11th Annual Give Back Iowa Challenge Registration Is Now Open

Volunteer Iowa announced the launch of the 11th annual Give Back Iowa Challenge, an eight-week challenge from April 1 - May 31, 2025, aimed at engaging Iowans in employer supported volunteering. Alliant Energy and the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative have returned this year as partners to support the challenge. Iowa employers are encouraged to pre-register by March 31st but can elect to participate at any time during the Challenge.

Volunteerism at its core, has an enormous impact on the health and well-being of communities in our state. Last year over 30 organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, took part in the Give Back Iowa Challenge organized by Volunteer Iowa.

The Give Back Iowa Challenge is an eight-week statewide employer-supported volunteer initiative, which serves as a competitive way to encourage organizations and businesses alike to participate in community volunteering. The Challenge runs from April 1st through May 31st. It’s simple; register your organization, track the hours of your employees, record those hours on our system, and celebrate your employees!

The Give Back Iowa Challenge was created in 2015 by Volunteer Iowa to promote employer volunteer initiatives. These programs are proven to have a positive impact on businesses, including improved employee engagement, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and retention. In 2024 alone, this initiative recorded nearly 30,000 hours of volunteer service in Iowa.

While volunteer rates have increased since the pandemic, the need for volunteer support has grown. As well as serving an urgent need in Iowa, research shows volunteering helps improve physical and mental health. Now more than ever, it is critical to support and grow volunteering in Iowa. Your organization can help make a difference by participating in this year’s challenge.

Past winners of the Challenge include Worldly Goods in Ames, with 6 employees participating, and Wells Fargo with thousands of participants. Any business or organization of any size can help make Iowa a better, stronger place; one hour at a time.

Registration is now open!

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About Volunteer Iowa (or Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service)

Volunteer Iowa and its partner agencies work with organizations and individuals on three main fronts. The first is to help agencies develop quality programs that use service as a strategy to fulfill their missions and address Iowa’s greatest areas of need. The second is to help engage Iowans in their communities by promoting service and expanding the volunteer base. Finally, the third area of work is to connect individuals with appropriate service opportunities by building the volunteer infrastructure. More information is available at volunteeriowa.org.