Become Volunteering Partner - Volunteer Centre County

Welcome to Volunteer Centre County

Nonprofit organizations: please read the FAQs below and let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your application to become a Community Partner!

For Offline Registration

Become an Approved Community Partner

Read the FAQs below and submit an application to join

Post Your Organization's Needs for Volunteer Service

Free, Unlimited

Post Your Organization's Needs for Donated Goods

Free, Unlimited

A Community Service for Centre County, PA

Many cities across America have volunteer portals that let people know where and how they can give (see for instance: Pittsburgh Cares, Philadelphia's Volunteer Service website, and Volunteer Fairfax). These portals are designed for enabling increased positive impacts in these communities.

In addition to showcasing volunteer opportunities and ways to donate goods, they celebrate the service community, and feature community resources and local impact statistics. In Centre County, we now have Volunteer Centre County to do just this.

FAQs

Who can be a Community Partner?

Organizations interested in posting opportunities to the Volunteer Centre County website must first apply to become a Community Partner. Community Partners are limited to:

Charities located in Centre County, PA (that is, an entity having an IRC 501c3 designation and in good standing with the PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations, PA Department of State, and IRS)
Public schools located in Centre County, PA
Eligible local government entities in Centre County, PA

Once approved as a Community Partner, your organization will be able to post volunteer opportunities and requests for donated goods.

If your organization’s IRC 501(c) entity type is not listed above (e.g., it is a 501(c)(4), 501(c)(13), etc.) then please contact us with your reason for wanting to join. Exceptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

What are the benefits of being a Community Partner?

Each CP gets its own webpage to manage (they can designate their own users to manage their page)

Safe – no emails are shared with potential volunteers (or anyone) nor posted online, ever, so no bots can spam CP’s emails
Potential volunteers can submit their contact information online >> click APPLY; their info goes to VCC admin (admin checks to make sure legitimate email, etc. before being forwarded to the Community Partner so as to not waste their time chasing false leads).
Strong Cybersecurity – insurance in place, and developers code with best practices
High-Level SEO – to raise both VCC and CPs boosting on search engines
Free Social Media Posts – new requests for both volunteers and goods are posted to VCC’s FB and Instagram
“Spread the News” Feature – CPs can submit news to info@volunteercentrecounty.org and it will be posted to the Blog and specifically on the CP’s page
Widget – available for CPs to place on their own website to link to their page on the VCC website
Newsletter – keeping CPs abreast of VCC and latest developments, news
Board Expertise – VCC has Board members who specialize in volunteer management professionally and are continuously earning credentials in the field and publishing academically in the field
Sustainability – VCC has a Centre Foundation Endowment and Platinum Candid (Guidestar) status

What are the terms of service for approved Community Partners?

In order to become a Community Partner, the organization’s representative(s) must agree NOT to use the VolunteerCentreCounty.org website for any of the following uses (doing so will result in the permanent loss of Community Partner status):

Fundraising

Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes

Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing

Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements

Engaging in partisan political activities or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office

Attempting to influence legislation

Participating in or endorsing events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials

Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization

Providing a direct benefit to:

a. A business organized for profit.

b. A partisan political organization.

c. A nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or a substantial amount of lobbying.

d. An organization conducting a voter registration drive or raising funds for voter registration drives

How do I request needs for Volunteers' Service or needs for Donated Goods?

Once approved, Community Partners can post specific needs for volunteers’ service and/or needs for donated goods. Each need is a separate post and will be approved before going live. Community Partners have an unlimited number of posts, but all posts must be current and up to date.

There are three ways to make a request.

1) Login and select either a request for volunteers’ services time or a request for donated goods. Complete the online form.

2) Login and download either the pdf form for posting a need for volunteers’ services or the pdf form for posting a request for donated goods, complete the form, and scan it to info@volunteercentrecounty.org.

3) Call us at 814-308-5052 and we can take your information over the phone and post it.

How do I find out about interested volunteers or potential donations of goods?

1. For each of the Community Partner’s “Requests for Volunteers’ Services” posts, a website visitor can submit their interest by clicking a “call to action” button associated with that specific volunteer opportunity. Then, that individual’s submission generates an email that goes to VCC staff for review. If the request to volunteer looks legitimate (not spam), then the "request email" is forwarded to the Community Partner’s point person on file, and the Community Partner follows up with the interested individual.

Information provided by a site visitor when submitting a "call to action" will be shared only with that Community Partner that needs to know, and the point person for that Community Partner is responsible for reaching out to the prospective volunteer for more information and scheduling.

See our Privacy Policy for more details on how we keep information and email addresses private.

2. For each of the Community Partner’s “Requests for Donated Goods” posts, a website visitor can simply read about the Community Partner’s need for goods, and that individual carries out instructions as per the instructions stated on the Community Partner’s post for the specific request. VCC does not review needs for donations – they are read-only posts.

When a Community Partner makes a “Request for Donated Goods” post, they can request Amazon Wish List Links, share pick-up instructions, and also state their preferred drop-off instructions.

How does Volunteer Centre County’s website work to prevent spam and bots from abuse?

Volunteer Centre County approves all requests before going live and removes any email address posted on the website and does its best to make sure that “calls to action” submissions are legitimate before forwarding them to the Community Partner’s designated users. Volunteer Center County has strong cybersecurity insurance in place and this requires the developers to maintain best practices when coding and maintaining the website and APP.

Join Today!

Volunteer Centre County: Building connections to serve the needs of volunteers and nonprofits in Centre County.

Where YOU make a difference!