April 2017: Celebrating Volunteers!
This quarter, CDW is celebrating volunteerism during National Volunteer Week. This national observance is a time to in spire people to engage in their communities, to acknowledge those who give their time and skills to building up their communities, and to show the impact of volunteers on various parts of everyday life.
In this issue:

April 23 - 29 has been designated as National Volunteer Week and is promoted annually by the Points of Light Foundation. During the week, communities can celebrate the efforts, dedication, and impact of everyday heroes. 

The Points of Light Foundation offers guidebooks and promotional resources on their website for anyone wanting to take part, including: Social Media &  Marketing Toolkit ,  Volunteer Opportunities, and Best Practices in Employee Volunteer Programs .

You might consider sharing what inspires you to serve or have your volunteers share what inspires them to serve by downloading a printable #ivolunteer signboard, and customizing it with what inspires or motivates you, what causes you're most passionate about, or what volunteering means to you. Take a photo holding the sign, and share on Instagram or Twitter using #ivolunteer and #NVWDownloadable signboard, sample posts and additional details will be available in April. Click here for more information.
 


View the webinar Promoting Your Volunteer Program. Discover toolkits and online resources to promote your volunteer project. Learn new resources available to engage the community in your cause and to recruit more volunteers.

Visit the CDW's On Demand Training to view other webinar recordings. 

Search the Stacks for  The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook by Jayne Cravens and Susan J. Ellis in CDW's Learning Lab on how online volunteers should be integrated into an organization's overall strategy for involving volunteers

More resources on this topic are available for checkout in  CDW's eLibrary .

PromoteVolunteerOpps Promote Volunteer Opportunities 

We know that volunteers impact communities all year long. Energize Inc. has compiled special days and weeks which are opportunities to promote volunteerism, such as "Join Hands Day" in May or "Make a Difference Day" in October.



The Case Foundation looked at the impact of millennials on volunteerism in the 2016 Millennial Impact Report and found that:

Millennials are activists.

64% of Millennials signed a petition about issues they care about in the past month, and 36% said they participated in a demonstration (including rallies, protests, boycotts and marches).

Millennials spend time volunteering.

46%  of millennials volunteered for a cause affiliated with a social issue they care about in the past month. Millennial employees are more likely to volunteer if their co-workers participated.

    

Volunteer Louisiana commissioned the LSU Public Policy Lab to conduct a statewide study on volunteerism in Louisiana in 2015. Highlights of the 2015 Louisiana Volunteer Study include:

 

70% of Louisiana residents volunteer informally.

  

48% volunteer through formal organizations

with most formal volunteering taking place within religious organizations.


 


 


Find other studies on volunteerism by visiting CDW's Learning Lab. 

CDW's Learning Lab  is your local civic engagement resource center  in Central Louisiana where nonprofits, community groups, civic clubs, neighborhood associations, faith-based groups and concerned citizens can research successful program models and community statistics, identify funding and volunteer opportunities, and stay current on the latest best practice and nonprofit news. 

By offering these tools to community members who want to make a difference and motivate others to do the same, CDW's Learning Lab is the Community Builder's WorkSpace.

Visit CDW's Learning Lab which is located on the first floor of The Rapides Foundation Building in Downtown Alexandria. 


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