Family Volunteering

Family volunteering is a planned, managed effort that seeks to motivate and enable families to engage in effective community service. Family volunteering encourages all members of a family to volunteer together, as a unit. It can be as simple as drawing cards for children in the hospital, or as complex as bonding hundreds of families together in a day of volunteer work. However you choose to do it, family volunteering can help to mobilize thousands of new volunteers in service to their communities.

Family volunteering has many benefits:

• Families develop an avenue for communication about themselves and about larger community issues
• Family volunteering allows family members to be role models
• Families experience positive working relationships while improving their community
• Families learn about and connect with each other and their community
• According to the Independent Sector, family volunteers perform, on average, 23% more hours of volunteer work than other volunteers
• Family volunteering creates a tradition of service

Families who volunteer enrich themselves and their communities, and become more understanding of the challenges and strengths inherent in every human being.

Call your Volunteer Center for some great ideas. They will help you find some activities suitable for the whole family, no matter how big or small.

Family Volunteering Resources

Family Volunteering- Ready-Set-Go: A Handbook for Volunteer Centers
Edited by Marie Bouvier, 2002

This handbook provides Volunteer Centers with a complete education on the benefits and issues of increasing one's vounteer base through families. It covers topics such as fundriaising, garnering publicity and enhancing existing work through proven, easy-to-create family volunteering strategies; includes more than 100 successful and ready-to-go family volunteer project ideas, project planning information and worksheets; and incorporates photocopy-ready material.

Family-Friendly Volunteering: A Guide for Agencies
By Steve McCurley, 1999; revised 2006

This publication is a comprehensive self-study guide, covering both the theory and practice of family volunteering, as well as providing planning worksheets and sample materials. As with all aspects of volunteer involvement, the specifics of program design must be adapted to fit the needs and shape of the organization. The intent is to provide examples and information to enable the creation of a family volunteering effort that will best serve the cause and clients of an agency, as well as meet the needs of volunteering families.

Family Serve: Volunteering Opportunities for Families
By Mary Thoele, 2000

This publication is packed with ideas for families to help others while strengthening family ties. It provides information on the value of family volunteering, tools to assist families in identifying their gifts and interests and offers volunteering ideas realated to the enviornment, wildlife, animals, young people, homelessness, hunger programs, arts, seniors and the physically and mentally challenged. It also includes a journal section where family members can record their experiences.

Family Volunteer Day Guidebook
2000

This guidebook is designed to help organizations develop and implement a Family Volunteer Day event/project. It covers information on project development, including how to identify partners, create family friendly projects and work with the media.

Visit the National Family Volunteer Day Website

Cited Source: Points of Light Foundation