Volunteering one lunch at a time

Do you struggle to give large amounts of time for charitable volunteering due to other commitments and a busy lifestyle? Then try giving your skills over lunch. Give What You’re Good At is launching a new feature which will enable professionals to find charities that need their skills to solve a problem over lunch.

Here is how it works: A non-profit posts a small project or question that requires professional expertise. The request must be something that can be given during the hour and have a clear deliverable: Think signing off on fundraising marketing or clarifying a term in a contract. The request is routed to individuals  that have an expertise in that area  and are nearby and available to meet for lunch.
The beauty of the new part of our platform is that through the non-profit can get their challenge solved and even get more than they originally asked for.  Non-profits can quickly get a range of responses that were outside the original problem but it can also give the non-profit a broader context and bring new issues to light.

The lunch search will be available in June. Register here for free.

Why Are Lawyers The Only Ones Who Get To Do Pro Bono Work?

The legal community has made pro bono service part of its culture and an expectation of barristers, lawyers and firms. The result: it is rare for a charity to pay for legal services. But, while charities can access legal skills without cost, most can’t access sales, design, marketing, technology or strategic resources they need to succeed. Without this talent, their intended impact on critical issues like health and education is over promised and undelivered.

Inspired by the success of the pro bono movement within the legal profession, I started Give What You’re Good At in 2010 to make pro bono as prevalent in the other professions as it is in the legal profession.

Imagine if charities and social enterprises tacking social problems had the same access resources as companies. Give What You’re Good At’s mission is to change the way charity and social enterprise leaders think about volunteering. We have developed 40 projects which save charities between £2,500 – £20,000. These projects are informed by the problems charities experience such a ‘diversify income streams’ or ‘find a patron’.

Matching skilled volunteers, with the passion to the right project, at the right time is instilling hope that we might just be able to achieve our visions for a better society with talent. In the face of a volatile economy, adaptation is key. Families, small businesses, and all levels of government must adjust to the ever-changing environment. Nonprofit organisations are no exception.

In the years since our launch in 2010, Give What You’re Good At has  added over £1.5 million to organisations that have demonstrated both of these types of courage by using volunteers in new and strategic ways.

Register today for a free account to start building your cause with us.

One man’s warmth is giving hope to Afghanistan

In February 2012, Kabul had its coldest snap for 15 years with nearly 20 inches of snow. 35,000 people were living in refugee camps in Kabul with no heat or electricity. Over 20 children died.

It’s now getting very cold in Kabul and people are preparing for a harsh winter.  They’re buying heating equipment – wood burning heaters, sawdust burning heaters – and warm clothes and shoes to keep themselves and their families warm. But for those living below the poverty line on only a few Afghanis a day, life is really hard. Many have lost family members or have long-term illnesses. They desperately need to keep warm through the winter.

One of the Refugee Camps is in Kabul’s 5^th District and has 45 families with 250 people living in desperate circumstances, mostly from Kunar, Nangarhar and Nooristan provinces.

British-based charity Afghan Action, lead by Chris Beales is working with the Afghan sister NGO, the Afghan Training and Development Organisation, to provide help where it’s most needed. On their site in south west Kabul, they educate and train young women to sew and make clothes and help them form their own businesses. The money is used by women to feed, cloth and shelter their families.

Workers and trainees will produce warm quilts for homeless people and those living in tents and shelters, to help them to keep warm in the winter and prevent some of the sickness and death the bitter cold causes every year.

Chris has dedicated himself to reliving suffering of the Afghan people and made significant strides in delivering basic living conditions. This winter Chris will be selling duvets and carpets to raise funds for the people of Kabul.

Chris has been supported by a dedicated GWYGA professional who has been instrumental in selling the produce of Afghanistan online with a free Google Adwords account. Chris needs support from professionals with sales, graphic design and marketing skills. Learn more here.

Chris is working tirelessly to ensure this winter, no Afghani children are left out in the cold.

Could doing 5 Good Deeds a Week Make You Healthier?

Last year, was a truly awful year for me health wise. One the second day of January I collapsed in Marks and Spencer’s; there started a series of embarrassing collapsing ‘incidents’. Doctors diagnosed a s virus which had me vomiting for weeks. With my immune system impaired I spent the rest of the 2011 in a flurry of  recurrent illness. In November, after months of being sick I experienced major dental problems which caused me much suffering. One evening I sat up the whole night screaming into a pillow. I wouldn’t wish that on any soul alive.

After a year of health bugbears, I decided life was to short. I left my job in December to pursue a long held dream: Give What You’re Good At. Today, I am lucky enough to spend all of my time helping people: companies, volunteers, social enterprises and charities. I believe that the genuine warmth I achieve as the result of my work is key to my recovery.  I have never been in better health; despite working many 100 hour weeks!  (Which I don’t recommend). I haven’t had so much as a cold (touch wood) during 2012.

My experience is testament to my long-held belief: doing good improves our health and well-being. At the time I got ill I’d had to cut down my volunteering due to work travel demands – an average 5 hour daily commute!

To put my theory to the test Give What You’re Good At is launching a ‘Do Good 5 times a week’ challenge. The challenge launches in January 2013.  If you’re tired of feeling energy less or like me, you’re getting ill all the time, this might just the incentive you need! But Why wait until January, you can kick-start your good deed metabolism today!

From learning to earning

Skilled volunteering provides you with development opportunities that are not always possible with paid employment, but can, and often does, lead to paid employment. Complete one of our projects to receive:

• Tangible evidence for interviews
• A LinkedIn recommendation
• Feedback on your work
• Blue Dots – entitling you to sold-out gig tickets and more