Posts Tagged ‘volunteering’
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Give a Day, Get a Disney Day attracts 1 million volunteers
There’s been a lot of debate about the rights and wrongs of incentive schemes for volunteers. Wherever you stand, it’s hard not to be in awe of any campaign which attracts 1 million volunteers in less than 10 weeks.
Give a Day, Get a Disney Day offered volunteers a day out at a Disney theme park in exchange for volunteering a day of their time through the Hands-On Network.
Giving away tickets isn’t new to Disney - in 2009, it distributed around 100,000 tickets a month to anyone who went to one of their U.S. theme parks on his or her birthday. In contrast, the volunteer promotion attracted 100,000 participants per week this year. Disney says the campaign exceeded their expectations, and I can well believe it. Who’d have expected volunteering to be more popular than birthdays?
“The innovative nature of this program has exponentially increased our capacity to both invite and excite people about volunteerism,” said Michelle Nunn, co-founder of HandsOn Network.
Non-profits around the US are reporting a bump in participation, and volunteers are claiming they got more than just a freebie. Whether the magic will last longer than the campaign remains to be seen, but bloggers are already speculating that the campaign will be repeated.
Meanwhile, volunteering is making the news in the US with the federal Corporation for National and Community Service says they’re experiencing a recession-related “compassion boom”, and a poll of 1003 Americans showed that 78% believe they’re more involved in making a difference than their parents were.
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Reimagining volunteering in a connected world: a process for developing creative new volunteering ‘products’
In 2008 and Timebank v co-commissioned a piece of research to gain better understanding about the barriers to youth volunteering.With this new understanding, a toolkit was created for the volunteering sector to use and develop opportunities that were more relevant and enticing to young people.
The toolkit draws inspiration from “a new breed of social action brands”, emerging as a result of self-organising via The Internet. Homemade, authentic and innovative these organizations, initiatives and websites are creating new ways for people to give their time, take action and make a social difference.
Reimagining volunteering in a connected world: a process for developing creative new volunteering ‘products’ outlines how lessons from these new social action plans can help inspire innovation in the voluntary sector.
You can also view slides from a workshop based on this work on Slideshare:
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Crowd-sourcing funding for voluntary projects
I’ve just discovered Kickstarter, a US-based website which allows budding entrepreneurs to crowd-source the money they need to bring their ideas to life. A service designer I know called it “my favourite website of all time”, and I can see where he’s coming from.
Project creators can offer products, services or other benefits (”rewards”) to inspire people to support their project: A hot-air balloon ride to the first person to pledge $300, an invitation to the BBQ for anyone who pledges more than $5. It’s up to each project creator to sculpt their own offers to inspire people to invest.
From crocheted yurts to plans to write everyone in the world a letter, the site is packed with weird and wonderful ideas, but it’s the voluntary projects which really got me thinking - such as this appeal to save a local community garden. Could it be that by stepping away from the format of traditional funding applications, we could actually inspire more creative volunteering opportunities? The very act of selling a simple idea, rather than a huge project plan, seems like a more natural way to test out your idea on the general public. Winning public support could inspire courage to test the boundaries and be really innovative.
I’m a big fan of Junction 49 and its commitment to supporting young volunteers in working together to bring their ideas to life, as well as v’s vcashpoint project. I’d love to see what would happen if we could add crowd-sourced funding into the mix. Something tells me that these young volunteers could teach hardened fundraisers a few tricks, and inspire new creative approaches to promoting charitable giving.
I love the idea of voluntary projects having a whole group of supporters, right from the start, who care enough about a project to dig into their pockets to help make it happen. As Kickstart says, a large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement.
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Lost Generation? David Blanchflower warns of the ‘lull before the storm’
At a special lecture this week, organised by v, former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Member, Professor David Blanchflower, highlighted to a packed auditorium at the RSA, the dangers of youth unemployment for society and the long term negative impact on a young person’s life chances.And the panellists, including; Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury; David Willetts MP, Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills; Miles Templeman, Director-General of the Institute of Directors and Wes Streeting, President of the National Union of Students, agreed. Willetts acknowledging, ‘young people are the clear victims in this recession’.
With youth unemployment nudging one million people, Blanchflower warned that more needs to be done to support young people, stressing that, ‘we have to deal with this situation now because the costs of not dealing with it are even more serious.’
v’s Chief Executive Terry Ryall supported this analysis, saying, ‘we know from our work with 100,000s of young people that the recession is hitting them hard’.
v used the special event to call for funding and cross party political support to implement a unified national public service scheme, building on the success of our full-time volunteering programme ‘vtalent year’. Targeted at the most disadvantaged and marginalised - who will be the most vulnerable when the job market recovers - such a scheme could make a significant impact on the lives of young people as well as all the issues surrounding youth unemployment.
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v’s robot warmly welcomed into Parliament
Well, we did it. We put a robot in Parliament. Not just any robot I have to say, a robot that writes out, word for word, what young people care most about - delivering those messages directly to the politicians. At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot - nicknamed Voicebot - is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP.
Voicebot in Parliament
The Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox.
At a reception hosted by Tim Loughton MP, shadow minister for children and young people, to launch the robot’s week-long stay in parliament, lots of MP’s got to hear about the project and meet with the robot itself.
Tim Loughton MP, shadow minister for children and young people talking with v volunteers
Speaking at the launch Tim Loughton MP said, ‘Voicebox puts young people right at the heart of democracy. This is a great initiative bringing politicians and young people together’.
Other MP’s visiting the robot, reading young peoples’ cares and talking to the v volunteers included Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector, who commented, ‘Young people are our future and it is vital that we listen and understand their needs and concerns. Voicebox is an excellent two-way communication tool. It has the potential to give us real insight, helping us to take action that is truly effective where it most counts’.
Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector reading young peoples cares
Terry Ryall, chief executive of v reminded those at the launch that ’hundreds of thousands of young people want to make the world a better place. The challenge for politicians everywhere is to take risks with new ways to engage young people ‘.
The full results of the research underpinning the robot is being fed into v’s project with the think tank Demos, A New Anatomy of Youth.
More pics of the launch available here.
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Robot enters House of Commons to Show MPs what Young People Care About
As MPs go back to work at Parliament today, v’s new research has shown that just 10% of young people believe politicians are best able to change the country. The data collected through Voicebox shows that young people are caring, considerate, articulate and passionate. We hope our interactive robot in the Houses of Commons is an innovative way to make MPs sit up and take notice.
At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot – nicknamed Voicebot - is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP. Until Thursday, young people can visit a website, put in what they care about and the robot will write it out, stroke by stroke, word by word, directly to the politicians.
Voicebot has been collecting comments from 1000s of young people.
The study and robot come at a time when respect among the public for the political classes is at an all time low. A study published earlier this year by Hansard Society indicates that currently only 24% of 18 to 24 year olds are certain to vote in the next general election - the lowest of all groups by a long way. And, contrary to some images, young people are the least likely of all age groups to be politically active - just 4%.
The full results of the Voicebox are also being fed into even more detailed work with the think tank Demos, looking at young people and their relationship with power and politics. This project, titled An Anatomy of Youth will review: young people’s portrayal in media, their presence in recent policy debates and existing information on young people’s behaviours and their attitudes.
Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox, with over 5,000 people having taken part so far. The project is live and constantly evolving. The more young people that participate the more accurate picture we’ll create of young Britons today. Over the coming months, Voicebox will continue to collect and share data about lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours of young Britons. In an age when young people are using social media more and more, Voicebox uses new and interactive social media to engage young people.
Want to find out more about the data we’re collecting? Have a look at the results here.
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Spotlight: The Good Gym
Be good, get fit. Thats the tag being used by the creators behind a new project bringing together volunteering and exercise. By linking runners and isolated less-mobile people, the Good Gym aims to overcome the loneliness experienced by some older people. Runners will jog to their house, deliver something nice, have have a brief chat and be on their way again.
Like v’s work to define volunteering for a new generation by providing a range of opportunities to fit young peoples lives (we value whatever time they can give), the Good Gym is an interesting example of what they term, the ‘fine-grain’ approach to volunteering, where participation is based on frequent low impact activities that are integrated usefully into the participant’s life.
Over the Summer and Autumn of 2009 the Good Gym will test the working and processes of the project in Tower Hamlets. If you live or work in the area then join the good gym pilot project.
As the people at the Good Gym say, it will help you get fit by provding a good reason to go for a run and it will help the person being visited by providing them with some friendly human contact.
Join the pilot. Get running.
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This week’s Friday favourite: volunteering ewe-phoria
Just when you think you’ve got a handle on the sheer diversity of volunteering opportunities available out there - someone pulls it out of the bag. Today, it’s the turn of Doncaster Council, who in partnership with Natural England, are calling for volunteer shepherds to join their flock. Yep, that’s right - volunteers are being invited to shepherd a flock of Hebridean sheep grazing on Hatfield Moors, near Doncaster.
Volunteers are needed to help staff from Natural England take part in regular health checks on the sheep, including checking for lameness and the general health of the sheep and to keep track of the herd. The animals act as natural gardeners, keeping the National Park’s scrub land under control.
It’s all part of the new Muck In4Life campaign, which is aimed at encouraging more people to adopt a healthier lifestyle while helping charities and voluntary organisations to look after the natural environment.
The campaign, launched by Defra, hopes to get more families and individuals out of the house and involved in conservation work - everything from bat spying to tree planting and clearing beach litter to pond de-sludging.
Meanwhile, volunteers from most guinea pig rescue groups in America are running education programmes in a bid to escape the “101 Dalmations” effect. They’re worried that Disney’s new G-Force film, which stars guinea pigs, will spark an increase in abandoned “film pets”, putting extra strain on animal shelters, which are already stretched due to the recession. The G-Force website advises viewers to be responsible and research any pet “to make sure that it is suitable for your particular situation” and consider adopting from a shelter.
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The science of happiness study concludes: “Perhaps we are a selfish nation”
Depressing news for altruism today, with the news that The Science of Happiness study has concluded that altruism has a negative effect on happiness compared to the control group.
Some 26,000 people participated in last week’s online study, testing one of four, commonly-used happiness techniques: expressing gratitude, smiling, recalling a pleasant event from the day before and carrying out an act of kindness. Each was instructed via a YouTube video - here’s the kindness clip:
All groups recorded an increase in happiness, but the “acts of kindness” group achieved -8% less happiness than the control group. In an article in today’s Guardian, Dr Wiseman concludes: “Perhaps we are a selfish nation.” This conclusion will come as a surprise to people working in the voluntary sector, where there’s an abundance of case studies, anecdotes and research showing how volunteering can make people feel more confident, healthier and happier.
Francesca Borgonovi’s 2008 paper, Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness, concludes that people who volunteer report better health and greater happiness than people who do not, a relationship that is not driven by socio-economic differences between volunteers and non-volunteers. A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality in 2008 showed that students who engage in virtue-building activities such as volunteering report being happier than their more hedonistic counterparts. And ICM Research findings commissioned for CSV (Community Service Volunteers) and Barclays in 2004 found that 71% of volunteers offering their professional skills and experience said volunteering helps combat depression.
So what’s going on with The Science of Happiness? There are obvious differences between Wiseman’s study and the altruism we see in volunteering, including motivation, community impact and level of commitment. Maybe doing things for others with the sole objective of making yourself happier just doesn’t amount to true altruism.
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Brazillian project provides practical solutions to bridge the digital divide
MetaReciclagem is an open network in Brazil which shows young people how to acquire, recycle and use technology for social change and inclusion in their communities.
This programme has spread really quickly, creating dozens of recycled computer labs throughout Brazil. In these labs, young volunteers collect used computer parts from donations and learn how to reassemble them, taking advantage of free software and internet access to learn through structured workshops, mutual learning and experimentation.
Completed, recycled computers are often donated to non-profit organisations or used to provide lower-income communities with access to technology and the Internet. The volunteers are then encouraged and incentivised to go on to set up new laboratories, with support from the virtual community of projects throughout the country.
Volunteers stay involved for an average of 1 year. Since 2003, over 5,000 young people have participated, most of whom come from families earning less than US$500 a month. Labs champion youth leadership, as volunteer Joe Nascimento explains: “The project is very decentralised; there is no boss. Instead, decisions are made through group discussions, and every opinion is valued.”
MetaReciclagem is a really practical way to show young people that it is possible - and affordable - to access technology and use it for social change and inclusion in their communities. It’s an inspiring project which keeps young volunteers at its heart, giving them the tools they need to help their communities cross the digital divide. MetaReciclagem champions open source, collaborative production and the use of technology for positive social change, and their business model suggests a commitment to practicing what they preach.
For more examples of practical projects tackling the digital divide, visit the UNESCO website, which also hosts a Community Multimedia Centres guide.
MetaReciclagem was one of 22 global projects analysed as part of Innovations in International Youth Volunteering, by v and Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP).
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