Volunteers are an essential part of any nonprofit organization and Nightingale Foundation volunteers contribute invaluable time, skills, and passion to support current and prospective nursing students on their journey to becoming the next generation of nurses. By helping to create a diverse nursing workforce, volunteers are providing the resources needed to ensure equitable access to nursing education in underserved and underrepresented communities.
Nightingale Foundation continually accepts volunteers due to its need for scholarship reviewers. Each semester presents a different list of scholarships that are open and available through the Foundation, and it relies on volunteers to serve as scholarship reviewers. To maintain equity, reviewers play a critical role by evaluating each application and scoring it based on a predetermined scale. When new volunteers join, they meet with the Foundation’s Executive Director, receive an overview of their responsibilities and the eligibility requirements, and are then guided through a demonstration of the scholarship scoring platform. After blind reviews of the submitted applications, reviewers score applications on one to five rubrics and thoroughly select the applicants who will be awarded scholarships. Depending on the reviewer, they can expect to volunteer about ten hours per semester. On average, the Nightingale Foundation receives nearly one hundred applications that must be reviewed, scored, and narrowed down for scholarship awards each semester. For the Shneyder & Kirk ‘Reaching the Impossible’ Scholarship Fund, the Foundation receives 50 to 60 applications alone. Without volunteers, the Foundation would struggle to distribute necessary scholarship funds to nursing students. In addition to scholarship reviews, the Foundation is always seeking volunteers to assist with its fundraising efforts. Connecting the Nightingale Foundation with donors and fundraising opportunities is vital to its mission of providing resources to nursing students. Donations support the fulfillment of what the Nightingale Foundation aims to achieve, which is to lead real change in communities across the United States.
As a team, the capacity of the Nightingale Foundation is very limited. The involvement of volunteers is crucial to its operations, especially since there is not a dedicated scholarship program manager. The hours contributed by volunteers ensure that the scholarship capacity can increase, allowing funds to be awarded promptly and efficiently. This year, the Nightingale Foundation aims to recruit at least 40 volunteers to rotate based on each semester’s needs. Current volunteers have expressed that their experiences have been eye-opening and rewarding because they get to immerse themselves in the stories of applicants. Given that Nightingale College’s population is unique compared to traditional college students, this creates a lasting connection for volunteers. Through this significant act of giving back, volunteers provide essential means that help the Foundation work to promote better health in our communities. If you are interested in serving as a volunteer for the Foundation in the spring, summer, or fall of 2025, please reach out to Nightingale Foundation Executive Director, Katy Shoemaker at [email protected].