Quilt

This concept is the result of a Better Giving Studio month-long collaborative sprint focusing on Hyperlocal Volunteering which you can learn more about in this article. You can read the brief for more context and to see who was on the team.

Why BGS is Excited

Focusing on geographic proximity brings organizations more and better volunteers. These volunteers are more likely to care deeply about the cause, be more accountable, and be more likely to stay involved. See Ideas42’s Behavior & Charitable Giving 2019 and Coalition of Urban & Metropolitan Universities’ Place Based Hyperlocal Engagement to learn more.

• It reveals the ways volunteers and organizations are intertwined and respond to changing needs.
• It could deepen local relationships via stories of shared human connection.

The Opportunity

In any given community, there are active members who enjoy volunteering with a few local organizations on a regular basis. This gives them a feeling of connection to their community and neighbors. But often they aren’t aware of all of the organizations in their communities and the volunteer opportunities available to them. If these individuals were aware of the opportunities around them, they would be more likely to volunteer their time. And currently they don’t have a forum to share the stories of the work they’re doing with other neighbors who are truly interested – including those who have not yet made the leap to actually volunteer yet. Quilt connects local volunteers to organizations and to each other, building communities and making positive change.

The Concept

The heart of any community is built around the stories of real, shared, lived experiences. An experience like Kiwa’s, for instance.

Kiwa is an active member of her local community. She volunteers with a small number of organizations throughout the year as a way to connect with the community she knows and loves. The Quilt app allows her to discover new opportunities to get involved in that she’d never seen before.

One day while on a walk, Quilt sends Kiwa an alert about a group working nearby, filling food boxes for a local shelter. Kiwa walks over to help out. Afterwards she volunteers to write a quick summary for Quilt’s Recap to share with the others and future volunteers.

Now Kiwa’s community is more connected. And this story, one of authentic local  connection, becomes the real story that neighbors are sharing with each other.

Quilt makes hyperlocal volunteering easy by bringing neighbors together, pairing what is often disconnected in a simple, beautiful, collaborative way. The shared stories cut through the social media noise and focus on human connection, allowing everyone to feel like they’re part of something bigger.

What Do You Think?

Are you working on something similar? Have feedback to give us or insights that we should know about related to this exploratory concept? Did you test out this idea, and how did it go? We’d love to hear from you! Please write us a note at [email protected]