

VolunteerConnect is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Central New Jersey. Its mission is to expand the reach, impact and capacity of community organizations through effective volunteerism, thereby enriching the lives of Central New Jersey residents.

They focus their efforts on helping local nonprofits identify and define projects that draw on specific professional skills and recruit skilled volunteers to assist; providing resources, networking opportunities and workshops to help non-profit leaders capitalize on the strength of volunteers and improve organizational capacity; partnering with area organizations to help develop more effective non-profit boards and provide a more rewarding experience for board members; and serving as the leader in raising awareness about the value of volunteerism and inspiring residents to make an impact in the community.

VolunteerConnect works with a diverse group of organizations with their efforts focused primarily in the following areas:
  • Anti-poverty, anti-hunger initiatives
  • Community arts programs
  • Community development and enrichment
  • Crisis intervention
  • Education
  • Family support
  • Healthcare and health education
  • Justice and diversity
  • Sustainable communities
  • Youth development