How do you add impact to your day job? Skills-based volunteering

Skills-based volunteering is quickly becoming a favored way for professionals to use their skills for good and generate positive impact. No longer does the daily grind need to feel so grinding. Participating in skills-based volunteering is a great way to feel good while doing good. Not only that, but it also offers an up close look at the social purpose sector and different career possibilities, all without quitting your day job. What your learn from the volunteer experience can be used to guide the type of organization or role that would be a good fit in a future career. The experience also builds a strong track record of interest in the social purpose space and can put you ahead of the field when your dream job becomes available and you’re trying to stand out from other applicants.

Skills-based volunteering is a win-win activity. It allows purpose oriented professionals to apply their specialized skills in their volunteer role, honing those skills (a great resume booster for a career transition or promotion), and the volunteer organization benefits from the expert input.

Many organizations are adding skills-based volunteering as one of their CSR initiatives. It’s a great option for embedding social impact into any role within an organization, especially in those roles that don’t naturally lend themselves to being intimately involved with the organization’s CSR mission and goals.

The growing trend of traditional organizations using skills-based volunteering to inject social impact into their corporate culture was taken to a new level with the  IMPACT 2030 initiative. IMPACT 2030 is a global initiative led by the private sector aimed at mobilizing the power of employee volunteer investments to advance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals here). Corporations, governments and philanthropic organizations from around the world are partnering in an effort to amplify the impact of volunteering.

Getting your own organization engaged with skills-based volunteering has never been easier thanks to organizations like RealizedWorth. RealizedWorth specializes in getting employees motivated to participate in volunteering and giving programs. They also work with a company’s own CSR practitioners to develop a plan from idea through implementation, leaving the company fully equipped to manage their own employee-led volunteering and giving program.

If your company isn’t prepared to implement their own program, you can always take matters into your own hands by looking for your own skills-based volunteering opportunities. For example, purpose oriented professionals with tech skills can consider npower the community corps who partners with volunteers, nonprofits and schools to close the tech skills gap.

Skills-based volunteering is a fast way to add impact to your career and to build your resume for your next application to a job with a purpose and a paycheque.