Volunteerism

The UPS Foundation supports nonprofit organizations whose missions are directly related to enhancing the quality and quantity of volunteerism and/or that rely heavily on the use of volunteers to meet organizational missions. The UPS Foundation’s goal is to help create a culture of volunteerism and civic engagement around the world.   Since 1998, The Foundation has contributed more than $12.3 million to help nonprofit organizations meet the demands for services by better managing their volunteers.  The Foundation’s investments to-date have supported the development of model volunteer mobilization and management strategies at both the national and local levels. Through these strategies, charitable partners have recruited more in number and from diverse pools of volunteers, increased volunteer retention rates and improved effectiveness of social service delivery to a range of populations in need.

Initiatives  Experienced Volunteer Engagement Initiative  The Field Building Initiative  IMPACT: A Fund For Change Through Volunteerism  WAGGGS Partnership  Disaster Volunteerism Initiative  Volunteer Impact Initiative

Research UPS has worked with leading organizations to conduct research and publish reports relating to volunteer management. Go to Best Practices Toolbox Awards/Recognition In August 2005, UPS received the Corporation for National and Community Service’s first-ever Corporate Spirit of Service Award in recognition of our support for volunteering and national service. The Foundation continues to support our nonprofit partners' efforts to increase the effective engagement of volunteers as a means to enhance or expand the services they provide to their communities.

Initiatives

The UPS Foundation’s Experienced Volunteer Engagement Initiative is our first focused grantmaking program to support organizations engaging older Americans (55 and older) in meaningful volunteer service to address community needs.  Given the impending retirements or transitions of millions of Americans over the next ten years, especially baby boomers, The Foundation saw tremendous potential to engage older Americans with extensive professional and life experience in service to their communities.

Case Study

Grantee: Peace Corps Encore! Initiative: Experienced Volunteer Engagement Peace Corps Encore! is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that sends former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff members back into service on short-term assignments, typically three weeks to three months.  With support from The UPS Foundation, they are attempting to harness the vast, untapped resource of people “who still want to make a difference, are searching for practical ways to do so -- and have a unique combination of cross-cultural sensitivity, professional skills and a lifelong passion for service.” Partnering with local and international NGOs that have programs in developing nations, Encore! matches the NGOs’ needs with an individual volunteer or a group of volunteers. The former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff members are placed in projects designed to match their professional skills and experience with specific social needs.  Volunteers donate their time, and in return the NGO covers their travel and living expenses plus a minimal daily fee to cover Encore!'s administrative costs.  The UPS grant will help send an initial group of volunteers into the field.  With 600 enthusiastic volunteers registered already, Encore!’s immediate goals are to enroll at least 1,000 volunteers and to place them  in 2006.  For more information on Peace Corps Encore!, please visit www.peacecorpsencore.org.

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The Field Building Initiative focuses on the needs of U.S. and international volunteer organizations to tap high quality information, support and professional development.  UPS support strengthens national and local organizations and the quality of services they provide by establishing connections to effective practices, networking, professional development, research and colleague networks.

Case Study

Grantee: Network for Good Initiative: Field Building Network for Good is the Internet's leading charitable resource—an e-philanthropy site where individuals can donate, volunteer and get involved with the issues they care about. Since its establishment in 2001, Network for Good has matched more than 200,000 volunteers with thousands of nonprofit organizations nationwide and has processed more than $76 million in online donations to more than 20,000 different nonprofit organizations. During 2005, Network for Good generated record numbers of donors and donations in response to natural disasters.  Network for Good processed more than $11 million to 69 different organizations in the weeks following the 2004 tsunami of South Asia .  Donors again turned to Network for Good after Hurricane Katrina.  In the hurricane’s aftermath, Network for Good processed $13 million in donations to more than 300 nonprofit organizations providing relief on the ground. Through The UPS Foundation’s grant, Network for Good increased volunteerism and improved the conversion rate of volunteers to donors.  For more information on Network for Good, please visit www.networkforgood.org.

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The UPS Foundation has made a leadship grant of $1 million to launch and support IMPACT: A Fund For Change Through Volunteerism.  The Volunteer IMPACT Fund is a collaborative grantmaking initiative to influence positive community change by helping organizations manage volunteers more effectively.  It is based on groundbreaking volunteer management capacity research conducted by the Urban Institute, funded in part by UPS.  For more information, visit www.volunteerimpactfund.org.

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In June 2004, The UPS Foundation and The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) began a partnership to develop, or in some cases expand, volunteer opportunities or promote knowledge sharing of three of its member organizations – Guias de Mexico, Girl Guides of Malaysia and Hong Kong Girl Guides. UPS provided the World Bureau of WAGGGS a three-year grant to: increase awareness and engagement in volunteering; increase capacity to recruit, train and manage volunteers to enhance or expand services; and create a successful model that can be replicated in other countries.  For more on WAGGGS, please visit www.wagggs.org.

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In April 2002, UPS, the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) convened the National Leadership Forum on Disaster Volunteerism. Since this forum, The UPS Foundation has supported implementation of the Forum’s recommendations, principally within volunteer organizations.  Through the Disaster Volunteerism Initiative, The Foundation supports innovative collaborations, such as the partnership between the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network, to involve key players and create sustainable organizations and practices.  UPS supports NVOAD’s Volunteer Management Committee to help create the tools necessary to help increase awareness on the issue of unaffiliated volunteers nationwide. Read The Report.

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Beginning with the Volunteer Impact Initiative, in 1998 these UPS Foundation grants broadened the effectiveness of social service delivery to a range of populations in need, especially youth.  Specifically, grantees engaged volunteers to improve literacy rates among children, complete conservation projects in U.S. national parks and assist local communities in their efforts to work more collaboratively to serve youth.

Case Study

Grantee: National Park Foundation Initiative: Volunteer Impact Initiative With funding under The UPS Foundation's Volunteer Impact Initiative, The National Park Foundation (NPF) partnered with the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement (EASI) and the National Park Service (NPS) to develop and implement the Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps.  Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps recruits senior citizens to mentor youth and then have the intergenerational pairs undertake joint conservation activities and broaden awareness of natural resources. For example, 150 youth and senior volunteers achieved a combined total of 4,215 hours of service in twelve national parks across the country.  Volunteer projects included developing an Adopt-A-Trail manual for volunteers, scanning historic photographs, active volunteer recruitment and coordination, presentations at high school ecology classes, gardening and non-native invasive plant removal. At Glacier National Park in West Glacier Montana , the Senior Ranger Corps program recruits seniors to serve as mentors for students working on ecological restoration and education programs.  Students and volunteers have assisted in the revegetation of more than one acre of ground in five different camping grounds.

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