On college campuses, there are always plenty of opportunities for college students to volunteer their time. They can give tours of the campus, run student elections and raise money through the annual phone-a-thon. Dozens of dances, parties and other social events need planning and coordination, and some students even belong to service organizations that focus completely on helping the community.
Motivate a college student to stand out and volunteer with these pointers.
However, even with all of these opportunities for volunteering, only about 26 percent of students are involved. Here are five ways to convince college students to volunteer their time:
Builds Self-Esteem
Many college students haven’t had a great deal of experience in the workplace or dealing with older adults. The right type of volunteer work, such as heading the front desk at a nonprofit, would provide a college student with much-needed real world experience, interacting with the public and building some self-esteem prior to graduation.
Stress Reliever
Going off to a volunteer job won’t completely stop stress, but it will help. When you’re volunteering, you concentrating on work, not yourself, which shuts off your body’s stress mechanism.
Gain Professional Experience
A smart move for college students is to choose a volunteer opportunity that fits well with their major. This allows them to gain professional experience in their field prior to graduation. Some examples of this include education majors working with a literacy program, landscape design students volunteering with the parks department or broadcasting majors working at the college radio station.
Learn New Things
Every new experience brings new opportunities to learn. No matter where a college student chooses to volunteer, it will expand his horizons. If it’s in an office environment it may even help him with his future career since most new college grads don’t know even the basics of office machines and office etiquette.
Gain Resume Material
College students should include their campus volunteer work on their resume, even if it isn’t related to their major. A solid commitment to an organization over a period of time shows future employers a depth of character. The same can be said for holding a position of responsibility for a short-term event or organizing a fundraiser.
Bricks R Us
If you’re organizing a fundraiser on your college campus, the Bricks R Us staff is ready to help you get started. Utilizing a donor website designed specifically for your university, your student volunteers can easily enter and order bricks online or use our new app (free for Apple and Androids).
If you have donor recognition on mind instead of organizing a fundraiser, engraved brick pavers are also an excellent choice for a recognition wall or plaza. Our team is ready to assist you with that as well!
For more information about brick fundraising and engraved brick pavers, please contact Bricks R Us today!
Image Source: freedigitalphotos
