There are many great volunteer projects for corporate groups to get involved in. Here are just a few to get you started:
Help the Homeless/Hungry
- Conduct a canned food drive
- Collect clothing/hygiene supplies/toys/paper products/blankets to give to a shelter
- Have a "bake off" or some other event where employees are invited to bring in baked goods to be donated to a local shelter
- Hold a week or series of days where employees bring two lunches with them to work. The second lunch can be donated to a local food pantry or shelter
- Hold a fundraising event for a homeless shelter
- Hold an employee volunteer day where employees spend the day helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity
- If your office allows it, grow an outdoor vegetable garden and donate the produce to a local food pantry or shelter. Have employees take turns watering and taking care of the garden
- Collect clothing for goodwill
- Conduct toiletry, mitten, or book drives
- Collect art and school supplies for homeless children
- Sponsor a birthday party for a homeless child
- At the next corporate event or meeting, have employees bring canned food or other goods to be donated to a local shelter of food pantry
- Have a percentage of proceeds from any given week be donated to a local charity
- Research homeless issues and present your findings to employees
- Participate in a Walk or Run and gather pledges to raise funds for food banks and pantries who are feeding the hungry
- Adopt a family
- Work, plant, water, weed and/or harvest in a community garden
Find an Opportunity
Assist Children
- Hold a day where employees are invited to visit sick children at a local hospital
- Collect items to make baby bags for poor mothers who recently had a baby – may contain diapers, baby bottles, pacifiers, burp rags, formula, baby food, etc.
- Hold a drive to collect sunscreen/flip flops/healthy snacks/school supplies for children
- Hold clothing drives and donate clothes to those in need
- Re-paint or rebuild playground equipment
- Have a birthday supply drive to give a child in need the party supplies necessary for a birthday party
- Make, buy, or donate toys for children in orphanages or shelters
- Sort through clothing, toys or books others have donated for children in need
- Hold a "sports day" where employees can participate in sports activities such as soccer and baseball with needy children and their families
- "Dare" employees to shave their heads and donate their hair to children with cancer or other medical conditions
- Put together a baby layette for new moms
- Make a first day of school package with school supplies
- Conduct a fundraiser to help send a child to summer camp
- Make care packages (i.e. sunscreen, stationery) for children at camp
- Write letters to or for sick children
- Organize a teddy bear drive
- Donate and sort books, clothes and party supplies for disadvantaged children
- Select and wrap gifts for the holidays
Find an Opportunity
Befriend the Elderly
- Have a talent show or musical program for residents at a nursing home
- Make emergency storm packs for elderly in times of need
- Organize a Bingo evening or game night
- Perform seasonal yard work including weeding, mowing lawns, raking leaves, and shoveling snow for nursing homes
- Have puppet shows
- Plant flowers
- Make decorations for rooms – could make flowers out of tissue paper or construction paper to brighten up a room or attach to wheelchairs or beds
- Clip coupons for seniors – often they are on a tight budget
- Listen to stories and memories about his/her life
- Label pictures to preserve memories of people and places (using acid-free materials)
- Make cards or write letters for a special older friend
- Play board games with nursing home residents
- Perform a play for residents
- Read a book or the newspaper
- Make lap blankets
Find an Opportunity
Care for Sick or Disabled People
- Help with setup and decorations and/or cleanup of a party
- Put on a special party with a holiday, birthday or other fun theme
- Have a special story time or reading hour
- Tell funny stories
- Walk or Run to educate and raise money for cancer research (or another important disease)
- Help with painting projects and/or horticulture
- Grant “wishes” for children who are sick
- Make food for families with relatives in the hospital
- Put on a concert for people with disabilities
Find an Opportunity
Respond to the Environment Find
- Help clean up shore around lakes, beaches/coasts, river
- Clean up litter on the street or in a park
- Weed in a cemetery or park
- Use more energy-efficient light bulbs
- Work on a community garden or farm
- Clear trails
- Start a compost pile
- Participate in a city cleanup in your local area
- Research about specific environmental issues and present for others in a creative, fun, and educational way
- Recycle!
- Fix a leaky faucet for yourself or a friend
- Learn about energy conservation and make daily changes at home
- Plant trees and other native species to preserve natural habitats
- Plant flowers and trees in your yard or (with permission) in other public areas
- Come up with creative craft projects out of re-used materials to combine with other volunteer opportunities (ex. helping children, the elderly, or people with disabilities)
- Make sets for dramatic productions out of cardboard boxes and other re-used items
Find an Opportunity
Take Care of Animals
- Help with a yard sale, bake sale, or lemonade stand and donate the money you earn to an animal organization
- Make items, such as magnets, scarves, or other special animal artwork that you can sell, and donate the proceeds to animals in need
- Protect habitats for endangered animals (see also list of suggestions for helping the environment)
- Have a dog or cat food drive
- Make a birdbath or birdhouse
- Walk or run to raise money for animals
- Sponsor a party or festival where friends and the community can learn about animals in need, have fun, and donate money to help them out
- Adopt an endangered species
- Research and teach others about a local shelter, its needs, and ways people can help
Find an Opportunity
International/Culture
- Gather supplies to make and send school kits to children in Iraq
- Sponsor a child living abroad
- Send a child to school in Tanzania
- Write to a pen pal overseas
Contact your local organizations to find specific, local opportunities for you! Please feel free to login here
Do you have another idea for your corporate group? Share it with others! Send an email here.
Have you had a great (or perhaps not so good!) volunteering experience with your organization and/or family that you would like to share? Maybe a funny story or a really special experience we can all learn from? Tell us about it here.
If you’re looking for even more ideas, visit our ideas for more ideas!
Are you finding some great ideas, but have been unable to carry them out? Our Frequently Asked Questions may help.
|