Neighbourly Know-How: Spring Into Action With Creative Volunteer Opportunities

As the days grow longer and the weather warms up, spring presents the perfect opportunity to engage new supporters through volunteering. Here are some innovative ways to make the most of the season.

Fresh ideas for engaging volunteers in spring

With the change of seasons, many employees are actively looking for the best ways to support their local communities and environments as part of workplace programmes. Here are a few ideas to inspire your next initiative:

• Outdoor Clean-Ups: Use volunteers to support your clean-ups in local parks, beaches, or green spaces.
• Gardening and Greening Projects: Request support for planting, clearing, pruning or maintaining your garden or outside spaces.
• Easter and Springtime Events: Ask for help to host family-friendly activities like egg hunts, seasonal fairs, or craft workshops to raise money for your organisation.
• Wellness and Wellbeing Support: Volunteers can assist with walking groups, outdoor fitness programmes, or mental health awareness campaigns.
• Skill-Sharing Sessions: Tap into your volunteers' skills by organising mentorship programmes, job coaching, or creative workshops for your beneficiaries and service users.
• Messages of Goodwill: Add a need to the Neighbourly platform asking volunteers to send letters, drawings and messages of goodwill for your beneficiaries, bringing light and joy to someone’s day.

Promote your opportunities effectively

To maximise volunteer support and participation within your organisation, it’s essential to spread the word effectively about the help you need:

• Use Social Media: Share posts, stories and event updates across platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Email Newsletters: Send invitations and reminders to your supporter base.
• Local Outreach: Engage with local businesses (including via Neighbourly), schools, and community centres to amplify your reach.
• Neighbourly Platform: Ensure your volunteer opportunities are listed on Neighbourly and regularly update your needs to attract interest from our network of employee volunteers.

Leverage Neighbourly’s volunteer platform for your events

Neighbourly makes it easy to connect with businesses and employee volunteers who are eager to support good causes like yours. By adding volunteer events, small charities and community groups can tap into skilled professionals who are looking for meaningful ways to give back. We can help connect you with businesses that align with your mission, ensuring impactful and mutually beneficial collaborations. Make sure to keep your opportunities updated on the Neighbourly platform to attract engaged volunteers.

Get AI support from our network of volunteers

With so much potential to explore with AI, we want to make sure that small charities don’t get left behind so we’ve created Ai123, in partnership with Microsoft - a new volunteering initiative connecting local causes with volunteers to deliver training which will demystify AI and provide practical tools to support your day-to-day activities.

Some of the practical ways AI tools can support your mission without requiring significant time or financial investment include:

• Helping you to create content 
• Making grant writing easier
• Analysing data

If you’re curious about how AI could help your organisation, register for the Ai123 campaign here and we’ll be in touch with how to get started!

Discover more in the Neighbourly Charity Knowledge Base

For more guidance on volunteer engagement and best practices, check out the Volunteering help guide within the Neighbourly Charity Knowledge Base. You’ll find expert tips, resources, and real-life examples to help you make the most of volunteers this spring.