VOLUNTEER REFERRAL CENTER INC

Our organizational mission is to connect dedicated volunteers with nonprofit agencies. Volunteer Referral Center makes close to 2500 referrals annually to almost 300 partner organizations throughout New York City.

VRC also carries out extensive community outreach and recruitment of volunteers through collaboration and participation in volunteerism events around New York City. We collaborate with partner agencies to develop informational recruitment events that reach hundreds of prospective volunteers of all ages, in all five boroughs of NYC, throughout the year.

Volunteer Referral Center meets with each potential volunteer, to ensure the skills and talents and of each person is used fully. We also keep comprehensive files on our almost 300 partner organizations and update these files regularly. Our files include specific opportunities--both short- and long-term--and contact information, all of which we use during interviews to make introductions between volunteers and the agency.

VRC also works to recruit volunteers through a variety of online and print media, and through extensive community outreach by both creating and participating in volunteerism events around NYC. We plan to host 6 special events in 2020 that will be age-inclusive, yet seek to entice more young people to volunteer—from teenagers to young professionals. VRC's Young Professionals Committee is an important part of this initiative and assists in the development of materials targeted to younger volunteers, as well as coordinating and promoting group opportunities for them.

Volunteer Referral Center serves three different populations: individual volunteers, the broad range of agencies needing volunteers, and the thousands of New Yorkers these agencies serve. VRC is a nonprofit, primarily volunteer-run group, and as such is able to provide its services free to individuals and, except for a small registration fee, free to agencies. By centralizing the volunteering process, Volunteer Referral Center makes it easier for nonprofits to find volunteers and to channel volunteer enthusiasm where it is needed most. We provide expert placement and personal service, to swiftly and smoothly get volunteers where they want to be and to serve our partner agencies and their various, important causes. Though our services are free, the value of volunteer time directly related to VRC referrals over our 31years is conservatively estimated to be over $120 million.

As mentioned above, 2019 was one of our busiest years in recent history, and 2020 started out strong. This blossoming of volunteerism shows the community's desire to provide support while many services come under pressure to cut back and all are affected by COVID-19. VRC is responding to COVID-19 by re-imagining and creating innovative ways to deliver our services. In addition to our special outreach events, VRC plans to continue diligently recruiting volunteers and matching them with appropriate volunteer opportunities, of every kind, in all corners of New York City. VRC was founded and flourished on the idea that volunteers are critical not only to a nonprofit's ability to fulfill their mission, but to the very fabric of society.