Thanks to a $1,500 grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the United Way of Ellis County has established a website — www.nwksvolunteers.org — for community members from northwest Kansas to sign up for volunteer opportunities.
“In all the years I have been working in nonprofits, I have never seen any entity say they have enough volunteers,” Sherry Dryden, executive director of the United Way, said. “I have also seen people who said they want to volunteer, but they don’t have the time to call around to see who (they) can help.”
Once registered, the volunteer can see the volunteer opportunities available in their community.
They can adjust their profile to fit the volunteer’s interest, time availability and talents to be linked with an organization who is needing volunteer assistance. There is no cost to register as a volunteer. If you have an organization that you enjoy working with, you can become a “fan” of that group and receive notifications when the group posts other volunteer opportunities.
The website also can keep track of your volunteer hours, which Erica Berges, administrative assistant, said can be helpful for students who are trying to fulfill community service hours.
“At a younger age, you might not be able to give money wise, but you can give time,” Berges said. “If it starts young, they are going to continue to do that.”
Dryden said trying to keep track of volunteers and volunteer opportunities has been a time-consuming effort to this point.
“We have people reach out and ask to volunteer. ‘What can I do?'” Dryden said, “so we try to keep track of all of that via an old-fashioned spreadsheet.”
United Way of Ellis County was referred to the company that developed the website through the United Way Worldwide. No local campaign money was used for the project nor will it be used to maintain the site, Dryden said.
Nonprofit organizations, government entities, faith-based organizations, licensed health-care facilities, schools and civic organizations are able to register their organization and events, requesting volunteer assistance. Political groups are ineligible. Agencies can’t use the site for fundraising, but they can use it to recruit volunteers for fundraising events.
There is an annual registration fee of $120 for approved organizations with unlimited event announcements. Once their organization is registered, they can post their volunteer opportunities to their page. This opportunity is for all organizations, as previously listed, and volunteers in northwest Kansas.
If an agency requires background checks, those must be conducted by the agency posting the volunteer opportunity.
Agencies also can print out spreadsheets with lists of volunteers to make check-in at events easier.
The data from the website is not sold or transferred to any other business or agency. The volunteers’ information is only seen by the organization to which the volunteer is giving time.
To learn more about the website and how to register, The United Way of Ellis County will have a public informational meeting at 4 p.m. May 16 in the first floor conference room of the Hadley Center, 205 E. Seventh.
For more information, go to www.liveunited.us or call the United Way of Ellis County at 785-628-8281, or on Facebook at United Way of Ellis County for a direct link.