How volunteering will lift your firms performance

There is increasing evidence to suggest how good skilled volunteering can be for the volunteer and the recipient organisation.

Additionally our feedback has shown a big benefit to organisations that send volunteers to carry out skilled volunteering as part of their CSR initiative.  The best example to date is a team of skilled volunteers who carried out a project with RSPCA.  The team were from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (part of GORS - The Government Operations Research Service).  You can read about their experience here

The article below from Cranfield Trust explains further how volunteering can lift you firms performance:

http://cranfieldtrust.org/article/2015/jun/24/how-volunteering-will-lift-your-firms-performance

If you work for an organisation that has operational researchers/analytical staff then you could benefit from signing up to Pro Bono O.R.

For other more general skilled volunteering opportunities please visit:
Career Volunteer
Cranfield Trust
Reach Skills

One click away from skilled volunteering #ORblog

Skilled volunteering is a fantastic way to use the skills you already have to make a real difference to third sector organisations.

Whether its a few hours or a few days, both the organisation and the volunteers benefit from volunteering.

To see what some of our volunteers have to say please read these two articles written by volunteers who worked with RSPCA and HARCVS:

Volunteer experience article RSPCA
Volunteer experience article HARCVS

To see the who we've worked with and the types of projects we've completed please visit: case studies

Signing up to become a #ProBonoOR volunteer only takes a couple of minutes but could have a long term impact on both yourself and the organisation(s) you work with http://ow.ly/Or0Mq 

Please share and get in touch for further information felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com 

Please follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for further information and updates.

Pro Bono O.R. is skilled volunteering for individuals with operational research/analytical experience.  Please note projects can be carried out individually, in teams and with a mentor if required.

For information on other skilled volunteering organisations please visit:
Career Volunteer or Reach Skills

Pro Bono O.R. is seeking a skilled volunteer for an audience segmentation project with Sense #ProBonoOR #ORblog #Sense

Pro Bono O.R. is currently recruiting volunteers for a project with Sense.  Please take a look and read the project scope to see if you would be able to help.  Please get in touch if you require any further information.

Sense

Information about the organisation:

A national charity that supports and campaigns for children and adults who are deafblind or have sensory impairments

Charitable objectives: To support and promote the interests of people who are deafblind, multi-sensory-impaired, or who have a single sensory impairment with additional needs.

Project summary:

Project: Audience segmentation: To create an audience segmentation that would look across all Sense supporters as the starting point of a project to deliver a new approach to Supporter Relationship Management.

Time commitment: approx. 5 days over 2-3 months

Location:  London (The volunteer will need to have an initial session at Sense HQ but after that it will be possible to arrange remote access to the data.)

Please read the detailed project scope and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midday on Wednesday 24^th June 2015.

This project is suitable for an individual volunteer or as a pair (with one carrying out the project and one quality assuring the work).  if you would like to work on a project with the support of a mentor please do specify in your application and I can arrange this.  Lastly, if you are interested in working on a project but cannot meet the deadline specified please do register your interest in the first instance before the deadline.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to get in touch.

I look forward to hearing from you and once again thank you for your help and support.

Kind regards

Felicity McLeister

O.R. Pro Bono Project Manager

(Mon, Tue & Wed)
Direct Tel +44 (0)121 234 7826, Main Tel +44 (0)121 233 9300

If you are not already a member of The OR Society and are interested in joining please visit https://www.theorsociety.com/ or send an email to carol.smith@theorsociety.com

Additionally you may be interested in becoming a member of our Third Sector Special Interest Group (ORiTS). For more details visit:  https://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/SpecialInterest/ORThirdSector.aspx

Other webpages that may be of interest:

http://probonoor.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx
http://www.LearnAboutOR.co.uk
http://www.ScienceofBetter.co.uk

A few good reasons to volunteer

I came across a few articles today that promote volunteering, not only because it can contribute to 'the greater good' but because it can also be good for you!

This first article claims that volunteering can boost physical and mental health - so much so that it recommends that doctors should encourage patients to volunteer.

http://www.amednews.com/article/20120117/health/301179996/8/

This second article says 'Research has found that having wide-ranging interests outside of work - particularly volunteering - can help improve your productivity and wellbeing.'- Josephine Fairley 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/11220598/Work-Monday-blues-Theres-no-better-time-to-start-an-extra-curricular-activity.html

Lastly this article encourages us to take our skills Pro Bono (exactly what our Pro Bono O.R. volunteers are doing)

http://createathon.org/take-your-skills-pro-pro-bono-that-is/

If you didn't already think volunteering was a great idea then maybe these articles have convinced you.  There are a number of ways to get involved in volunteering; if you have O.R./analytical skills why not sign up to Pro Bono O.R.

Other useful links:

Career volunteer (recruits trustees and skilled volunteers): http://www.careervolunteer.co.uk/

Reach Skills (skilled volunteering charity): http://www.reachskills.org.uk/

Cranfield Trust (providing free business skills): http://cranfieldtrust.org/