Thinking Outside the Infographic
How a creative approach to infographic design transformed a critical resource for American Cancer Society.
American Cancer Society partners with Catchafire in a unique way — the organization uses the platform to give both select employees AND volunteer leaders access to pro bono support. Employees and volunteer leaders have matched on 140+ projects, saving the American Cancer Society hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars, while connecting them with pro bono support in everything from graphic design to strategic planning.
Steve Bell is a volunteer support lead for the Nationwide Relay Leadership Team, and he is responsible for ensuring that volunteers for Relay are being supported in their roles. Steve spent 20 years as manager for the City of Mission Viejo, California, managing their recreation division. While there, he took an active volunteer leadership role with the American Cancer Society and its signature fundraising event, Relay for Life and has been with the organization ever since.
Steve came to Catchafire for a very specific need: he wanted to develop a volunteer resource that would allow potential volunteers to easily identify leadership opportunities throughout the United States. He had the data, the role descriptions and the means to assess volunteer inquiries, but he lacked the knowledge and skill set to put all of this information together into a user-friendly format.
Through the Catchafire platform, Steve was able to post his concept on Catchafire as an Infographic project, and within two hours he received a response from an eager and experienced applicant. Steve matched with Alessio, a data scientist from the United Kingdom who had previously worked on over 20 Catchafire engagements.
In just two months, Alessio was able to transform Steve’s idea into a living and breathing resource — a an interactive map that allows volunteers to identify volunteer opportunities in their area, access a role description and submit a volunteer interest form online.
Steve and Alessio worked together to create a tool that would continue to help the American Cancer Society recruit more volunteers, just like Steve! Through this project, Steve and the American Cancer Society gained a new supporter in Alessio. When Steve and his wife were in London, they even got to meet in person!
This National Volunteer Week we are honoring Catchafire volunteers like Alessio who were able to create a transformational resource for the American Cancer Society, as well as volunteer leaders like Steve, who are an integral part of American Cancer Society and who do incredible work to support their mission.
