We are so glad you’ve come to Drexel Galaxy to find volunteer opportunities. In order to make the most of your experience volunteering, we’ve put together some advice that can help you find an opportunity that matches your interests and needs, as well as some tools that you can use to learn and reflect about your chosen volunteer activities. Image to the left: students volunteering as meal servers with the Sunday Love Project.

 

Tip #1: Use the quick links at the top of the page

• Drexel Student-Led Initiatives
• On-Campus Opportunities

Tip #2: Maximize the search functions of the Galaxy database

There are hundreds of opportunities in the Galaxy database and sifting through them to find what works for you can be overwhelming! It helps to have an idea of what you’re looking for when you come to the site—having answers to the following questions can help you maximize the search and filter functions on Galaxy to narrow results to a more manageable number:

• Do I want to go alone or with a group?
• What am I passionate about? (e.g.: food access, clean neighborhoods, youth education, workforce development, access to voting)
• When and where am I looking to volunteer? Will I use public transportation to get there (or do I prefer to walk or use a personal vehicle?)
• How much time do I have to establish a relationship with an organization?

Once you have a better idea of what you're looking for, use the search and filter functions in Galaxy to narrow your options to things that are most relevant. In the “Opportunities” section of Galaxy, you can search and filter by things like date, location, virtual or in-person, and specific phrases such as “tutor”, “mentor”, “food”. You can also toggle between different views of the opportunities, such as tile view, list view, and calendar view. Please note that many of our partners list their opportunities as "ongoing", meaning they don't have a specific date. When looking at the calendar view, you may see hundreds of opportunities listed on every day, which is reflective of these "ongoing" opportunities. It should also show you above the "View more" button some opportunities that are happening on that specific day. Also, just because something is listed in our site as "ongoing" doesn't mean it isn't happening on specific dates, so if there is an opportunity you are interested in, be sure to click through as you may find more information on their schedule of opportunities in the description. 

The “Organization” section of Galaxy can also come in handy, as many organizations listed in Galaxy may have volunteer opportunities that they are not posting for whatever reason (they may have their own volunteer websites or not have capacity to monitor the Drexel Galaxy site). Also, the Organization section not only allows you to filter searches by location or phrase, you can also filter by “Cause”—a great way to find organizations that align with your passions.

Tip #3: Consider the Galaxy database a starting point and be willing to go beyond the site to find a good match

The Galaxy site is a great starting point to find opportunities and organizations, but oftentimes it may not have the exact opportunities you're looking for or you may find organizations you're interested in but not see any opportunities listed with them (this happens because the site depends on partners to share opportunities and they don't always have capacity to do so because they are busy with their own work and/or maintaining their own volunteer websites).

If you find an opportunity that you are interested in but it doesn't have a lot of information or you respond and don't hear back in a couple of days, you can always go to the organization's website and see if they have more information and contacts listed, or a way to sign up directly through them that might get you a more timely response. Also, if you find an organization in our site that aligns with your interests but they don't have any opportunities listed, go to their site to see what information is there. 

Note that clicking "respond" to an opportunity in our database is not always the best way to sign up for that opportunity - while clicking "respond" does alert a person at that organization that you've signed up, they may not have capacity to monitor Galaxy as they may have their own volunteer website to monitor. Be sure that you carefully read the description of each volunteer opportunity as they often direct volunteers to sign up on a different website or by contacting a specific person. And if you haven't heard back in a couple of days, it is okay to follow up with whoever is listed as a contact for the organization directly through email, or visit their site to find the most up-to-date volunteer contact information (as Galaxy may have old information).