Any organization, in any community, worldwide can use it to mobilize volunteers
CONTACT:
Erin McPike
202-247-0478
erin@swannstreeststrategies.com
DALLAS — Starting today, VOMO will make its volunteer management platform free and accessible to any organization mobilizing volunteers and any person who wants to serve during the COVID-19 crisis. Builders + Backers, a nationwide network of entrepreneurs, investors, and donors, is fueling this and other initiatives to ignite entrepreneurial ingenuity to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
Volunteer shortages already are emerging at food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens as well as in blood banks and other critical areas. VOMO can solve this problem in an organized and responsible way. With VOMO, government agencies, healthcare providers, nonprofits, churches, schools and other organizations on the front lines can coordinate critical-need volunteering efforts without having to rely on grassroots efforts that may unintentionally increase chaos or worsen the crisis.
“This crisis is inspiring people to take care of one another, and there is an explosion of grassroots efforts to organize willing helpers on email, listservs and social media,” said Rob Peabody, founder & CEO of VOMO. “We’ve spent the last three years building and perfecting the very thing communities, organizations and neighborhoods need to mobilize volunteers efficiently and appropriately around critical needs. In this challenging moment, we want to make it available for everyone to use for free.”
Interested organizations should visit www.beaneighborcampaign.com to create an account and connect on the platform to organize existing volunteers or create projects that anyone can sign up to help serve. Individuals can also immediately see both in-person and virtual opportunities in their communities and around the world and sign up to serve.
Follow @be_a_neighbor, @vomoapp and #BeANeighbor on Twitter, @beaneighborcampaign on Instagram and Be A Neighbor Campaign on Facebook.
VOMO is a social impact company founded in 2017. Thousands of cities, nonprofits, churches, and schools in 31 countries currently use it to mobilize their volunteers. In 2019, VOMO partnered with Sony Pictures and the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks to execute the “Be a Neighbor” campaign to encourage Americans to live out the legacy of Mister Rogers by being a neighbor through volunteerism. Now “Be a Neighbor” is how individuals, organizations and entire communities can access VOMO’s platform for free.
VOMO’s decision to redirect its team, resources and platform to assist in the COVID-19 response is supported by Builders + Backers, a nationwide network of technology entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, and donors who are working to ignite serving and solving in communities across America as a way to come together by building together. Alongside them the National Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is serving as a fiscal sponsor so VOMO / Be a Neighbor can also distribute philanthropic support to frontline efforts.
“It’s crystal clear from my conversations with city and county officials and healthcare leaders that we are going to need to mobilize an enormous number of volunteers to weather this crisis,” said investor Donna Harris, General Partner of 1776 Ventures and founder of Builders + Backers. “We need grassroots efforts to gather a national bank of ready volunteers. And we need a means to take direction from frontline organizations trained in appropriate responses in the face of a pandemic. VOMO was designed for this exact model of organizing, and we are helping get them and the thousands of community organizations they are assisting to get the people, funding, resources or support they need in this time of crisis.”
About VOMO
VOMO is powering a global volunteer movement by providing organizations and networks with the tools needed to discover and initiate projects, connect to community causes, and to measure and amplify the impact of volunteering. VOMO leverages the power of technology to unleash a generation to change the world for good.
www.vomo.org
About Builders + Backers
Builders + Backers was created to ignite action in communities across America with the most American of methods: experimentation and entrepreneurial action. From the smallest of projects to the biggest, boldest ideas, we can unleash the power of every person to become a builder and solve challenges in their communities. And, in sharing our challenges and our ideas for solving them, we will see the common threads that connect us more than divide us. We can come together by building together.
www.buildersandbackers.com
About National Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (NCEI)
NCEI is the fiscal partner for the Be a Neighbor campaign, as the campaign aligns with NCEI’s mission of mobilizing the resources and capabilities of communities across the country to realize locally-defined goals in time for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
www.2026.us
