Volunteer Spotlight | Masuma Virji, UMF Co-Founder & Director
United Muslim Foundation (UMF) serves to Promote Unity, Education and Community Service. Their philosophy is to network with other charitable organizations and with Muslims of every sect, culture and race who seek to contribute to society. UMF extends solidarity to learning centers, groups and individuals who wish to work United to promote greater Islamic awareness and sensitivity, and create and encourage involvement in Community Service efforts.
Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Masuma Verji, UMF Director, who uses VolunteerSpot's online signup sheets to coordinate volunteers for the many community service events organized by the UMF.
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Please tell us about your organization and your volunteer needs.
United Muslim Foundation (UMF) is a registered non-profit, 501(c)(3) and a recognized public charity based in the USA. UMF serves to Promote Unity, Education and Community Service. We host charity and unity festivals, organize events to feed and clothe the needy, conduct presentations on Islam at churches and universities, run programs for youth and provide teen counseling services.
Explain how you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate these volunteers.
Volunteerspot has been a wonderful asset for UMF. We've created a volunteerspot calendar for each one of our operations which we market in e-newsletters and on Facebook and have put them up prominently on our website as well.
We have a VolunteerSpot calendar for UMF Hungerteam, which organizes:
- Monthly soup kitchen events
- Twice a week End of Day Doughnation deliveries
- Joins in annual gleanings for the hungry
- Other events and collections to help the needy and for disaster relief.
UMF Outreach:
- A calendar for intra and interfaith events, church and university presentations and information booths on Islam.
UMF Guides:
- A calendar of youth educational events and fun activities our Guides and their parents can sign up for.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Unlike Facebook events which don't give an accurate count of attendees who truly intend to help out at an event, VolunteerSpot asks those who may be interested in volunteering for their email address, allows them to select what items you'd like them to bring and sends them an automatic reminder for you. It even lets you know if anyone who has signed up for an event decides to drop out and makes it easy for event organizers to prepare accordingly.
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
I found out about VolunteerSpot when I was doing an online search for an easier and online way to get volunteers to sign up for events. I love how VolunteerSpot makes sign up sheets available on the iPad so volunteers can sign up directly on the calendar and one doesn't have to worry about the sign up sheets getting lost. It also makes it easy for volunteers to sign up online and know exactly what time and where they are to report and what to bring and it's nice that they always get a reminder so they don't forget about their commitment. I love the fact that you can request donations and that users can donate online through VolunteerSpot if they choose.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know?
At UMF we encourage everyone, young and old, to try to give back to the community in any small way you can. When we look back at all we have accomplished through the hundreds of volunteers who have served with us over the last 10 years, we feel truly blessed to see the great impact the cumulation of our actions has made. And now, thanks to VolunteerSpot storing e-mail addresses for each calendar, logging hours volunteered, and making it easy to send emails to target groups, we can use it easily to thank each of our volunteers who have contributed to our operations, for making a big difference in the world.
To learn more, visit http://unitedmuslimfoundation.org