Networking Breakfast Business Involved / Collaborating with companies

On the early morning of July 24, croissants and coffee were ready in the space of Changing Dishes in the WTC building in Amsterdam Zuid. The occasion: a networking breakfast for volunteer organizations from Amsterdam to get to know the Business Involved project and the contact persons from Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam of this project.

Business Involved is a VCA project focused on creating sustainable matches between the business community and the volunteer sector in Amsterdam, a very logical collaboration given the need for voluntary energy on one hand and the desire to contribute to the city on the other. However, it still involves pioneering, thinking outside the box, and stepping out of the comfort zone for both parties. This was also evident this morning. In addition to the introduction by Rachida el Alami and Eva Bouwer (BI team of VCA), Anita Muschner (Stichting Nahst) and Mathilde Twelkemeijer (Stichting Dynamo) shared their collaboration experiences with companies.

The visitors had a lot of questions:

• Is it possible to assign employees from companies as buddies?
• For which projects can we enlist corporate volunteers?
• How do you still get that bag of money?

Answer: There is no one exact recipe, as in all collaborations and relationships, it’s about customization, a spark that ignites, and the right timing. And, most importantly: it’s about having an equal conversation and staying curious about each other, making energy (and man-hours) available to get this off the ground, and of course, patience. Oh, one more tip: start small.

The answer to the question: how do I best prepare for the conversation with Business Involved? Start by answering these two questions:

1. What’s in it for me (in which areas are we looking for collaboration)?
2. What’s in it for them (what do we have to offer the company)?

Often, the embarrassment lies there, organizations that work with volunteers often have a very different budget than commercial companies, they lack hands and hours. Yet they are invaluable: they work with different target groups and can often offer employees from the business world a ‘Transformative experience’ (an experience that changes your life). This happens when you step out of your bubble and interact with other people. This is often the main reason for doing volunteer work. And also the most exciting. According to Amadiora Emechete, the Community Impact manager of the company Liberty Global, one of the companies that has successfully made several great matches with organizations thanks to Business Involved.

N.B.: The photos of this event were taken by Marcel Jansen, one of the photographers of VCA Media. VCA Media offers an opportunity to take photos for an organization for a small fee. Readmore about VCA MediaIf you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please contact Huub Zeeman.H.zeeman@vca.nu