9 Reasons to Attend the 2015 VolunteerMatch Summit

In December 2015, CSR professionals, employee engagement enthusiasts, VolunteerMatch clients, and national nonprofits will come together at the 2015 VolunteerMatch Summit. If you haven’t registered yet, or you’re on the fence about attending, here are 9 reasons you absolutely should.

1. Meet your doppelgangers at other companies.

It’s rare that CSR professionals who manage employee volunteer programs get to come together in the same room. Usually, people in this role are running things solo, or on a very small team. Find the people doing the same thing as you at other companies, and learn from each other.

As Annalisa Amicangelo of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who attended last year’s Summit, put it, “CSR is still a burgeoning field, and so there are a great number of practitioners, but not always a bunch of opportunities for us to come together in one space and ideate, and collaborate, and really share our best practices.”

2. Continue those relationships after the Summit is over.

For many Summit attendees, the collaborative spirit doesn’t end when people board their planes and head home. They’re equipped with new connections they can bounce ideas and challenges off of year round.

3. The experts.

The best of the best in CSR and volunteerism are lined up to speak at the Summit. Get to know them.

4. The weather.

In Oakland, CA, December doesn’t mean snow, ice and fur-lined coats. It means 60s and sunny. So bring your sunglasses and light sweaters, and enjoy a break from winter.

5. Be at the start of something.

The previous 13 Summits have only been open to VolunteerMatch clients. But this year, companies far and wide who are committed to community engagement are invited. Furthermore, we’re creating a collaborative place for national nonprofits to join the conversation.

This year, for the first time ever, all attendees will “Come Together” to explore ways to work across sectors, harnessing knowledge, resources and passions of volunteers to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

6. Exclusive welcome reception from Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland.

Where else do you get welcomed by the Mayor of a city upon your arrival? Join Libby Schaaf for the opening welcome reception at Oakland’s City Hall, complete with wine from local Oakland wineries.

7. Assess your program.

If you’re a client of VolunteerMatch, we’ll have our staff on hand for a special session to review the metrics from your employee volunteer program. You know those folks you always talk to on the phone? Meet them face to face as they offer insights into how to grow your program even further.

8. Night on the town with the VolunteerMatch Staff

The quirky and fun VolunteerMatch staff will be on hand throughout the Summit, not only to talk about employee volunteerism, but as locals, to show you around. And we’re a fun bunch (except maybe for that girl on the bottom left):

9. Go home refreshed and re-energized.

“What amazes me about the Summit… I would go home just refreshed about volunteering and what it means as an employee. And the collaborative feeling among the participants is absolutely incredible.” -Wendy Hershey, Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.

Wendy’s not alone in her sentiments. We hear over and over how attendees leave the Summit feeling re-energized to take what they’ve learned and implement it into their employee volunteer programs.

Registration rates go up after October 31, 2015, so don’t wait. Register now.