How Do We Plan A Global Volunteer Event?

Today’s post is written by Cynthia Tereasa Jones, Manager, Community Involvement at Mondelēz International, who will be hosting a free live webcast, in partnership with Points of Light, this Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 2:00-3:00pm EST. Register today!

When the company wanted to establish a global week of volunteer service, I was relatively new to the area.  Although I was familiar with coordinating volunteer events, such as one or two days of service in six states no doubt, I could only imagine the task ahead of us. Our charge was to develop a global week of volunteer service, recruit as many countries to participate as possible and do so with very little staff.

Wow, I was excited and petrified at the same time. However, I am an optimist. No matter how big the task, I always say, “we can do it, if we work together," though there were only seven of us.

How did we plan a volunteer event of this magnitude in the same week around the world? We needed a plan, a strategy, tools and more to get the job done.  Well, needless to say, we did it. However, it didn’t take one or even seven. It took a network, key partnerships, creativity and of course, hard work to pull this off. Did I mention, we didn’t just create a global volunteer event, but a volunteer program to keep employees engaged in a changing environment throughout the year?

I invite you to join me to learn more and find out how we pulled it all together. What tools did we use? Who did we partner with? How did we survive? Whether it’s out of curiosity or to gain insights, we learn by exploring and sharing.

I am proud of what we’ve accomplished. There’s still so much more we all can do to help our local communities. Join me. Sign up for our webinar tomorrow and share your stories with us in comments.