What is micro-volunteering?
Micro-volunteering is just volunteering in small, bite-sized chunks. It’s been increasing in popularity for the past 20 years, and it has the potential to drastically increase participation in employee volunteering.
According to Deloitte, the pandemic brought about a stronger sense of individual responsibility. Micro-volunteering can allow individuals to fulfil their desire to do good. Psst… taking a little time to do a good deed makes you feel great, too.
What’s so great about micro-volunteering?
When we think of traditional volunteering we usually think of spending the day in a soup kitchen, or committing to several months of training and set hours every week.
But people who can’t commit to a full day of ‘conventional’ help can be empowered to do good through micro-opportunities - like taking Margaret’s dog for a walk or collecting a prescription for John on a lunch break (or even better - an hour during work that your company encourages you to take).
Micro-volunteering became a mainstream phenomenon online, and it’s continuing to grow and develop, with technology as the key driver. It can be done remotely, online, outdoors, in groups, individually, as a one-off, or more regularly.
It makes things flexible and opens up a whole host of new volunteering opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise. This fits in perfectly with a busy millennial lifestyle.
The Institute for Volunteering Research found that 78% of people involved in micro-volunteering in 2013 were between 16-34 years old. By 2025, millennials are set to take up ¾’s of the workplace. So, if you’re thinking about getting a volunteering initiative set up, then consider making the opportunities micro.
Micro-volunteering is what makes OnHand tick. We provide local, simple, and casual opportunities to do good deeds to our partners. Employees can make a big difference, but this impact can easily fit into busy schedules. Plus, all this impact is trackable.
We asked a couple of our partners why they love doing mini-missions with OnHand.
At OnHand, it’s easy to find a mini-mission that matters to you.
Here are just a few of our favourites:
Shop drops
Befriending phonecalls
Medication collections and drop offs
Dog walking
Gardening
Tech help
Reckon you could pick up Peggy’s prescription or make Betty’s day with a befriending call? We thought so! Find out how to become an OnHander today: https://www.beonhand.co.uk/book-a-demo