It seems that the holiday spirit is catching. While many people and corporations focus on volunteerism and giving during the holiday season, the spirit, according to local agencies and national surveys is spreading year-round.
Many organizations try to capitalize on the spirit of giving in November and December, encouraging individuals and corporations to donate time, money, and food for those less fortunate.
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But some local organizations are finding that the holiday spirit has spread throughout the year. Kelly Nevins, director of the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island, said though most of the placements during the holidays are for episodic volunteering — volunteering that has a set beginning and a set end, and can usually be completed in one day — more people are continuing at their placement even after the season is over.
“We encourage this,” she said. “Though many of the non-profits are looking for more long-term volunteers we believe if we can get people doing episodic volunteering then we can build a relationship.”
Deborah Brayton, executive director of Amos House in Providence agreed, saying that often when people volunteer during any holiday season they find they really enjoy it and want to continue it.
“Episodic volunteering is a brilliant way for people to find their niche,” she said. “We had a woman who decided for Lent one year that instead of giving something up she was going to volunteer her time. She has been here at least one day a week since then, and that was over a decade ago. Holidays are triggers for people to make the connection and it gives them the extra motivation they need.”
Often when people call during November and December, Brayton said she tries to convince them to volunteer at another time during the year.
“It’s during the holidays that we get the call, but we try and remind people that there is hunger and homelessness all year round,” she said. “When people call around this time we try and talk them into connecting with us during a different time of the year, one that isn’t so busy for them and a time when we might need them more.”
She said her recommendation to volunteer at a different time often gives people a better understanding that homelessness, hunger and other issues are year round problems.
Brayton said that an increase in individual awareness of volunteer needs and opportunities is also the result of greater awareness at work.
“A company incentive for volunteerism is very important,” she said. “Many Rhode Island companies are telling their employees that it is okay to volunteer and that they want to help them find a way to do it.”
A recent study by the Points of Light Foundation supports that idea. The study found that more businesses nationwide are making time for community service year round.
According to the study, corporate America is placing a greater value on employee volunteer programs as a resource for achieving strategic business goals. In fact, the study found 81 percent of the companies surveyed connect volunteering with their overall business strategies, compared to only 31 percent in 1992.
The Points of Light Foundation, based in Washington, D.C. and working in partnership with a national network of Volunteer Centers, conducted the study by mailing a survey to more than 2,000 corporations in the spring of 1999. The results also showed a significant trend to incorporate the volunteer programs into overall business plans and corporate mission statements, to implement them with more professional, skilled staff, and to evaluate their effectiveness.
These findings don’t surprise Nevins.
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For 30 years the Volunteer Center, located in the Providence YMCA, has been placing people with non-profit agencies statewide. But she said, over the last few years there has been an increased interest in corporate volunteering among Rhode Island business owners.
“It’s a great way for companies to be visible in the community,” she said
Nevins said as an example, the Hasbro Co. offers its employees four hours of paid time a month to volunteer; The Washington Trust Co., is getting ready to start a workers’ volunteer program; and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island also has a workers’ volunteer program.
Both the employee and the company benefit,” she said. “I think that more and more companies are starting to see that. A number of companies are calling us on their own initiation because they have done walk-a-thons and things like that and really want to do more.”
Karen Davis, director of the Hasbro Charitable Trust said the company began its program in September and already company employees have donated more than 400 hours to charitable causes.
“We believe that our employees have a lot to give and we needed to give them a mechanism to do so,” Davis said. “This type of program builds employee morale, it puts them in touch with the community and it puts them in touch with children. It’s another way of giving time, talent and treasures to the community.”
Nevins said the Volunteer Center can help companies in a variety of capacities, including providing strategic assistance to enlist the support of top management, providing assistance in establishing systematic methods and procedures for the successful development of a program, and by providing assistance in assessing the employees’ interests and involvement through the use of surveys and interviews.
Often businesses want their employees to make volunteering choices in an area that their primary business is in,” she said. “For example, Hasbro is a toy company and they want their employees to do something with kids.”
Nevins said studies have also found that corporate volunteer programs build employee teamwork skill, improves morale, provide training for employees, and improves a company’s public image.
A lot of companies are offering this almost like an employee benefit,” she said. “It’s a great way for employees to get to know the community, and for the business to become involved in its surrounding community.”
Nevins said the “contact” aspect of corporate volunteering is unique to a state like Rhode Island.
“In this state everybody knows somebody,” she laughed. “Volunteering can be a wonderful way to build those relationships.”
Outside the corporate realm, Nevins said individual volunteerism is also up. According another survey conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector revealed that 56 percent of adults donated 19.9 billion hours – a 13.7 increase from the 1996 study.
Nevins said in 1998, the Volunteer Center placed close to 3,000 people in the more than 1,200 non-profit agencies in the state.
