Developing a team build with a charity requires more creative juice than hiring a company to run a cookie-cutter program. But that’s just another part of what makes it fulfilling! There are tons of national charities and non-profits that you can work with but a quick search online will turn up a host of local options too. You’re sure to find something that fits any size group, for any length of time – half day, full day, or even just a couple of hours.
Youth Programs
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America have local chapters that you can help with. You can work with the kids on projects or put your efforts into sprucing up the facilities. One team build outline I prepared, entailed a full re-vamp of the school where our local Boys and Girls Club operated. Projects included painting murals, organizing storage and working on the landscaping. The beauty of doing work on facilities is that there are multiple ways to contribute so there are lots of opportunities to make use of your team’s different skills and abilities.
Food Banks
You can volunteer with food banks to sort food, or cook for and feed the homeless and the underserved. Or you can put together food boxes and deliver them to needy families or homebound seniors. As an added bonus: have a food drive ahead of the event. You can offer special recognition or a prize to the team that collects the most.
City Clean Up
Partnering with a clean up program works particularly well for larger groups. You can make a contest out of picking up trash. Give awards for the team that collects the most or to the person who finds the most interesting object. Or you can collectively shoot for a goal of how much weight to collect in refuse. Offer an incentive happy hour afterward based on the amount collected: 1 drink for each bag! (Or for each pound, depending on how crazy you want to get…)
There are all kinds of ways to incorporate team building into charity work and vice versa. There’s no corporate team build program that offers more in the way of building friendships, respect, and productivity than giving something of yourselves. Your team gets closer, your company fosters goodwill in the community, and a worthy cause gets a whole lot of love!
If you want other ideas for non-profits to partner with, consider youth camps, pet/wildlife rescue, community theatres, even your city’s Parks and Recreation department. Keep an open mind and collaborate with the program director. They will doubtless be full ideas and ways that your group can help.
Or for a more traditional, one-stop team build that still supports a cause, there are plenty of companies who offer a well-developed Build-a-Bike program, like Bikes for Goodness Sake, which is based out of Austin.