Voly.org celebrates five years of impact

In five years, one platform has brought more than $100 million worth of value to North Texas nonprofits, while also supporting hundreds of thousands of students across the state - VOLY.org.

VOLY.org is mission-driven technology powered by VolunteerNow. In almost 50 years, we have been dedicated to transforming communities through volunteerism, and developing an innovative, 24/7 platform for community engagement was a next natural step.

VOLY.org celebrated five years of impact this month, which includes modernizing how nonprofits recruit volunteers, as well as standardizing and strengthening school district volunteer and community engagement programs.

“VOLY.org has been an incredible tool for our community, in terms of expanding nonprofit and school district capacity and serving worthy individuals and organizations,” VolunteerNow CEO Tammy Richards said. “Innovative features make it an all-in-one-solution for under-funded, over-stretched organizations that rely on community engagement. It means more teachers can spend time in the classroom, rather than manning carpool, and it means that nonprofits can make their limited budgets go further through volunteers.”

Generous philanthropists, led by Lyda Hill, supported this incredible vision more than five years ago, and in October 2013, VOLY.org launched with less than 10,000 volunteers. Today, there are more than 135,000 registered volunteers who support 3,000 nonprofits - each year. Their collective impact generates 1.5 million hours valued at $37 million. Volunteers allow nonprofits and school districts the ability to stretch resources and fulfill critical missions.

The second largest school district in Texas estimated about 12,000 volunteers were involved in its program in 2015. Each of the 238 schools had its own process for recruiting, engaging and tracking volunteers, with more than 160,000 students and 80% at-or-below the poverty rate. In 2018, that district has 40,000 VOLY.org volunteers, a more than 200% increase.

“More than ever, community engagement is vital for school districts to keep students in class and feeling supported,” Richards said. “VolunteerNow is proud to be leading the way with an innovative platform for school districts, nonprofits and municipalities that provides an easy solution for technology users of all levels, with a focus on mission.”