Make volunteering work for you 

Shaking a donation tin or manning the till in a charity shop is what you might expect from a volunteering role. But the Small Charities Coalition's matchmaking service offers a lot more for both the volunteer and the charity.

Small charities are often chronically short of key skills and staff and desperately need volunteers with more to offer than just a willing pair of hands. Individually matching charity and commercial sector professionals with charities lacking in those particular skills gives the charity the specialised support they need.

Enabling you to use your specific experience in a voluntary capacity means that you benefit from professional development of your skills along with the boost to your wellbeing that volunteering can provide.

Volunteering your time to a small charity has a whole host of benefits, including:

• Development of new skills through mentoring, consultation and coaching
• The opportunity to enhance existing professional skills and gain to gain further experience by using them in a new area or in a different way
• Improved self-confidence through advising and supporting others
• If you also choose to become a trustee, there may additionally be opportunities to be involved in the strategic management of an organisation

Next: To find out how the matchmaking process works