Business Volunteers Maryland

doing good. better.

Apply for the 2024 GIVE Fellowship!

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As you think about the new year, I encourage you to consider the 2024 GIVE Fellowship for yourself, your company, or a like-minded person in your network. 

The Business Volunteers GIVE Fellowship is the region’s premier professional development opportunity for civic-minded professionals looking to develop a critical perspective, deep experience, and a game changing network of accomplished alumni who share a commitment to giving back. Each year, from April to November, GIVE welcomes 40-50 dedicated professionals from a wide network of the region’s leading employers.

Is GIVE right for your employer?   

With over 200 leading businesses having participated in GIVE, there is tremendous value in making sure your company is represented. GIVE Fellows embark on the ultimate professional development journey with proven growth in a variety of key leadership skills and the gain of an impressive network. 


Is GIVE right for you? 

  • Are you committed to giving back and building a healthy and thriving Baltimore? 
  • Are you interested in a transformative personal and professional development experience? 
  • Are you seeking to be a part of a network of 600+ like-minded professionals? 


Simply put, there is no better investment than GIVE.

Applications for the 2024 GIVE Fellowship are now open! Closing February 5th.


To learn much more about the program, our fellows and alumni, sign up for an info session,  
access the application, or nominate someone you know, CLICK HERE.

Remembering Business Volunteers’ 20th Anniversary

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In June, Business Volunteers Maryland hosted a celebration in recognition of TWENTY YEARS serving our shared community. For two decades, BVM has kept the needs of our nonprofit community in the forefront, recognizing the role business leaders can and should play in making our City a better place to live and work. The vision for engaging business and professionals in board service and volunteering to share expertise and build stronger nonprofit organizations has resulted in not only stronger nonprofit organizations but also significant benefits for our business partners and the employees who serve. We had the opportunity to ask many of our stakeholders about how Business Volunteers Maryland has impacted their organizations. See the video below to hear directly from our business and nonprofit partners, founding board and current board members, and BVM Staff.

Each participant told an important part of our story and we are so grateful for your advocacy!

Voluntourism: Leave your travel destination better than you found it!

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Voluntourism and Days of Service
Here’s an idea! Take time during your next conference or business trip to have fun and give back through “voluntourism.” Voluntourism is a new travel trend catching on with convention attendees and business travelers worldwide. Through this unique activity, groups participate in team-building projects that enhance their travel experience while helping the local community. Voluntourism is a great addition to rounds of golf, professional sporting events, and other typical group outings.

Business Volunteers Maryland is Greater Baltimore’s premier nonprofit organization specializing in volunteer events and is here to help your group make a difference on your next trip to our area.

Benefits of Voluntourism
In addition to having a fun, memorable, and meaningful experience, your participants
will:

  • Be inspired by their role in positive community development
  • Benefit local community organizations and causes
  • Build morale and group relationships
  • Raise public awareness of the group’s brand and commitment to social responsibility
  • Experience the local culture in a personal and memorable way

Click here for an option on how to get started!

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From our CEO: “This is my beacon of hope.”

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When the team at Business Volunteers Maryland did our annual planning for Global Volunteer Month, it was early 2020 and we never could have imagined the April we ultimately faced. What started as planned postings shining the light on local volunteers (#LocalLights) who are continually doing good, better in our community, completely changed from volunteering as we know it. While it is still important to acknowledge our traditional volunteer heroes, we would be remiss if we did not amplify the current and obvious needs.

Local nonprofits, facing unprecedented headwinds as communities respond to COVID-19, reached out to Business Volunteers with unique requests to fill volunteer needs. According to the Urban Institute, three out of five charitable organizations reported that the ability to deliver their mission is critically dependent upon volunteers. We had to pivot to provide the support these organizations require in the current environment – a platform to document their volunteer needs, including on-site, remote, and virtual projects and access to a diverse volunteer source. Thus, the birth of communityCONNECT – a forum for nonprofits to post their needs and for our corporate partners and individuals to find volunteer opportunities that fit their skills, comfort, and availability.

In a matter of days, communityCONNECT moved from concept to implementation, reaching thousands of prospective community volunteers. We have heard from our corporate and nonprofit partners, as well as from the Points of Light Foundation (we are the Baltimore affiliate!) and their global affiliates, that this platform has provided the matching of needs to volunteers they desperately need. Business Volunteers is pleased to play a vital role in connecting resources to requests.

From a personal perspective, I continue to be impressed and amazed at how our community is stepping up. Friends and colleagues are creative in how they engage in the community – they are making masks, tutoring children online, and raising money to support those on the front line. Looking for some way to support our front line workers, my husband and I recently delivered dinner to a nurse friend and her colleagues at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following is her thank you text after the meal:

Just wanted to say thank you again. You guys made our group very happy. There was enough for both shifts; the food was delicious (several people have been to Joe Benny’s and wholeheartedly endorsed it, others will definitely be checking them out when all of this is over) and felt special. Tensions have been building and we all sat down and ate like a family. It was incredibly heart warming and cathartic. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

What seemed like an easy gesture for us, changed the team dynamics, if only for just a little while, for a group of critical care workers who so desperately needed a break.

These unique, individual contributions amass to a significant outpouring of support and this is my beacon of hope. I am optimistic the way we are living today is not our new “normal,” and whatever our new normal is, I believe we will be more gentle with ourselves and our neighbors. The silver lining to the COVID storm cloud is the development of a greater commitment to caring for others through volunteering and community engagement.

Editor’s Note: Visit Business Volunteers on Facebook and Instagram to read about how our community embraced Global Volunteer Month during unprecedented times. We invite you to tag us in your remote volunteering and use the hashtags #locallight #doinggoodbetter