Volunteer Opportunities

A list of volunteer opportunities to help you connect and give back in the Stanford community and greater Bay Area.

We support and encourage you to contribute your talents to serve others through charitable or volunteer efforts. These are some of the groups that offer information and opportunities for involvement both on and off campus. 

Brighten A Day

A great opportunity for employees and their families of all ages! Brighten A Day lifts the spirits of those in need of some cheer, and during the pandemic, efforts have been focused on bringing smiles to isolated retirement home residents, hospital patients, and frontline workers through cards, letters, devices, care packages, virtual conversations, and video messages. Volunteer opportunities are virtual and flexible.

Learn more about how you can participate

COVID-19 Volunteer Opportunities: 

View Stanford BeWell article: Helping those in need during COVID-19

Volunteering during work hours/on work days

Some volunteer opportunities may have events or activities that occur on your normally scheduled work day or during your normally scheduled work hours. 

• Volunteer opportunities for community organizations would require use of accrued leave time for the work hours you are volunteering. 
• Volunteer opportunities for Stanford organizations or Stanford-sponsored events should be discussed with your manager and local human resources office. 

Please discuss your volunteer intentions with your manager, as you would for any activity that causes you to be absent when you are scheduled to be working.

*This list is provided as a service only. We do not endorse any of these references. These resources are not exhaustive but a sample of local and national resources aimed at harnessing the power of volunteering.