How Vollie helped VMLY&R stay charitable during lockdown.

Guest author: Paul Nagy, VMLY&R | Chief Creative Officer AUNZ

They say charity starts at home, and with Vollie 2.0, they mean it literally.

I discovered this during VMLY&R ‘Foundation Day’ this year, which is the day every year when our global advertising network closes its doors and sends its employees out into the world to help any charity trying to make the world a better place. It’s culturally very important for all VMLY&R employees, and a day we all look forward to immensely.

But in 2020, with the world in the grip of Covid-19, we needed a new way to let our people continue to be charitable remotely, as across Australia and New Zealand, all our agencies were in different stages of lockdown.

That’s where Vollie came in, with their innovative solution that allows anyone to save the world… without even leaving the couch. And it couldn’t be easier. You just sign up, tick a few boxes related to your skills and preferred causes, and a whole world of charitable opportunities open up to you. Where visiting animals at a sanctuary may not be possible now, writing their brochure, or looking over their bookkeeping system suddenly is! You can help all sorts of charities like this in tangible and often crucial ways so that they continue to carry out their important work.

The new platform – Vollie 2.0 – launched this year and has been opened up to universities and businesses that want to integrate virtual volunteering into their programs, so CSR departments and internship initiatives are now packed with practical and meaningful activity that have a direct positive impact on non-profit organisations.

The feel-good mental health benefits are immediate and wide-ranging, and you can also join as a team, which assists in bridging the social disconnect many are experiencing in isolation. Groups of up to eight volunteers can work together on larger-scale projects, which means virtual water cooler buddies or classmates can team up and rediscover a sense of camaraderie in working together for an important cause.

Vollie exists to serve non-profit organisations that can post their needs in just a few clicks. This is done with pre-written templates for common projects, always with the ability to edit and adjust depending on unique requirements. So charities and volunteers can collaborate and communicate clearly to make an even bigger positive impact together with improved in-platform messaging.

The result is an effortless way to do good for the world, all while honouring the 1.5-meter social distancing rule! At VMLY&R across our whole network, we had staff performing wonderful and useful acts of kindness for charities across the country, and I dare say they will continue to do so long after Foundation Day is over. So, if you’re looking for a simple way to feel good and do good without leaving home, I recommend giving Vollie a visit.

One team from VMYY&R working on Lively’s Facebook Ad Campaign project