What does it mean to be a volunteer?

The most widely used concepts of voluntary work:

"A volunteer is a citizen who, motivated by the values of participation and solidarity, donates their time, work and talent, spontaneously and unpaid, to causes of social and community interest." (Comunidade Solidária, Comunitas)

"A volunteer is a young person or adult who, because of his or her personal interest and civic spirit, devotes part of his or her time, without any remuneration, to various forms of activities, organized or not, in social welfare or other fields." (United Nations Organization - UN)

These definitions contain the main motivation for volunteering: satisfaction.

Volunteer work generates personal fulfillment, an inner well-being that comes from the pleasure of serving those in need. It's a feeling of compassion and love for others combined with the importance of feeling socially useful.

In volunteering, everyone wins: the volunteer, the person they work with and the community.

Voluntary service is a long-standing reality in Brazil and, since 1998, there has been specific legislation for the practice of volunteering, creating legal backing to facilitate the professionalization of voluntary service.

Ten tips on volunteering:

Everyone can volunteer: It's not just those who are experts in something who can volunteer. Everyone has skills, abilities and gifts. What everyone does well can be good for someone else.
Volunteering is a human relationship, rich in solidarity: It's not a cold, rational and impersonal activity. It is a person-to-person relationship, an opportunity to make friends, live new experiences and get to know other realities.
Volunteering is a two-way street: volunteers donate their energy and creativity, but in return they gain human contact, the chance to meet different people, the opportunity to learn new things and the satisfaction of feeling useful.
Volunteering is action: You don't have to ask anyone's permission before you start acting. Those who want to can just do it.
Volunteering is a choice: There is no hierarchy of priorities. The forms of action are as varied as the needs of the community and the creativity of the volunteer.
Everyone volunteers in their own way: There are no formulas or models to be followed. Some volunteers are able to look around, roll up their sleeves and take action on their own. Others prefer to act in groups, bringing together neighbors, friends or co- workers. Sometimes it's an entire institution that mobilizes, be it a service club, a church, a charity or a company.
Volunteering is a commitment: Everyone contributes as much as they can, but a commitment made must be kept. Some have more free time, others only have a few hours a week. Some know exactly where or with whom they want to work. Others are ready to help in any way they can, where the need is most urgent.
Volunteering is a lasting, quality action: The volunteer's job is not to fill gaps and make up for needs. Volunteering helps people in difficulty, solves problems and improves the quality of life in the community.
Volunteering is a tool for social inclusion: Everyone has the right to volunteer. The energies, resources and skills of children, young people, people with disabilities, the elderly and pensioners can and should be mobilized.
Volunteering is a habit of the heart and a civic virtue: The forms of voluntary action are as varied as the creativity of the volunteer and the needs of the community.

General guidelines - BB Volunteering website

The program's tool for mobilizing and promoting network volunteering is the BB Volunteering Site. Here, BB volunteers - active or retired employees and their guests - can take the lead in proposing actions and campaigns for the organizations and communities that receive their support.

In addition, this is the space in which the Bank will propose and publicize opportunities for institutional actions, with the possibility of receiving institutional financial support or not.

Confirm registration: when you register, you will receive an e-mail confirming and validating your login and password.

Create your profile: once you have registered, you can create and edit your profile page, where you can tell us a bit about yourself, add photos, exchange messages with other users (chat) and view the actions you are taking part in.

Participate in Actions: you'll find a gallery of actions, created by the company (corporate actions) or by registered volunteers (personal or committee actions), and you can participate in those with which you identify or follow them.

Create your own Actions - Personal Actions or Committee Actions: as well as taking part in existing actions, you can also create your own. Just click on the Create Action link in your profile.

Introducing Institutions: if you are involved with an institution, you can create a page for it on the portal. Simply click on Create New Institution on your profile page and then fill in the institution's details in the form.

Once you have created the institution, other interested people can connect to it. You can also create actions and link them to the institution.

How to participate?

Do you have the willpower to help build a better world? Then you have everything it takes to be a volunteer!

In communities, self-help groups and clubs, churches, cultural and sports associations, social institutions and companies, many people help each other.

By donating your energy and generosity, you are responding to a basic human impulse: the desire to help others, to collaborate, to share joys, to alleviate suffering and to improve the quality of life of someone who needs it.

By caring about others, by mobilizing for causes of social and community interest, we establish bonds of solidarity and mutual trust that protect us in times of crisis, make society more united and make us better human beings.

Because of the benefits it brings to those who volunteer, to the people with whom they interact and to society as a whole, volunteering deserves to be valued, supported, publicized and strengthened.

Those who are already volunteers will find a space here to share their experience. Those who are not yet active will be able to find out what other volunteers and social organizations are doing in order to learn and participate with them.