Have you ever been in a situation where you've relied on the expertise or guidance of others? Have you received:
Advice about your career?
Help setting up your business?
People have given you their time in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing they helped you.
You can achieve that same satisfaction yourself through volunteering!
What Are Your Skills And Experiences?
What are you good at? What have you learned or experienced that someone else could benefit from hearing about?
These skills and experiences form a content inventory of what you can offer as a volunteer.
Here are some examples:
Resume writing
Creating a LinkedIn profile
Networking as part of a job search
Running your own business
Organizing and running an event
Everyone has skills that can be useful as a volunteer. What's in your content inventory?
What Interests You?
Consider who the right audience is.
Volunteers mostly choose causes that they have a personal connection to. Perhaps they have themselves benefitted from the cause in the past, or are connected to the cause through their industry, profession, or location.
Photo by ray sangga kusuma on UnsplashHere are some examples:
Arts and culture (eg. a local museum)
Entrepreneurship (eg. a program that helps young entrepreneurs)
Sports leadership (e.g. coaching)
Keep an open mind about volunteer opportunities. You might surprise yourself and discover a new passion!
What Is Your Time Commitment
Volunteering requires commitment. It can be easy to over promise and under-deliver. Before volunteering consider:
Which days of the week are you available?
What time of day works best, and for how long at one time?
How long can you volunteer for: a week, a month, or longer?
Are you available in person, remotely, or both?
Check out this Byte if you plan to volunteer while travelling. 👈
Photo by Gaining Visuals on UnsplashQuiz
You decide that you have only 2-3 hours per week to volunteer at most. Is this enough?
An Example Volunteering Plan
This is Rowena's volunteering journey!
Rowena just landed a new job and realized she is good at networking.
She likes technology and wants to help others establish careers in this field.
She can dedicate one night each week to her plan for the next three months.
She found an agency that helps youth learn essential tech and career skills after school!
Take Action
You're ready to make a volunteering plan of your own! Ask yourself:
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