With the summer months quickly approaching, many businesses and larger corporations are looking for ways to build team unity during the ‘down time’ of the summer.

Some large corporations, and even small offices like Dunder Mifflin’s paper company on NBC’s “The Office,” host an annual outing to build team spirit, encourage teamwork, promote bonding, create office cohesvieness and corporate unity. Often, this will include Survivor style challenges or silly games, but volunteering together is another popular pasttime for businesses. Company picnics are one time where business members will let go and enjoy themselves, and many businesses incorporate the mentality of “giving back to the community” which can certainly help your rescue!

For those of you with shelters, barns or sanctuaries, you can certainly court these corporations to help you build and maintain your acreage, do some landscaping, work with the animals, paint murals, or otherwise volunteer on location. For those groups who do not have a physical location, you can still partner with these businesses to promote volunteering through monetary donation drives, “cram the van” drives, sponsorships, or other fundraising ideas.

How do you get this started? It’s as easy as the notion that “if you build it, they will come.” Start by creating a flyer announcing the new program, and brainstorming some ideas for ways business managers and their employees can help your group. This could range from collection drives, to hosting a car wash on your behalf, or manual labor volunteering opportunities. Distribute the flyers around town, focusing on high traffic areas in corporate buildings and school areas. Then, announce your program in your newsletter, and through your e-mail lists to your local donors and volunteers. State that this is a new program and your group is excited to introduce this new idea for businesses to connect with local nonprofits such as yours.

Some of your volunteers may already be involved with volunteering with their company, and they can help you get a foot in the door for their own business. Ask a few trusted volunteers if they’d be willing to approach their human resources departments or to provide your group with the name and contact information for the HR Dept or company owner/ president and help make the introduction for your group. You can send a flyer and brochure about the new program, highlighting a few activities, and stating that you will contact them in a week to discuss the idea further. This will keep the ball in YOUR court to call and talk again, instead of just waiting by the phone for them to make the next move.

Once you’ve had a successful volunteer day, promote that to the media, showing a photo or video clips of your new business friends helping out! Invite a reporter to the volunteering day to get some great coverage for both your group and the business partner. This will encourage other groups of people to participate, from families and church groups to scouts and other businesses in your area. Even the current cast of ABC’s “The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman” spent a date volunteering at a local school, painting murals and doing some landscaping. Be sure to outline several ways for people to help out. You may also want to put a statement in that asks for other ideas you haven’t thought of yet!

You can start this volunteer push now, hoping to bring in some business volunteers during the summer months, or get things ready for a major kick off for Make a Difference Day in October. You’ll want to be sure that you have several projects available to adopt by early September when groups are looking for Make a Difference Day opportunities around their area. Again, be sure to note all the various ways people can support your rescue, from hands on work (landscaping, raking, painting, bathing animals, building fences)… to the many fundraising activities and individual projects people could take on. Once someone gets involved with a volunteer activity, they find out how easy it can be and many will stick around for other projects! As always, be sure to thank the volunteers, provide certificates to the business, and generate more media coverage!

Good luck with your volunteer push! Remember, before you start to publicize for more volunteers, you NEED to have your ‘ducks’ in a row in terms of having the capacity to return phone calls, provide volunteer applications and schedule volunteer orientations if needed. You don’t want 20 people calling when you’re only capable of handling 5 at most. Prepare yourselves in advance, set up a different e-mail account or phone line inbox if needed, but make sure you don’t drop the ball after you’ve made your volunteer push.