This document provides 18 hands-on volunteer project ideas for company teams along with tips for planning successful volunteer activities. Some project suggestions include planting community gardens, serving meals at assisted living centers, hosting pet adoption events, and clearing nature trails. The document also recommends collection drives to involve all staff and notes that starting projects several months in advance allows time to partner with nonprofits. Finally, it stresses the importance of meeting at project sites to plan logistics and using business skills to benefit nonprofits.

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Volunteer Ideas for Company Teams
Looking for something creative and extra meaningful? Here’s a wide range of group project ideas.
I’ve also included tips from my experience as a volunteer manager for making the project a success for both sides.
Jolene Bernhard
Corporate Giving Guide, Denver
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
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Plant a community garden at a food bank so clients can pick their own produce.
Plant a healing garden for a nonprofit that serves at-risk kids.
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Staff a pet adoption event.
Help with chores at an animal shelter or wildlife sanctuary.
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Paint and restore a faded playground.
Paint a mural on a building that needs TLC.
[Partner with an artist who draws the vision and have your team fill in the sketch.]
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Serve a special meal at an assisted living center and provide companionship.
Take a group of seniors to a play or musical.
Make sure a care center has safe transportation.
[Change the oil, check the tires, and wash their vans.]
10 Host teens developing work skills for a tour of your company. Reciprocate with a visit to their school.
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Clean nearby sidewalks by picking up trash, powerwashing, and pulling weeds.
[Hold a barbecue after for neighbors to get to know each other.]
Remove trash from an abandoned lot and brainstorm next steps with the city.
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Brighten a shelter or group home by decorating a room and doing a list of handyman projects.
Tackle a major repair: fix a roof leak, replace carpet, paint the exterior… Ask for the nonprofit’s wish list.
Adopt a family center. Wash windows, deep clean, and donate new toys.
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Clear a nature trail and post a video of why it’s a great place to hike.
Join a special needs group on an outdoor experience like a beep ball game or sensory hike.
18 Staff a pledge drive for your favorite public radio or TV station. Tour the studio.

2.
Volunteer Ideas for Company Teams
Collection drives are the easiest way to get all staff
involved and offer an endless degree of variety.
You could collect:
§ Socks, gloves, & toiletries for a homeless shelter;
§ Food, towels, & blankets for an animal shelter;
§ Cultural staples for a food bank;
§ Art supplies for a counseling clinic;
§ Large-print books, magazines, & board games
for a nursing home;
§ Supplies for a foster care agency… backpacks
that can be filled with pajamas, a toothbrush,
stuffed animal, reading and puzzle books.
To make the drive more relatable, kick it off with
a visit to the nonprofit or from its representatives.
They’d love to paint a picture of how your
donations will help and inspire competition
among employees.
§ Dedicate your team to an all-night marathon
project: build a website, reconfigure warehouse
operations, design a slate of marketing materials,
or develop a business plan.
§ Be the focus group for a nonprofit thinking
about a new venture. Give feedback on their
idea and recommendations based on a variety of
your employees’ expertise.
§ Teach a skills class to men and women who need
job experience. Donate a gift card for a new
interview outfit and give tips for how to prepare
for the big day.
PLANNING TIPS
Ideally, your group or network
can help provide materials.
Social service agencies – the
ones that most need a clean and
safe building – tend to defer
maintenance projects because
of a lack of money.
If your company can combine a
donation with volunteer time,
your gift is even more priceless.
Start planning several
months in advance.
Hosting a volunteer group can
be an immense project for the
nonprofit and it takes time to
find one who’s ready and able
to partner with you.
What 3 projects most interest
your company or department?
Actively market them!
Create a list of nonprofits who fit
the project (search keywords like
nonprofit category plus your
location on Metro Volunteers,
VolunteerMatch, and Google).
Then contact their volunteer and
development staff to see who bites.
Also take a close look in the
neighborhood around your office.
What opportunities are nearby?
Timing is everything.
The nonprofit who can’t host you
now could be ready for the perfect
project in the future, so it’s worth
staying in touch.
Have a planning meeting at
the site.
It will prepare you for logistics and
open your imagination about how to
enhance the project.
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FLEXIBLE PROJECTS
BUSINESS-RELATED PROJECTS