Volunteering is a really fulfilling and enjoyable experience to pursue when you retire. But finding a volunteer position that aligns with your skillset, and doing something that you enjoy isn’t always the most straightforward process.

It can take a little bit of time to really understand what you can bring to volunteering, what you want to achieve with it, and what organization might be best served by your time. 

 A really good start, before looking into volunteering opportunities that are available in your local area, is to really think about what would work for you. 

• What do you want to do?
  Think about what appeals to you, what causes you are interested in, and what will fulfil you. 
• What do you NOT want to do?
  Also, consider those things that don’t appeal to you at all and you wouldn’t be interested in being involved with
• Which organizations do you care about?
  Think about what causes you are passionate about and really want to make an impact in – environmental, welfare, poverty, animals etc.
• How much time do you have to give?
  You need to be realistic about how much time you are able to donate to your chosen cause

Once you have thought about all of these points, you’ll have a clearer idea of the type of work and positions that might be of interest to you. So, now you can start to look into available volunteering opportunities. 

Here are my top 5 resources to search for volunteering positions online:

VolunteerMatch
VolunteerMatch is an international website that matches you to suitable positions based on your desired criteria.  It is the number one volunteer-engagement network with more than 65,000 nonprofits listing their projects and volunteer needs on the website, the largest online network of volunteering opportunities. Individuals seeking charity work can search for opportunities by location, interest area, or keyword.

Engage
Engage (formerly All for Good) provides volunteer opportunities from various different websites to provide the most comprehensive database of volunteer opportunities around the world. You can use your location to find opportunities near you or enter the kind of volunteer work you want to do in the keywords field. Engage provides you with thousands of results for you to choose from. The site also lets you filter the results by remote projects, issue area, and skills required.

JustServe
JustServe is an online platform all about connecting volunteers to service opportunities. The website provides a list of opportunities that you can easily browse through, filtering by location volunteer skills, interests, and age groups. The platform shares one-time events as well as ongoing opportunities. 

United Way
This non-profit organization specializes in giving back to the community, especially in education, healthcare, and fundraising. The platform shares a wide range of opportunities that involve supporting children, gardening, construction, therapy, disaster services, and even working at a food bank. The huge variety of work makes it simple to use your pre-existing skills to help your community. When you search for opportunities, you’ll find that United Way in your area sponsors most events. To get involved in volunteer work overseas, make sure to contact your local United Way.

Look for volunteering opportunities locally
As well as the brilliant online platforms, it is also worth reviewing your local newspaper or notice board for any charities or organizations offering volunteering positions!

If you’d like to find out more about how to find fulfilment in retirement and create a purposeful post-career life, get in touch with me to find out more about my one-to-one coaching and retirement courses tammy@tammyvigue.com