Skill-Based Volunteer Project Ideas
The following list contains various fields that volunteers can assist your organization with. Each field contains examples of projects to get you thinking about your organizational needs followed by specific skills you require volunteers to have.
Nonprofit partners can use our volunteer recruitment software to find suitable volunteers to fill skill-based volunteer opportunities. Skill-based opportunities should be for short-term projects that have a clearly outlined task. After reviewing this list create your volunteer opportunity following our tips for success listed here.
Accounting & Finances
- Conduct a budget analysis
- Provide financial planning
- Teach personal finance skills
- Teach staff how to read profit and loss statements
- Teach staff how to use QuickBooks
Administration & Clerical
- Staff an organization or program's incoming email box (to answer simple questions, refer emails to appropriate staff)
Animal Services
- Watch foster dogs while foster families are away
Arts, Culture, Recreation & Sports
- Docent for an exhibit
- Lead an arts class for parents and children (drawing, painting, etc.)
Business Development
- Create a gift acceptance policy
- Research topics for grants
- Write a donor solicitation piece
Communication & PR
- Add alt texts to all images and graphics on a web site, so that the web site is more accessible for people with disabilities
- Caption or transcribe a video or podcast
- Create a 3-6 month communication plan
- Create a press release template
- Create or edit a video
- Create a podcast (writing the script, editing the audio)
- Create content for an annual report document
- Create layouts for email
- Create layouts for social media posts
- Create virtual tour of museum/nature trail/historical landmark
- Design a publication (annual report, newsletter, brochure, mailer, etc.)
- Replace "read more" and "click here" links on a web site, with descriptive links, so that the web site is more accessible for people with disabilities
Construction & Facilities Management
- Review lease agreement
- Design a garden for a women's shelter
Disaster, Emergency, & Health Services
- Create an emergency plan
- Create COVID-19 safety and awareness protocol
- Provide medical expertise for website content
Education & Child Support
- Tutor or mentor students: school work, online safety, professional development
- Create lesson plans for specific programs
- Record online lessons
HR, Knowledge Management, & Legal
- Create office policies and procedures
- Develop or revise an employee handbook
- Evaluate and revise HR policies
- Evaluate and revise staff job descriptions
- Interview candidates for a program, class, volunteering, employment, etc.
- Provide legal expertise
- Screen new applicants who want to volunteer (asking them questions, checking references, reviewing their qualifications, etc.).
- Specific Human Resource project (PTO, FMLA, etc.)
- Conduct leadership coaching for nonprofit C-suite
Language & Translation Services
- Assist with language translation
- Translate documents (or proofread translations by others)
Marketing & Special Events
- Create a 30-day Social Media Campaign
- Research topics for marketing materials
- Teach staff how to use Instagram
- Teach staff how to use LinkedIn
- Teach staff how to use Twitter
Shelter, Food Banks, & Family Services
- Provide counseling services
- Create onboarding guidelines for families
- Answer helpline calls
- Create training programs for staff
- Create weekly meal plans based on donations
- Inventory food pantries
Strategy & Business Plans
- Complete a website audit
- Edit or write proposals
- Facilitate SWOT analysis
- Provide business expertise
- Research topics for a new program or project
Technology
- Adapt software to meet the needs of the organization
- Design a database
- Evaluate donor database for accuracy and efficiencies
- Evaluate web site on its search engine optimization
- Monitor the news or set up google alerts for media mentions and relevant articles
- Research topics for software purchases
- Revise website donation page
- Tag photos and files with keywords (on website, internal server, etc., so that they can be more easily found by internal staff, search engines, the press, etc.)
- Teach staff how to use Salesforce
- Teach staff how to use Zoom
- Teach staff to use Microsoft Teams
Trades
- Assess HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Structure, or Grounds
- Do yearly maintenance
- Make minor repairs
- Consult on purchases
- Work on annual exhibits
Volunteer Management
- Manage other online volunteers in projects
- Create volunteer job descriptions
- Create or update volunteer onboarding processes
CONNECT. EQUIP. MOBILIZE.