I’ve got this community service requirement. I have to get a paper signed that I have done 30 hours of community service and I don’t even know where to begin. Where do I begin?

You have come to the right place. First off, pat yourself on the back, you are taking the first step towards getting this requirement taken care of! Alright, let’s do this. On the iSpot Compassion home page, click the student tab. This will take you to the student home page. Here, you will find lots of helpful tips, words of wisdom, inspirational projects that your peers have imagined and created, and a listing of local organizations that we have checked out who are definitely interested in working with you! If you want to check out our recommended organizations, you will find phone numbers, email contact information, addresses, who to ask for, and hours/days of operation.

Important reminder: When you are given these types of assignments, it is best to tackle them straight away. Do not leave this for a few days or even a week before your hours are due. Non-profit organizations may not have work to give you right away and they may have too many volunteers (your classmates!). Also, many non-profit offices are run by only a few people, which means each person has A LOT of responsibilities and getting back to you may not be their first priority. This means, you may have to contact two or three organizations before you know when, where, and how you will fulfill your requirement.

I want to get out into my community and be of service, but I’m feeling really nervous about contacting organizations. I have no idea how to contact them, who to ask for, or what to say. HELP

 Ok, take a deep breath, we can help you. First of all, choose about three organizations or causes that you are interested in. You can get some great ideas off of the iSpot Compassion website of places that actually need your help and want to work with you! Are you passionate about the environment? Would you rather work for a non-profit which benefits those affected by diseases (i.e. cancer, HIV/AIDS)? Think about what is important and interesting to you! You do not want to find yourself hating what you are doing.

Next, look up the websites of the organizations online to get a better idea about their missions and goals to make sure you are excited about what they work towards and provide. Write down the mailing address, email address, and phone number of the organizations. Then, write down on a piece of paper your entire schedule for the week, including school hours, dance, sports practices, the school play, or any other activity you might be involved in. If you depend on your parents for rides, double check with them first that they’d be able to take you or pick you up your volunteer job. If not, maybe look for organizations within walking distance of your house or school.

Once you know your schedule and have cleared things with your parents, it is time to make the phone calls. Have your written schedule in front of you and take a moment to have a piece of chocolate, and make sure your environment is quiet; this should be a professional call and you want to make sure you are focused. Dial the number and make sure you know which organization you are calling! When the person answers the phone on the other end, say “Hello, my name is _______. May I please talk to the volunteer coordinator?” Once you have the volunteer coordinator on the phone, tell him/her your name and that you are a student. Ask about what volunteering opportunities they have available. Remember to be extremely polite and professional!

If the volunteer coordinator is unavailable, ask if you can leave a message with your name and phone number for them to call you back. If your calls go unanswered, call again! Be proactive, they will appreciate it, as it shows that you are mature, serious, and have good communication skills. If you do not get answers still, try emailing, but calling is always better and achieves a faster result.

I have contacted a few organizations and no one is answering me. What do I do now?

The first thing that you should know about non-profits is that they are incredibly busy and get about a million phone calls and emails each day. Additionally, they may have a relatively small staff, which means fewer people doing a whole lot of work. Ok, so you called and no one has called you back. Make sure you give them a grace period of about a week or three days if you are absolutely desperate. If you still haven’t heard anything, give them another call and remember to be as polite as possible. If you get an answering machine, leave your name and phone number and as that they get back to you as soon as they are able. Be sure to be enthusiastic about being of service to them and let them know that you are excited about their organization.

If you have called a dozen times and still don’t have an answer and are ready to tear your hair out, send them an email and include your phone number in it. After that, if you hear nothing, choose another organization or two to get in touch with. Just so you know, the organizations we have recommended on our website are highly likely to not only return your calls, but to also want you to participate in what they do.

Question: I’ve got this community service requirement and have to get a paper signed saying that I have done 30 hours of community service. Where do I start?

Answer: You have come to the right place! First off, pat yourself on the back, you are taking the first step towards getting your assignment done and in the process, you’ll learn new things about yourself, your community and how to make a difference.

Here are some links to things you’ll find on this site:

  • Search by zip code to find volunteer opportunities from thousands of nonprofit organizations – local, regional, national and international.
  • Your own profile page that lets you track your projects and hours, invite your friends to do projects with you and print out a log or transcript of your service history.  You can see who has signed up for which activity and project and join friends in doing community service.
  • The Boomerang Project Planner, which follows the format of a professional business plan, teaching you business skills like budgeting, forecasting, marketing and evaluation in planning your own unique community service project.
  • Résumé builder, which allows you to highlight your community service experience and to use for employment, internship and college applications.
  • Links to helpful resources and information.

On the home page, click the student tab. Here, you will find lots of helpful tips, words of wisdom, inspirational projects that your peers have imagined and created, and Volunteer Match search tool! If you want to check out our recommended organizations, you will find phone numbers, email contact information, addresses, who to ask for, and hours/days of operation. Go, go, go!

Important reminder: When you are given these types of assignments, it is best to tackle them straight away! Do not leave this for a few days or even a week before your hours are due. Nonprofit organizations may not have work to give you right away and they may have too many volunteers (your classmates!). Also, many nonprofit offices are run by only a few people, which means each person has A LOT of responsibilities and getting back to you may not be their first priority. This means, you may have to contact two or three organizations before you know when, where, and how you will fulfill your requirement.

So, we recommend you create your own project or do a project with a group and give a donation to a nonprofit doing great work. Use the project planner and you can get your assignment done, have a blast doing it and know you’ve made a difference.

Question: I want to get out into my community and be of service, but I’m feeling REALLY nervous about contacting organizations. I have no idea how to contact them, who to ask for, or what to say. HELP!

Answer: Ok, take a deep breath, we can help you. First of all, don’t ask your mom or dad to call for you.  This is your assignment, your project, your responsibility and your opportunity.

Step 1:  Choose about three organizations or causes that you’re interested in. You can get some great ideas off of the Boomerang website of places that actually need your help and want to work with you. Are you passionate about the environment? Would you rather work for a nonprofit which benefits those affected by diseases (i.e. cancer, HIV/AIDS)? Think about what is important and interesting to you. You don’t want to find yourself hating what you are doing. This should be inspiring and fun!

Step 2: Look up the websites of the organizations online to get a clear idea about their missions and goals and to make sure you’re excited about the work they’re doing in the world. Get the address, and phone number of the organizations.

Step 3:  Prepare for the call. Before you call, write down on a piece of paper your entire schedule for the week, including school hours, dance, sports practices, the school play, or any other activity you might be involved in. If you depend on your parents for rides, double check with them first and confirm that they’d be able to take you or pick you up from your volunteer job. If not, maybe look for organizations within walking distance of your house or school, or plan a project helping an organization with their online presence.  Sometimes you can do all or most of your community service from home!  Have all of this thought out and written down before you call.

Step 4:  Once you know your schedule and have cleared things with your parents, it is time to make the phone calls. Have your written schedule in front of you and make sure your environment is quiet; this should be a professional call and you want to make sure you are focused. Dial the number and make sure you know which organization you are calling! When the person answers the phone on the other end, say “Hello, my name is _______. May I please talk to the volunteer coordinator?” Once you have the volunteer coordinator on the phone, tell him/her your name and that you are a student. Ask about what volunteering opportunities they have available. Remember to be extremely polite and professional!

Step 5: If the volunteer coordinator is unavailable, ask if you can leave a message with your name and phone number for them to call you back. If they don’t have a volunteer coordinator, ask who you should get in touch with to discuss the possibility of you working for them as a volunteer. If your calls go unanswered, call again! Be proactive, they will appreciate it, as it shows that you are mature, serious, and have good communication skills.

 

Step 6:  Follow up with an email thanking them for speaking with you, reminding them of who you are, your schedule and your contact information.

 

Step 7:  Always, always, always say “thank you.”  You can include your thank you in your email with your contact information, but it’s always better to send a card.  “Thank you for speaking with me today about volunteer opportunities at ____.”

Question: I have contacted a few organizations and no one is answering me. Now what?

Answer: The first thing that you should know about nonprofits is that they are incredibly busy and get about a million phone calls and emails each day. Additionally, they may have a relatively small staff, which means fewer people doing a whole lot of work. Ok, so you called and no one has called you back. Make sure you give them a grace period of about a week or three days if you are absolutely desperate. If you still haven’t heard anything, give them another call and remember to be as polite as possible. If you get an answering machine, leave your name and phone number and ask that they get back to you as soon as they are able. Be sure to be enthusiastic about being of service to them and let them know that you are excited about their organization.

If you have called a dozen times and still don’t have an answer and are ready to tear your hair out, send them an email and include your phone number in it. After that, if you hear nothing, don’t despair – create your own project!

On this site we have tools to help you create your own unique community service project.  By doing a project on your own, you won’t have to rely (as much) on the nonprofit to guide you or get back to you.  You can honor how busy they are and still support their efforts.

Click here to see a list of “do it yourself” community service project ideas. Do a bake-sale, host compassion day on campus, have a fashion show, snowboard rally, skateboard rally, make and sell art, t-shirts, bracelets, anything.  Use the project planner and volunteer match to find ideas and plan your project.  Then, use Facebook to invite your friends and share your great ideas!