Volunteer at UNICEF

UNICEF is a global organization whose mission is to improve the lives and health of children across the world. If you are a U.S. citizen 13 years old or older, volunteer at UNICEF by registering online and participating in a volunteer training webinar. Learn as much as you can about the organization so that you can educate friends, family, and colleagues about it, and share information through social media. Be an advocate for UNICEF by joining a congressional action team, starting petitions, and writing to elected officials. Consider hosting fundraising events to benefit UNICEF as well.

Steps

Registering as a UNICEF Volunteer

  1. Make sure you meet the requirements. To register as a volunteer for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, you must be at least 13 years old and a resident of the United States. Volunteering is open to individuals of any gender and ethnicity within the country. If you are not a U.S. resident, visit https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry to get contact information for your country’s head office, as well as program details.[1]
  2. Read the terms and conditions. Before signing up, read the volunteering terms and conditions on the U.S. Fund for UNICEF website. Note that, by registering, you are declaring that you understand and agree to these terms and conditions. The agreement includes statements that:[2]
    • you will act professionally and uphold the UNICEF’s reputation
    • you will send all fundraising contributions that you collect to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF no later than thirty days following the conclusion of the fundraising activity
    • you declare that all the information included about yourself is true and complete
  3. Register online. To register as a volunteer, visit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s website at https://www.unicefusa.org/user/register. Fill out the required information, including your name, date of birth, postal code, and email address, and choose a password for your account. Look for confirmation details in your email inbox.[3]
    • You can also enter your mobile phone number to receive alerts from UNICEF.
  4. Take part in volunteer training. UNICEF offers online webinars for new volunteers looking to get acclimated with the organization and their role in it. New volunteer orientations happen via webinar every month, educating participants on how to get started with volunteer initiatives within their own community. Volunteer training webinars happen every two months and provide a more in-depth look at how to get involved (i.e. planning fundraisers, advocating to legislators).[4]
  5. Join a UNICEF school club. Students at high school and college levels can register their club with UNICEF, upon which they will receive resource kits and materials to reach out to their school and community at large. To start, register individually as a volunteer with UNICEF U.S. Fund; then, ask to join your school's UNICEF club or approach your school's administrators about starting one. If you are starting a new group, fill out an application form on UNICEF U.S. Fund's website for either college clubs or high school clubs.[5]
    • Note that UNICEF clubs must have a leadership structure containing at least four officers: president, vice president, treasurer and secretary.

Educating People About UNICEF

  1. Learn more about UNICEF. In order to educate others about UNICEF's charitable initiatives, you should deepen your own knowledge about the humanitarian organization. Visit https://www.unicefusa.org/mission to read the organization's mission statement, as well as descriptions of its current initiatives in over 190 countries across the world. UNICEF's efforts include:[6]
    • providing immunizations for 45% of the world's children
    • giving access to clean, safe water in over 100 countries
    • prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus
    • educational initiatives that can include building schools, training teachers, bringing education to child refugees, and reforming school systems
    • emergency relief to victims of war and natural disasters
  2. Share information with family, friends, and co-workers. Start educating people about UNICEF on a small scale, starting with your own inner-circle (i.e. friends and family) and co-workers. Garner interest by sharing facts about UNICEF's work, noting specific, individual examples. When it comes to charity, "identifiable victims" elicit a greater level of emotion and sympathy than statistics about a great number of people do.[7]
    • For example, you could show friends, family, or colleagues a picture of Rukaia, a one-year old baby whose family fled the city of Aleppo, receiving new winter clothing from UNICEF to stay warm as temperatures drop;[8] this picture, and others like it, are available via the UNICEF U.S. Fund Instagram account.
  3. Use social media. Follow UNICEF on any social media platforms that you use (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube). The internet is arguably the fastest way to share knowledge and news, so put your online time to good use by sharing information about UNICEF and its global initiatives. For instance, share posts from UNICEF USA's Facebook page on your own wall to be viewed by your Facebook friends.
    • Make use of the visual storytelling, hashtags, and calls to action that UNICEF employs in their social media activity, which are effective tools in spreading awareness about the organization and its work.

Advocating for UNICEF

  1. Join a congressional action team. UNICEF has 14 congressional action teams in the United States; teams consist of UNICEF volunteers who are trained and supported by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF staff, and who interact with Congress members on behalf of the organization. Team members meet monthly for a national conference call where they discuss issues and prepare to take action (e.g. visiting or writing to elected officials). To join, send an email to volunteer@unicefusa.org to express your interest.[9]
    • No experience or special credentials are required to join a UNICEF congressional action team.
  2. Sign and distribute petitions. Influence legislative action and policy-making by distributing petitions related to UNICEF's mission. On the UNICEF U.S. Fund website, for example, volunteers are urged to sign a petition to make child survival issues a priority in Congress. To start, write a brief (and easily readable) summary of your point of view, proposal, and a few convincing arguments for it; leave space for people to write their name and address, with each line numbered to keep track of signatures.[10]
    • To make a petition that can be widely circulated, use a web platform like Change.org - petitions made on the site can be disseminated on Facebook and Twitter, quickly and easily. [11]
  3. Write to elected officials. Take a direct approach to advocating for UNICEF by writing to members of Congress and other elected officials, urging them to take action to make the survival of children a priority. Visit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF website to read about specific issues you can write to government officials about right now.
    • For instance, UNICEF is, as of December 2016, asking volunteers to write to the President, imploring him and other world leaders to make good on their commitment to child refugees and migrants after the September 2016 United Nations summits.[12]

Hosting Fundraising Events

  1. Plan an event. Brainstorm ideas for fundraising events that you trust will raise money for UNICEF. Contact friends, family, and colleagues for leads on any venues you might be able to borrow or rent for a small fee to host your event, or look for local sponsors for your fundraiser. For inspiration and ideas, visit the U.S Funds for UNICEF website for volunteer highlights and stories; some popular fundraising choices have included:[13]
    • dinner parties
    • art auctions
    • film screenings
    • sporting activities
  2. Submit an application. As a UNICEF volunteer, you can organize a fundraising event as you see fit, but you must submit a proposal for your event to the organization first. An application form is available on the website, and requires you to have many details of the events planned out ahead of time. The application asks for:[14]
    • the name of the event host or hosts, and their contact information
    • what the event will be named
    • what type of event it will be
    • the location, date, and time of the event
    • the number of people expected to attend
    • the amounts of funds you anticipate raising
  3. Advertise your event. Use social media to advertise your fundraising event, in addition to more traditional printed invitations, banners, and flyers. Once your event application is approved, you will be allowed to use UNICEF's logo for your event and advertising. You will first have to submit copies of these documents to the organization for approval before distributing them.[14]


Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers/volunteering-faqs#job
  2. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers/volunteer-terms-and-conditions
  3. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/user/register?destination=group/node/514/subscribe/og_user_node
  4. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers/online-volunteer-training
  5. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/sites/default/files/HowToStartAClub.pdf
  6. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/mission
  7. ↑ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/to-increase-charitable-donations-appeal-to-the-heart-not-the-head/
  8. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BODWDMmgpby/?taken-by=unicefusa&hl=en
  9. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/cat
  10. ↑ http://www.useful-community-development.org/how-to-start-a-petition.html
  11. ↑ https://www.change.org/start-a-petition
  12. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/help/advocate
  13. ↑ https://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers/fundraisers
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 https://www.unicefusa.org/submit-your-event-application
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