Strategic Volunteering: 3 Ways to Raise Your Profile Through Giving
By Gina Eliadis, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Goodell DeVries
Volunteering is primarily about service and the act of giving, but it can also be a powerful way to boost your professional profile and grow your network. Here are three ways to position yourself for opportunities through volunteerism.
1. Put your marketing skills to use where they’re needed most. Community groups and professional associations are generally appreciative of any kind of help, but providing these organizations – particularly the smaller ones – with specialized skills is also valuable and leads to longer-lasting and higher-profile involvement.
Consider how your expertise in writing, design, digital marketing, event planning, etc., could help a small nonprofit with operations, fundraising, or community outreach. This is a great way to make a contribution while also marketing your own skills and credentials.
2. If you are in-house, offer to volunteer for a nonprofit that is meaningful to your firm. Those could be legal or community organizations in which your lawyers are active and/or serve as board members. Ask your partners whether those groups could use additional help, especially around events or special initiatives. Pitching in to assist firm-sponsored organizations supports your own internal marketing and strengthens your working relationships with your lawyer colleagues.
Some caveats apply here, of course. In volunteering, you become a part of the relationship between your firm and the organization. It’s doubly important in this context to put your best self forward. Be clear with all parties about the nature and scope of your service. Avoid overpromising (and, consequently, under-delivering). Maintain your usual high degree of professionalism at all times. And check in regularly with firm leadership to report on how the arrangement is going.
3. Remember that networking opportunities are everywhere. Serving as a volunteer exposes you to a whole new circle of colleagues with their own networks of personal and professional connections. Get to know your new colleagues and establish good working relationships as you serve.
Bonus tip: Join an LMA board, SIG, or committee. There is something for everyone among LMA’s network of specialized groups. Serve on a board, write for a newsletter, present on a topic, plan programs – you will gain valuable leadership skills and make many friends along the way.