Top Skills Charities Look For: Should You Volunteer Your Skills?
Do you ever feel like you never have enough money to give to charity? What you may not realize is that charities accept all skills. The skills from your day job can go a long way in helping an organization realize its goals. These skills range from good communication, creativity/innovativeness, and dedication among others. They can also offer industry-specific skills as shown below:
- Marketing
Your marketing skills can help a charity grow their social media presence to find more donors. You can help manage social media accounts in a language that donors can associate with. If you can offer graphic design services, engage interested parties on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you will help a charity promote its efforts.
- Woodwork/DIY
How handy are you with tools and wood? If you are provided with a jointer that both rotates and oscillates, would you know how to use it? With so many modern tools today, woodworking and DIY have become easy. If you know how to use these tools, you can help a charity with a few projects in their offices.
Charities can benefit from skills in simple repair works, fitting shelves, fixing furniture, fixing leaks, and so many other DIY projects. The next time you are free, pass by the hospice near you and see if they need you to create boards and sheets. You can come with your tools or you might find some charities have their own jointers and planers.
- Literacy
If you can write, plenty of charities are looking for assistance writing their communications and documents. You can write articles for their websites, emails, formal letter, press releases, memos, thank-you notes to donors, and much more. With your skills, an organization is able to craft professional documents.
- Accounting
Whether you are a chartered accountant or deal with numbers as a day job, charities can benefit from your skills. You can offer your financial guidance remotely or work as a treasurer or a financial trustee. Your services can benefit an elderly home, sports clubs, rescue and homeless shelters.
- Logistics
Can you manage a project? If you can, charities are looking for persons who can organize events, plan trips, organize donor meetings, plan and run sports tournaments, and any related activities. Planning events might be second nature to you but those who are inexperienced might take months planning for a simple event. Using your logistics skills, you can help take the weight of the event off another volunteer’s shoulders.
- Administrative Skills
If you have experience running a business or any institution, you can help out a charity keep their affairs in order. You can help by offering advice or help in the day-to-day running of the organization. Charities need someone to help them fill out the necessary paperwork, streamline processes, create a cost-efficient way of running, and represent them to the donors.
- IT
All organizations need IT support to run their websites, repair computers and maintain the IT infrastructure, safeguard the systems against internet attacks, and much more. If you have enough IT skills to repair a computer (either software or hardware), you can offer your skills to charity and help them stay operational.
- Foreign Languages
Charities can benefit from translators and interpreters. If a charity has donors outside the country and the donors do not understand the local language, you can be the bridge to break the communication barrier. If you have special communication skills such as reading braille, sign language, communicating with children or the elderly, charities can still benefit from your skills.
- Teaching
There are so many charities in underprivileged societies that can use your teaching skills. If you are a teacher or you have teaching skills, look for charities that specialize in mentoring, youth support, and education. You can offer skills for as many hours as you are available. You can also offer your services remotely if the charities have the online instruction infrastructure. You do not have to teach school content – you can teach any other skill such as woodwork, computer, first aid, life skill lessons such as drugs and substance abuse, or plumbing among others that the charity may need.
- Healthcare
If you are a doctor, nurse, or any other healthcare worker, there are charities that can use your services. You can be a community first responder or work with charities in war-torn communities. Charities also need first aiders during events.
Conclusion
There are so many skills that charities need and no skill is overlooked. You can walk into the local hospice and offer to tend the flowers and the hedge or help with cooking in elderly homes or homeless shelters – any skill is welcome.