307. Connecting with Volunteers During Times of Change

Elena Laguna of Oxfam shares how her organization navigated openings and closings of their retail shops due to COVID, which are the primary source of unrestricted funding for the organization’s work, all while maintaining a sense of community amongst their volunteers. Oxfam is an international non-governmental organization working with others to challenge inequality, overcome poverty and work with people to thrive, not just survive. For over 75 years, Oxfam has led a movement of people dedicated to ending extreme poverty.

The organization works with over 18,000 volunteers annually in their network of approximately 600 local charity shops, at festivals and special events, and as part of fundraising campaigns.

In March 2020 Oxfam was forced to close its shops In order to keep communities safe from COVID transmission.This meant that thousands of volunteers could not come into work and one of the organization’s main sources of unrestricted funding was virtually eliminated overnight.

As a result, Oxfam quickly pivoted to offering online shopping and doubled down on their commitment to and investment in, supporting their volunteers.The COVID pandemic has also accelerated their digital transformation.

In this interview, Elena shares the ups and downs of their work, “not for volunteers, but with volunteers.” She shares how they maintained a sense of community amongst their volunteers using a variety of technology tools and how volunteers are the “X-factor” in everything they do. 

For more information on Oxfam, their key impact areas, their network of shops, and how to get involved visit https://www.oxfam.org.uk/ or follow them on Facebook @oxfamGB or Instagram @oxfamgb.

You can find out more about volunteering, visit - https://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/

Or, find a local shop here - https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shops/.

For More:

For more info on how organizations can build community online, check out Season 2 of the Time + Talent podcast, Episode 204: Building Community Together - Online and During a Pandemic.

Guest Bio:

Elena Laguna
Head of Volunteering, Oxfam Great Britain
Trustee, Peer Power Youth

Elena is a volunteering and learning specialist and she believes in social action as a powerful tool for civic engagement within society.

She has successfully performed various volunteer management roles which have spanned local areas as well as national ones across the UK, allowing her to work with organizations of different sizes and form partnerships across diverse communities and cultures.

Elena has an interest in building high-quality volunteering programmes with volunteer impact and engagement at their core. She started in the charity sector as a young volunteer and is now passionate about providing an exceptional volunteer management service to every stakeholder.

She is currently Head of Volunteer Engagement at Oxfam Great Britain and a Trustee at Peer Power Youth and has experience in developing new digital models, innovative strategies and approaches to engaging volunteers.