The coronavirus has upended almost all aspects of life this year, and that includes the holiday giving and volunteering that credit unions traditionally do.
All year long, credit unions and their employees are typically busy with a variety of community activities, doing everything from volunteering at food pantries to hosting toy drives at branches for the needy in their communities. These efforts usually ramp up during the holiday season.
But many of those traditions have had to be cancelled due to social distancing requirements or moved to a virtual format to ensure public health of workers and members. Some of these changes may be here to stay even once the pandemic fades.
“Unfortunately, many of the events we typically support or host were cancelled, postponed or went virtual to protect the health and safety of our team, members and [the] people of our community,” said Julie Stevens, marketing specialist at Kellogg Community Credit Union in Battle Creek, Mich. “It was hard forgoing many of the community events that have become longtime traditions for our organization, our members and the community, but keeping everyone safe has been a priority.”
Volunteerism has taken a hit since the coronavirus pandemic became widespread. Forty-five percent of respondents who had volunteered in the last two years said they had decreased their volunteer time “a lot” or “somewhat” during COVID-19, according to a Fidelity Charitable survey. Another 21% said they had stopped volunteering all together, the survey found.
“The volunteer situation has been dire,” said Marian Stern, principal at the consulting firm Projects in Philanthropy. “Many volunteers are senior citizens and they were told not to come to volunteer. Many charities have limited space. That has been a real challenge.”
Some charities coped with this by moving volunteer activities outdoors during the summer months, but that will be harder to do now that temperatures have turned colder, Stern said. Some organizations have even had to hire additional employees to compensate for reductions in volunteer hours.
“Most of the nonprofits have limited volunteer opportunities right now,” Stern said. “It’s not safe or it’s too expensive to create infrastructure to accommodate volunteers.”
But volunteering can be done safely if certain precautions are taken and it’s important to balance the public health aspect of the pandemic with ensuring that essential charities are still able to function, said Kelly Reynolds, an environmental microbiologist at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona.
“Essentially there will never be a zero-risk scenario,” Reynolds said. “A virtual activity and online giving are probably the ones that reduce the risk the most. … But there will be a need for some of these donations and food drives to continue. You need to look at the balance of the next best practice scenarios.”
Those still looking to participate in some kind of volunteer activity should practice social distancing, wash their hands frequently and thoroughly and wear a mask, Reynolds said. Toys or other items collected as part of a drive should be quarantined for three days as a best practice, Reynolds said. And ensuring volunteer spaces are well ventilated also helps.
“Following these guidelines could provide a safe environment," Reynolds said. "You just need to plan ahead.”
The $718 million-asset Kellogg Community Credit Union has worked to alter some of its volunteer events to make them safer, Stevens said. For instance, it held a drive-thru trick-or-treat hosted by the Battle Creek Police Department and provided members with COVID-friendly care packages on International Credit Union Day, distributing them by handing them out through the drive-thru window.
Although these changes were necessary for health reasons during the coronavirus, the socializing that normally comes with volunteering has been missed, Stevens said.
Aside from the loss of volunteers, charities have had to worry about whether the pandemic will affect monetary donations. So far many nonprofits have fared well. Donations increased by about 22% from January to June from the same period in 2019 for more than 100 large nonprofits, according to a survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
More than a third of donors said they would give more this December compared with the same month in 2019, while 44% said they would give the same amount, according to a survey from RKD Group, a fundraising and marketing firm, and the Nonprofit Alliance.
The United States Senate Federal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va., has exchanged some of its traditional, hands-on donation and volunteer activities in favor of more virtual methods of giving back.
Whereas last year the $1.1 billion-asset institution hosted a competition to collect food for the hungry, this year with reduced branch foot traffic and employees working at home, a physical collection box would be nearly obsolete, said Carrie Lazar, membership development representative at the credit union.
“Even if we were able to collect food items, sorting and delivering would be extremely difficult to do while following social distancing guidelines,” Lazar added.
Instead, this year the credit union is donating to Capital Area Food Bank, matching up to $20,000 in gifts made through an online portal. Additionally, a partnership with the Safeway Foundatoin will see USSFCU give $20,000 in gift cards to shoppers at two area grocery stores on the morning of Christmas Eve.
In years past, the credit union’s employees participated in volunteer activities, such as helping the Salvation Army sort through donated gifts for its Angel Tree program and assisting at local shelters. But this season, those plans had to be scrapped.
Instead, USSFCU has chosen to utilize the online donation platform YouGiveGoods to host virtual donation drives. Through the platform, USSFCU has provided basic household and hygiene items to Washington, D.C., residents suffering from homelessness and more than 550 toys for kids at Children’s National.
Lazar said the credit union is likely to continue with virtual donations in the future, even once COVID-19 restrictions are eased. This will allow members who may not live near a branch to participate.
“As long as everything goes well, I think we’ll use virtual giving options again,” Lazar said. “We have members spread across the country; going virtual gives the whole USSFCU community an opportunity to come together for a great cause.”
