The challenges surfacing from COVID-19 are creating greater needs in our communities. Nonprofits are struggling with filling volunteering roles, while the people in our communities who need these services are growing. In fact from research we performed during the month of March, we learned that 93% of nonprofit organizations are seeing volunteer cancellations, with some losing 100% of their volunteer force.
Technology Enhancements Based On Nonprofit Needs
At VolunteerMatch, we are actively listening and learning from our community of nonprofits since the COVID-19 crisis began. These learnings have helped us enhance our technology and develop new features including COVID-19– and Virtual Volunteering-specific markers, and ways to communicate safer local volunteering activities. We also created VolunteerMatch Connect, where solopreneurs, bloggers, or large organizations can turn their websites into volunteer action hubs.
Partnering With #CaliforniansForAll
In VolunteerMatch’s home state of California alone, there are 40 million citizens and tens of thousands of nonprofits. Connecting volunteers to the organizations they feel passionate about serving, and engaging that service at the moments the help is most needed, is no simple task. These challenges have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.
That’s why we’re excited to be announcing first-of-its-kind public sector/nonprofit technology partnership with #CaliforniansForAll service initiative to enhance its new volunteer engagement platform. Together, we are stepping up to the challenge, and showing how collaboratively we can make it easier for our most vulnerable citizens to get the help they need, when they need it.
In April, Governor Gavin Newsom announced California Volunteers’ #CaliforniansForAll service initiative to connect Californians with safe volunteer opportunities and encourage those unable to physically volunteer to think creatively about ways to make a difference in their communities.
At VolunteerMatch, we feel a deep responsibility to make it easier for California’s nonprofits, and that responsibility has been made even more poignant by this public health crisis. Supporting the Governor’s call to service is critical to our commitment to delivering for the resilience and recovery of our nonprofit sector.
Technology At Scale
Through this partnership, the platform is built using the new VolunteerMatch Open Network Application Programming Interface (API), a technology solution which empowers the team at #CaliforniansForAll to create a customizable website experience tailored to its local constituents, while enabling them to scale more rapidly by plugging into the nonprofit network and tools VolunteerMatch has built over its two decades of expertise serving nonprofits and volunteers.
Answering The Call To Serve
“Since we announced the #CaliforniansForAll service initiative in late April, more than 38,000 have signed up,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “I am proud of those who have matched their passion with action and am grateful to VolunteerMatch for their partnership as more Californians continue to meet this moment.”
When interested volunteers visit CaliforniansForAll.ca.gov, they are given a variety of options to engage in service from activities you can easily and safely do at home to opportunities with local organizations. The partnership will provide more than 10,000 volunteer engagement opportunities in California.
“We feel a deep responsibility to make it easier for California’s nonprofits, and that responsibility has been made even more poignant by this public health crisis,” said Greg Baldwin, CEO of VolunteerMatch. “Supporting the Governor’s call to service is critical to our commitment to delivering for the resilience and recovery of our nonprofit sector.“
Making It Easier For Californians To Support Their Communities
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on communities across the State of California and our entire nation. VolunteerMatch is proud to step up to respond to Governor Newsom’s statewide call to service, and to partner with California’s Chief Service Officer, Josh Fryday, and the team at California Volunteers to help get volunteers efficiently into service where they’re needed most.
