Hourmission exists to promote volunteerism by encouraging organizations and their leaders to support volunteering. Its mission is to make volunteering a normal part of everyday life and work by addressing barriers like a lack of information and stigma around taking time away from work. It plans to do this through a top-down approach of encouraging leaders, and grassroots efforts on social media, to advocate for volunteer programs and make it easy for people to serve.

1. h our mission only time will tell

2. h our purpose: hourmission exists as a voice for volunteerism we elevate the importance of volunteerism in everyday life by promoting service in organizations where individuals spend the majority of their time

3. h our beliefs: there is a dire need for volunteers in the united states there is a disconnect between people’s desire to volunteer and their acting on that desire even those who want to volunteer find it difficult to find the information and time change comes from the top the endorsement of direct leadership and people of influence provides a profound impetus to incite people to action each hour can make a significant difference in the lives of others and the community although monetary and material donations are necessary to support those in need, there remains a lack of human interaction that we feel is equally important “ you can buy a child a book, but who will read it to him?”

4. h our facts: volunteer : a person who does unpaid work through or for an organization there are 114 million employees in america but only 16 million (14% of all employees) volunteers 42.8% of volunteers become involved in an organization because they are asked to only 1.5% are asked by a boss or employer a typical employee in america is perceived to do nothing productive for 1.4 hours each day on average 7.2 hours per week 57% of workers “waste” an hour or more each day during the work week, the average full time employed american: who smokes regularly spends 7.5 hours on cigarette breaks spends 8.75 hours watching television Source: US Department of Labor, Points of Light Foundation and Gallup

5. h our challenge: our challenge is two-fold: to convince leaders that volunteering will benefit their organizations along with their communities and to make volunteering easy, acceptable and routine for willing participants people are often discouraged from volunteering because of the stigma associated with frequently leaving the office for personal time leaders are reluctant to dispel this stigma because they believe that it may result in lower productivity to convince volunteers to advocate the existence of volunteer programs in their organizations

6. h our strategy: “ top-down” – current leaders we will encourage leaders to advocate volunteerism and create programs for their organizations and its constituents (employees, students, members, supporters) thereby prioritizing service in the community “ grass-roots” – future leaders through our website, hourmission.org, facebook.com and other social media, we will encourage others to volunteer and to advocate volunteerism in their organizations and to their leaders “ advocacy meets service” we will create a seamless process or partner with an existing organization with a process in place whereby the will of these advocates is translated into action – measurable volunteer hours

7. h our benefits: volunteer programs, in addition to improving the community, offers these benefits: improve morale; in a nationwide study of white collar workers, 74% of those that volunteer reported that volunteering had had a positive effect on their careers help attract and retain top talent; 58% of companies with programs use their employee volunteer programs for recruiting and retaining employees develop talent; a survey of professional women who volunteered found that 83% reported that volunteering developed leadership skills and 78% reported that it developed communication skills enhance public relations; boost efficiency; and studies have found that between 75% and 85% of workers were more productive when working in a flexible environment set an example that other organizations will follow. Source: Microsoft and Points of Light Foundation.

8. h our future: we envision volunteerism as a societal norm rather than a function of one’s disposable time businesses, schools, governments and other organizations with commitments to volunteerism, including serving on “paid” time scheduled appointments and “downtime” encouraged to be spent volunteering supported volunteer vacation opportunities organizations create stakeholder value by serving the community around them employees, students and members with an ingrained sense of responsibility to serve the community and to encourage others to participate those with ties to certain organizations will feel empowered by the support of their leaders and will freely invite others to join their causes taking time to volunteer is as acceptable and appropriate as taking time to eat lunch

9. h our [potential] supporters: … will you make h our mission y ours ?...

10. h our [potential] partners: Big Brothers Big Sisters Future Leaders Institute national: local (new york):