Employee volunteering days have become the norm, and The Teesside Charity has applied technology to manage and match employees' volunteering hours with volunteering opportunities.
The Teesside Charity bridges the gap between the charities and businesses of Teesside by bringing together those who can help people in need to make the region a better place in which to live, work and do business.
The charity’s key function is to financially support community groups and charities based within Teesside that promote social wellbeing and provide support to those who find themselves at a disadvantage in society. These include, but are not exclusive to, those living in poverty or living with a disability, the homeless, those recovering from an addiction and the long-term unemployed.
One aspect that the charity focuses on is volunteering opportunities for businesses and individuals, but with limited resources. Matching volunteering opportunities with businesses was difficult to organise with high numbers of volunteering hours available and little resource for individual charities to connect. After gaining a place on the ‘Design for Growth Volunteering Challenge’, The Teesside Charity received funding to create a volunteering portal on their website that simplifies how businesses can manage their employee’s volunteering hours.
The portal has been welcomed by the business community and is already matching volunteer hours to opportunities from charities within the Teesside region. Website visitors can shortlist a selection based on location, manual or desk-based positions, trusteeship opportunities, and individual or team options.
The portal is simple to use and can be accessed 24/7, the user can choose the type of volunteering option and organise their placements themselves, saving valuable time for The Teesside Charity.
Diane Williamson, charity manager said: “Our primary aim with the portal is to be able to share with our corporate donors’ ways for their teams to give back to their community by volunteering, but in a simple way, where users can access opportunities without relying on our team’s intervention.
“We’ve adapted the categories and opportunities over time. We keep in regular contact with charities and groups for new placements and share those with not only our corporate donors, but our wider supporters, and actively engage with ad hoc requests from new contacts. The new portal has made it efficient and helps charities get in front of new audiences.”
Rachel McCulloch, associate director and practice manager at Active Chartered Financial Planners, a business utilising the charity’s new portal, said: “The volunteering portal has been a fantastic asset; it has really pushed forward our ESG policy. Everything is in one place and it’s easy for our team to use and sign-up to volunteering opportunities. As soon as we shared the portal with our employees, four people signed-up straight away. The portal has opened our eyes to the wide range of charities out there and it’s very humbling. A lot of our team didn’t know what type of volunteering opportunities were available and it has shown the different ways they can help a charity.”
To find opportunities and make a difference today, visit www.teessidecharity.org.uk/ get-involved/volunteering