Doing Good Together wants to make it easy for families to volunteer. We have programs tailored for individuals and programs for people who prefer to volunteer through their school, work, faith group or other organization.

Family Service Night

Family Service Night is a fun volunteer evening that focuses around 5 or 10 “booths” or “stations,” each one offering a simple, hands-on service project for families. Learn more about offering a Family Service Night for the families in your organization or order a copy of our Family Service Night Manual, which includes ideas for projects, as well as promotion, reflection and education materials.

Doing Good Together in the Schools

This initiative was launched in the Minneapolis area during the 2006-2007 academic year. The pilot proved so successful that DGT now offers a comprehensive program for integrating family service into preschool, elementary or middle schools all year long. This package provides the motivation, inspiration, training, support and guidance to help school families serve others.

Doing Good Together Partnerships

Doing Good Together partners with a range of organizations, including faith communities, businesses, libraries, preschools, museums, volunteer centers, civic groups and others.  We are able to tailor our programs and services for any organization that has a built-in base of families and wants to provide them with meaningful events and activities.  We welcome new partners – whether it’s to find out about a simple one-time activity, to plan a full family service event or to collaborate on a comprehensive family service program. Please contact us so we can explore the possibilities together.

Assistance for Volunteer Managers

Through family service, volunteer managers can bring more volunteers to solve community problems, strengthen families and communities, and inspire young people to continue making a positive difference into adulthood, resulting in succeeding generations of volunteers and philanthropists. Doing Good Together can assist you in coordinating volunteer projects that will engage families with children and create custom materials to help you recruit, educate and celebrate your family volunteers.

Customized Events

DGT assists organizations in planning volunteer events geared specifically to their families, resulting in a strengthened sense of community and a shared bond of contribution. Projects can range from a simple activity to get your feet wet or a full Family Service Day. We can help identify appropriate projects; coordinate and execute the event (including an education and reflection component); and provide follow-up support and suggestions for ongoing volunteerism.

Materials

DGT has developed support materials to encourage family volunteer initiatives and to help families reflect on a project afterward. A range of material is available, from checklists to entire manuals. We can also customize materials for your organization, whether you’re a nonprofit seeking to attract family volunteers or a school, faith group or other organization wanting to encourage your families to serve others.

Presentations and Workshops

DGT offers presentations and workshops related to family volunteerism:

• Workshops for parent groups on such topics as “Family Volunteering: Simple Ways to Weave Service into Your Hectic Life” and “Compassionate Kids: 10 Steps to Growing a Caring Child.”
• Presentation for civic groups and service organizations that highlights the multiple benefits of family volunteering and the tools available to facilitate it.
• Workshop for educators and service-learning providers that offers simple, practical strategies and materials for building partnerships between school, family and community to enrich service learning, increase academic achievement and create a culture of service.
• Effective-practice workshops for nonprofit agencies concerned with integrating family service into their volunteer program.

Fresh Family Volunteer Ideas (Free!)

DGT canvases the Twin Cities to compile a listing of clever and creative family volunteer projects. This unique list is ideal for families seeking ongoing volunteer projects. Organizations typically print the list in their newsletter, post it on their website or simply hand it out to parents and grandparents. Includes five different family volunteer opportunities each month. Receive a free email subscription to this list.

Get inspired with our E-Newsletter (Free!)

Our monthly newsletter offers simple service ideas, family stories and pointers for starting discussions with children about specific social issues. Each month we address a new topic, such as homelessness, reflecting on gratitude, charity-centered gift-giving, and doing kid-sized fundraisers. Sign up now or browse our newsletter archive to see past issues.

Resource for Media

Jenny Friedman, Executive Director of Doing Good Together, is a nationally recognized expert on family volunteering.  She provides interviews to local and national media on issues related to youth and family volunteering and on raising compassionate children. To contact her, call (612.822.6502) or email (jenny@doinggoodtogether.org).

Publications on Volunteerism

Executive Director Jenny Friedman wrote The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering (Robins Lane Press, 2003), one of the first books to address this critical issue. (Click here for a list of Friedman’s articles and book chapters.) Friedman is currently co-authoring a project book for organizations interested in family-friendly service opportunities titled Doing Good Together: 101 Easy, Meaningful Service Projects for Families, Schools and Communities. It will be available from Free Spirit Press in Fall 2010. We also offer a Family Service Night manual, for groups that would like to host this kid-friendly volunteer event.

Contact us for more information about any of our programs