COVID-19 Community Resources

GivePulse Volunteer Coordination Resources for Community Partners

In response to COVID-19 needs, many non-profit agencies may be hosting volunteer opportunities or conducting supply drives to assist individuals in our community who have been impacted by COVID-19 or by the suspension/closure of schools, colleges, offices, businesses, etc. The GivePulse platform can be a useful space to coordinate volunteers and supply drives, and is a free service for community partners. The Office of Service-Learning is providing resources and support for posting and managing volunteer efforts on GivePulse. 

The OSL has created a page called Volunteer Coordination for Athens-Clarke County COVID-19 to coordinate community volunteer efforts in conjunction with the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government.

How to Affiliate with GivePulse if Your Agency Already Uses the Platform

  • If your agency is already on the platform and is creating volunteer opportunities in response to COVID-19 please click the AFFILIATE button on the right side of our page: https://givepul.se/7epfbb to pull all volunteer opportunities in the Athens-Clarke County community into one space.
  • When you affiliate it will ask you a couple of brief questions. Please answer as we will use these answers to gain a better understanding of what types of assistance your agency may need.
  • To assist with troubleshooting and answering questions, you can give the Office of Service-Learning administrative access. This is optional.
  • The OSL has promoted the page on the Engage GA platform, the UGA campus version of GivePulse. If you have opportunities that you’d like highlighted please contact Josh Podvin, assistant director for community partnerships - jhpodvin@uga.edu.
  • In addition to your agency affiliating with Volunteer Coordination for Athens-Clarke County COVID-19, we encourage you (and your regular volunteers) to become a member of the page.  
  • Make sure to share Volunteer Coordination for Athens-Clarke County COVID-19 with others in our community.

OSL can assist all Athens-based agencies in the following ways:

  • Supporting organizations who are not currently represented on the GivePulse platform, or who are not trained in creating events.
  • Assisting any organization remotely in their volunteer management and in event creation by answering questions or troubleshooting issues.
  • Managing virtual events or a donation/supply drive ff your agency does not need volunteers.
  • Spotlighting opportunities on your agency website for organizations not on the platform.
  • Creating private events/opportunities. Private events are helpful if you need to offer opportunities to pre-screened or specific individuals.
​Please contact Josh Podvin at jhpodvin@uga.edu for assistance in managing these opportunities, or for any other questions. 

OSL can assist communities beyond Athens in the following ways:

  • Assisting communities statewide in establishing volunteer ‘hubs’ for managing initiatives in their communities.
  • Training or providing information if your community is interested in learning more about using this platform to manage volunteers. Please contact Josh Podvin, assistant director for community partnerships at jhpodvin@uga.edu for more information on getting started with GivePulse.
  • Spotlighting an opportunity on your organization's website for organizations who are not on the platform.
  • Connecting community partners with needs that could be addressed by a Fall or Spring service-learning course. Please contact Paul Matthews, associate director at pmatthews@uga.edu to learn more.

Health and Safety Considerations when Creating Volunteer Opportunities

The following are a few examples, but agencies should make sure to establish their own protocols and have a plan to communicate these protocols to volunteers and clients being served.

  • What methods/protocols are you establishing to ensure that volunteers are not unknowingly spreading COVID-19?
    • Temperature checks, gloves, hand cleaning, etc.
    • Not volunteering if you’ve come in contact with someone exposed to COVID-19
    • CDC Volunteer Guidelines
  • GivePulse COVID-19 Resources: https://uga.givepulse.com/covid
  • What measures are you taking to ensure that supplies donated are cleaned prior to distribution?

As always, please let us know how the Office of Service-Learning can support you and your agencies.