Volunteer Generation Fund
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VGF Mini-Grants
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The Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) strengthens nonprofit organizations to recruit and retain volunteers to meet critical community needs.
Volunteer NH utilizes this federal, AmeriCorps funding to support volunteerism state-wide.
VGF Cohort
FY21 Data: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022
$276,959 awarded to 11 NH nonprofits l 231,342 volunteer hours served l 3,905 volunteers engaged
Apply for Funding
Volunteer NH typically accepts new applications for funding in the fall for a grant period of January 1 – September 30 the following year. The funding range for new applicants is expected to be $7,500 – $15,000. All details are subject to change year-to-year. The VGF Cohort opportunity is not guaranteed to be available and is contingent on factors such as federal funding availability.
FY22 VGF Cohort: October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023
Volunteer NH awards VGF grants to a variety of nonprofit organizations with ideas for projects that:
expand volunteering l strengthen the capacity of volunteer connector organizations to recruit and retain skill-based volunteers l develop strategies to use volunteers effectively to solve problems
Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire
Service Area: New Hampshire
Project Activities: Our Community Engagement Coordinator expanding and managing our Volunteer and Volunteer-led programs. We hope to implement a Shelter Buddy program whereby we can engage members of the public by matching a person with an animal to provide one-on-one socialization for a few hours each week. This program benefits both the animals and the participants.
Project Goals: Build on the investment from the FY21 funding to add additional programs, training, capacity, and volunteer roles for our Canister, Foster, Humane Education, in-kind donation, animal socialization, and corporate days of service programs
Belknap County Conservation District
Service Area: Belknap County, New Hampshire
Project Activities: Expanding volunteers engaged in environmental stewardship and food assistance
Project Goals: Create a coordinated and collaborative community-based volunteer program for Belknap County. The Volunteer Coordinator will work with environmental stewardship and food assistance organizations across the County, matching individuals interested in assisting their community as volunteers with local needs.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire
Service Area: Greater Concord and the Lakes Region of New Hampshire
Project Activities: Piloting our new volunteer recruitment, training and management program
Project Goals: Prepare hundreds of youth to graduate from high school prepared for the next step, serve as engaged citizens and adopt healthy lifestyles by training and managing skills-based volunteers to support enrichment programming.
Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Hampshire
Service Area: New Hampshire
Project Activities: Volunteer recruitment through marketing and outreach
Project Goals: Recruit 112 new volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected New Hampshire children and address the current crisis
FIRST New Hampshire Robotics
Service Area: New Hampshire
Project Activities: Creation and implementation of a training program for volunteer coaches of FIRST teams. This project will consist of a series of training workshops that are delivered virtually via Zoom and in-person at a central location in the state.
Project Goals: Reduce the barriers for prospective volunteers to serve as coaches for FIRST teams across grades K-12. We have found that the most significant barrier for new coaches is the lack of experience with the technology platforms. Through this project, we will provide the training and tools to increase the confidence in the prospective volunteers in their ability to implement the FIRST programs. Ultimately, we will increase the number of volunteers willing to serve as coaches of our teams.
Friends Forever International
Service Area: Seacoast Region of New Hampshire
Project Activities: Implementing our volunteer recognition plan, collecting survey responses, and creating new volunteer days
Project Goals: Recruit new short-term and long-term volunteers that feel appreciated and that they are making an impact on our youth leaders
Friends of Aine
Service Area: Manchester and remotely throughout New Hampshire
Project Activities: Developing systems to recruit and retain volunteers
Project Goals: Expand Friends of Aine’s grief support programs to support the growing number of children and families who have experienced the death of a loved one
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains
Website: https://www.girlscoutsgwm.org/
Service Area: New Hampshire
Project Activities: Utilizing Volunteer Systems 2.0, gsLearn (our online learning platform), and information gathered from our current and former volunteers during focus groups and surveys, we will increase staffing for the recruitment and support of first-time volunteers as well as the retention and support of our second-year volunteers, with priority focus on these newer troop leaders.
Project Goals: Increase retention rates for these newer volunteers, increase volunteer satisfaction, and increase overall volunteer numbers to sustain our programming
Granite VNA
Service Area: The eighty-two New Hampshire towns we serve
Project Activities: Expanding the use of volunteers within our organization to additional service lines like Home Healthcare and Community Health. Volunteers will be recruited and trained to provide direct program service, supporting program service, and administrative support. Examples of these activities might include organizing and hosting community education events and workshops (falls prevention/memory cafe), maintaining and inventory of tele-monitoring devices, and providing social supports to home-bound patients.
Project Goals: Recruit, onboard, and train 20 new volunteers and 10 current volunteers to provide up to 1,500 hours of volunteer service to Granite VNA clients. The added volunteer capacity would help to provide increased quality and number of Home Healthcare and Community Health services.
HAVEN Violence Prevention and Support Services
Website: https://havennh.org/
Service Area: 48 cities/towns of Strafford and Rockingham counties, New Hampshire
Project Activities: 1) Recruiting volunteers to participate in the online training; 2) improving the training through additional interactive portions to ensure maximum engagement and through improved training around cultural competency/ humility/ implicit bias; 3) broadening the online content tailored for other kinds of volunteers (Board of Directors, Development Committee, and Prevention Educators); and 4) conduct an evaluation of the modified expanded virtual training
Project Goals: Expand availability of training to enlist more volunteers, who play a key role in meeting the rapidly increasing demand for services
International Institute of New England
Service Area: Greater Manchester, New Hampshire
Project Activities: Creating standardized training materials and implementing trainings with Community Sponsorship volunteer groups to guide them in supporting newly arrived refugees with housing, financial resources, language training, and cultural support
Project Goals: Create a written training manual and PowerPoint presentation covering each service support area. Over the grant period, two Community Sponsorship groups of 10 volunteers each will participate in one 3.5 hour self-paced training, to include an overview of resettlement, sponsorship, case studies, communication best practices, and trauma-informed care practices. Each volunteer will then receive an additional 5 hours of training on their core service area. Additional training will occur during weekly 1-hour check-in meetings.
Lakes Region Community Developers
Website: https://www.lrcommunitydevelopers.org/
Service Area: Ashland, Laconia, Meredith, Tilton and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Project Activities: Continuing to establish and grow the resident councils at LRCD’s affordable housing developments
Project Goals: Engage and strengthen the voices and skills of low-income tenant volunteers
Merrimack River Watershed Council
Website: http://merrimack.org/about/
Service Area: Greater Concord, greater Manchester, and greater Nashua, New Hampshire
Project Activities: Conducting outreach, recruitment, a series of technical and interpersonal skills-trainings, and ongoing technical assistance for volunteers
Project Goals: Increase the organization’s capacity to facilitate impactful volunteer experiences while conducting shoreline cleanups and green space stewardship events rooted in a community need for a healthy river and universal access to clean green space
Queen City Bicycle Collective
Website: https://qcbike.org/
Service Area: The Manchester, New Hampshire, community
Project Activities: Attracting, training, and managing a competent volunteer workforce capable of providing effective service to our Collective and for our community
Project Goals: Increase the Collective’s organizational capacity to consistently meet its mission by growing the involvement of a diverse group of passionate, committed volunteers
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Service Area: Alton, New Hampshire, at Mt. Major
Project Activities: Creating content for volunteer training modules; researching and purchasing a virtual training module and self-scheduling platform as needed; reconnecting with existing volunteers and recruiting new volunteers; and hiring and training a seasonal trail steward who will assist in managing the Mt. Major Volunteer Trailhead Outreach Program (VTOP)
Project Goals: Ensure hiker safety and protect wildlife habitat and natural resources for the long-term by addressing the need to educate visitors on relevant subjects. We will address this need by expanding the capacity of our newly developed Volunteer Trailhead Outreach Program.
Willing Hands Enterprises
Website: http://www.willinghands.org/
Service Area: The Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire
Project Activities: Further volunteer recruitment, training skilled volunteer leaders, and expanding our volunteer appreciation programming
Project Goals: Enhance volunteer engagement to increase the quantity of food grown and gleaned for distribution to local food shelves
Previous VGF Cohort Grantees
Arts in Reach l AVA Gallery and Art Center l Friends of the Music Hall
VGF Mini-Grants
FY21 Data: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022
$28,902 awarded to 9 NH nonprofits l 2,938 volunteers engaged
Apply for Funding
Volunteer NH anticipates accepting new applications for funding in June 2023. The VGF Mini-Grant opportunity is not guaranteed to be available and is contingent on factors such as federal funding availability.
FY21 VGF Mini-Grants: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022
Volunteer NH awards VGF mini-grants to a variety of nonprofit organizations with ideas for projects that:
expand volunteering l strengthen the capacity of volunteer connector organizations to recruit and retain skill-based volunteers l develop strategies to use volunteers effectively to solve problems
Catholic Charities New Hampshire
Website: https://www.cc-nh.org/
Project Activities: Catholic Charities New Hampshire will use the grant to purchase print marketing materials to support expansion of our volunteer base to grow current programs to underserved areas of NH.
Cornerstone VNA
Website: https://cornerstonevna.org/
Project Activities: Purchasing/printing costs for materials to support volunteerism (volunteer handbook,display materials for recruitment, laptop for required trainings, marketing materials, etc.).
Families in Transition
Website: https://www.fitnh.org/
Project Activities: The purchase and implementation of a new volunteer management software, GivePulse.
FIRST New Hampshire Robotics
Website: https://www.nefirst.org/new-hampshire
Project Activities: Develop and execute a volunteer coaches’ training workshop event for FIRST Robotics programs at the elementary and middle school grade levels. This 2-day workshop will focus on the fundamentals of the technology platforms used by each program.
Lebanon Opera House
Website: https://lebanonoperahouse.org/
Project Activities: Lebanon Opera House intends to hire a marketing consultant to design a volunteer brochure and standing banner that will attract a diverse group of Upper Valley residents to the LOH volunteer program.
Makers Mill
Website: https://www.makersmill.org/
Project Activities: Purchase a Volunteer Easy subscription for recruiting, retaining, recognizing, and rewarding our volunteers, and a Chanty subscription for volunteer communication, collaboration, and feedback.
Newmarket Community Church
Website: https://www.newmarketchurch.org/
Project Activities: Purchase iPads for volunteer check-in/out and scheduling.
Partnership for Public Health
Website: https://www.pphnh.org/
Project Activities: Purchase CPR and first aid training materials to train volunteers to respond to emergencies.
Racial Unity Team
Website: https://racialunityteam.com/home
Project Activities: Hire a consultant to develop volunteer recruitment materials and train leadership in volunteer recruitment/management best practices.
Get Connected
Volunteers use Get Connected to find nearby opportunities that fit their interests and schedules. Nonprofits use it to attract, manage and report on volunteer activities in their organizations. Needs are searchable and categorized by location, organization and/or focus (such as animals, disaster relief, etc.).
With Get Connected, both volunteering and volunteer recruitment have never been easier.
