Passion, the Secret Sauce for Volunteering | Capri Cheung, Swire Trust Go-Givers of 2023

Together with Time Auction, the Swire Trust Go-Givers Program encourages skilled volunteers for Swire Trust NGO partners in education, marine conservation, and arts. From now to 2025. 10 outstanding volunteers will be selected annually as the “Swire Trust Go-Givers of the Year” with special rewards & recognition. Meet our 10 Go-Givers of 2023!

Meet Capri

You may wonder if there is a specific requirement or criteria to become a volunteer. While they may vary depending on the task and project nature, passion is the fundamental requirement for volunteering. Capri’s volunteering journey started with this exact, simple premise: passion.

Like many university student, Capri has her hands full with part-time and freelance work. Naturally, she chose roles that are related to her major, among them are social media creation and translation. Still, she found time to organise cultural activities and conduct tours for teenagers during her leisure time. 

Eager to Learn More About the Society

Before stepping into the professional world, Capri was keen to learn more about the society. She sought to gain insights into various life experiences, from interviewing elderly individuals who suffered from dementia, to exploring various lifestyle in society. This desire led her to Time Auction, a platform she discovered through her university’s platform. Initially intrigued by the term “skilled volunteer”, she realised the platform matches volunteers with roles that suit their strengths and talent. She then volunteered for several translation roles, as well as becoming a social media editor/translator at Time Auction.

Understanding Challenges of an Organisation

Before joining Time Auction, she had experience in preparing proposals and organising events for a start-up organisation. Despite her limited knowledge in budgeting, she had to manage a project with scarce resources. The organisation lacked both manpower and financial support. “It’s feels really helpless and frustrating when you want to achieve something good but you have no support at all.” Capri said. This experience allowed her to empathise with the challenges NGOs face, sparking her desire to help these organisations access needed resources.

Striving for Positive Impact

At Time Auction, Capri took on the role of a volunteer social media editor and translator. She translated articles, crafted LinkedIn posts and assisted in setting up communication templates. She also used her SEO copywriting skills to proofread materials.

Capri strongly believes that volunteers are valuable resources for small-to-medium-sized NGOs. Volunteering with Time Auction allows her to connect necessary resources with nonprofits, especially with organisations that may have less exposure in Hong Kong. With this goal in mind, Capri and the Time Auction team joined forces, focusing her efforts on crafting WhatsApp and LinkedIn content to encourage higher participation for the skilled volunteer projects.

The team regularly shares data analysis with Capri so they can monitor their collective efforts and performances as they believe in the power of collaboration and hope to learn and grow together too. Over time, it’s evident that there’s an increase in traffic for Chinese keyword searches from their data analysis, validating their content strategy! “I wasn’t expecting to make a difference with my efforts, but surprisingly, they led to significant improvements for the organisation. It’s really gratifying,” Capri expressed.

Creating New Insights

Capri’s volunteering journey is not just about giving, it’s also about learning and growing. Through volunteering in Time Auction, Capri became familiar with website and SEO content management tools and learnt to use online toos for communication in her remote volunteer work. She is amazed with these skills and knowledge improving her work efficiency, and providing her with valuable insights that she can apply in her current work.

Capri’s dedication didn’t go unnoticed, receiving the Swire Trust Go-Givers of the Year award is undoubtedly a surprising and encouraging recognition for Capri. Despite being relatively new to the field, Capri’s story spotlights the power of volunteering. As she eloquently put it, “Anyone can contribute with dedication and understanding of the NGO’s needs. It could just take several minutes once a week, as long as you’re available.”

Are you ready to join us today?

Thank you so much to Capri for contributing 40 volunteer hours & beyond at Time Auction! 

To see details of the Swire Trust Go-Givers Program and support their NGO partners, head over to Time Auction website.

Written by Kamie Lam, Volunteer Copywriter