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Points of Light is an international
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
, nonpartisan organization headquartered in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points of Light mobilizes millions of people through affiliates in approximately 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and companies.


History

Points of Light was formed in 2007 by the merger of the Points of Light Foundation and
Hands On Network The HandsOn Network was a non-profit organization focusing on community service based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. It sought to bring people together to strengthen communities through meaningful volunteer action, and mobilized some half million v ...
. Encouraged by major donors and affiliates, the two organizations merged with the goal of strengthening volunteerism, streamlining costs and services and deepening impact. The Points of Light Foundation was created in 1990 as a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. to promote the spirit of volunteerism described by U.S. President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
in his 1989 inaugural address, "I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good." President Bush used the " thousand points of light" theme frequently, including in his 1991 State of the Union address in which he said: In 1991 the National Volunteer Center, which had begun in 1970 as the National Center for Voluntary Action, was merged into it. The merged organization also became known during the 2000s as the Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network. The Foundation and its expanded network acted as community hubs to connect volunteers to opportunities, work with local nonprofits and businesses to establish and improve volunteer programs, and, overall, bolster the local infrastructure for the volunteering community. The Points of Light Foundation received an annual allocation from the Corporation for National and Community Service to manage some of that agency's programs, and administered the President's Volunteer Service Award program, which was created by President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
in 2003. The group also sponsored conferences, offered training and other assistance to its network of volunteer centers, and recognized volunteers through a Daily Point of Light award. The Points of Light Foundation was in fact not a grant-making foundation. It engaged in a variety of tasks, including managing its network of volunteer centers, engaging volunteers in disaster recovery, supporting corporate volunteer councils and more. At the same time as the Points of Light Foundation's founding, a group of young professionals in Atlanta started a group to connect volunteers with nonprofit organizations. Michelle Nunn joined this group of co-founders as the first executive director of Hands On Atlanta in 1989. The nonprofit offered a volunteer model with flexible opportunities for people to be involved in their communities through "hands on" projects like working in a soup kitchen, food bank or building a house. When the group held its first Hands On Atlanta Day in 1992, around 2,000 people volunteered. In 2003, Nunn moved from Hands On Atlanta to become CEO of the national
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
-based HandsOn Network to expand the volunteer model to cities around the world. In 2007, the Points of Light Foundation began talks with the HandsOn Network to join forces through a merger to make one national organization with local affiliates focused on volunteering and service. They combined forces on August 11, 2007, to become the Points of Light Institute. By late 2011, it changed its name to Points of Light. Points of Light has approximately 120 affiliates in 32 countries and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and companies. In 2012, Points of Light mobilized 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours of service worth $635 million. Points of Light received the highest possible rating (4-stars) on
Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates more than 230,000 charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit's financial stability, adh ...
in 2012, 2011, and 2010. In 2013, Nunn took a leave of absence from the CEO position to pursue an unsuccessful run for Georgia's U.S. Senate seat in 2014. In 2015, Tracy Hoover was named as CEO of Points of Light, with Nunn taking a place on the board of directors. Hoover announced in January 2017 she would step down, and Natalye Paquin replaced her in September 2017.


Criticism

On January 10, 1995, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' published a scathing account of the new foundation, saying "the lone remnant of the Bush initiative has the look of a wasteful, Washington-dependent operation." The article noted the foundation had received $26.6 million in federal funds and had spent $22.3 million "on glitzy promotions, consultants, salaries, travel and conferences." The article said "only 11 percent of the foundation's budget had been spent to provide grants to volunteer efforts. The foundation has fallen well short of private fund-raising goals and attracted scant scrutiny from Congress." In the article, volunteerism expert Susan J. Ellis said, "There's been tons of money wasted, just wasted... and I don't think they can show a lot of people have volunteered."


Daily Point of Light Award

President Bush created the "Daily Point of Light Award" in 1989 to recognize ordinary Americans from all walks of life taking direct and consequential voluntary action in their communities to solve serious social problems. The President focused great attention on these individuals and organizations, both to honor them for their work and to call the nation to join them and multiply their efforts. By the end of his administration, President Bush had recognized 1,020 Daily Points of Light representing all fifty states and addressing issues ranging from care for infants and teenagers with AIDS to adult illiteracy and from gang violence to job training for homeless people. The Daily Point of Light continues to be awarded by Points of Light; up until his death, President Bush continued to sign all of the awards. President Bush devoted attention to voluntary service as a means of solving some of America's most serious social problems. In ''The Points of Light Movement: The President's Report to the Nation'', President Bush wrote, On July 15, 2013, President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
welcomed President Bush to the White House to celebrate the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award. They bestowed the award on Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton of Union, Iowa, for their work founding Outreach, a nonprofit that delivers free meals to hungry children in 15 countries. Daily Point of Light honorees include: * Israel Idonije, for his foundation's work providing support to thousands of kids through after-school programs, sports camps and medical missions in West Africa, Winnipeg and Chicago. * Joseph Hanna, founder of Bunkers in Baghdad, for his work to collect and ship new and used golf equipment to soldiers around the world and to wounded warriors in the U.S. *The Volunteer Partners of Sacred Heart Hospital for their support of their hospital colleagues to provide excellent patient care. *Project Linus for their mission to embrace fragile children with hope and healing through the gift of a handmade blanket. *Bryant Ranch Elementary School's "Once Upon A River" Project to restore the native habitat of the Santa Ana River. * Derrius Quarles who founded Million Dollar Scholar to help high school students find scholarships *Sikander ‘Sonny’ Khan who founded Paani Project


United Kingdom and Commonwealth Points of Light

In the United Kingdom a daily Points of Light programme recognising outstanding individual volunteers was developed in partnership with the US programme and launched by Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
at 10 Downing Street in April 2014. The awards continued under Prime Ministers
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
and
Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...
with 2,327 individuals across the UK recognised. The most recent award was given by Sunak on 23 May 2024. A Commonwealth Points of Light award series was launched in February 2018 as a continuation of the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light programme to coincide with the UK hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, April 2018.


Programs

The organization manages a number of notable programs including * the HandsOn Network, which leads approximately 250 volunteer action centers; * GenerationOn, which helps schools, children and families volunteer in their communities; * Community Blueprint, which works with nonprofits to meet the needs of veterans and military families; * Billion + Change, which organizes companies to pledge billions of dollars in skills-based volunteer services to nonprofits; * Civic Accelerator, which invests in civic enterprise start-ups. * All for Good, a digital hub for volunteerism and community engagement The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway honors famous volunteers with a series of bronze medallions that form a one-mile walking path, just blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C. There are 33 people recognized, including Booker T. Washington,
Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...
,
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
, Clara Barton and Martin Luther King Jr. National Volunteer Week is an annual event designed to thank volunteers for their service and encourage others across the United States to volunteer. The HandsOn Network works in partnership with local organizations and schools to create "hands on" service projects that produce tangible benefits in communities. The network enlists a corps of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who join forces to address community needs worldwide. The HandsOn Network enables them to choose from a variety of projects that connect community needs with their time and interests. They cultivate and train volunteers to in turn lead other volunteers. In 2018, Points of Light worked with Starbucks on a new program. 36 Starbucks employees were selected as Starbucks Service Fellows. For six months, the Fellows worked at least 20 hours per week at Starbucks, and up to 20 hours for a local organization. The program supported employees who wanted to give back to the local community. Points of Light paid the Fellows using a grant from the Starbucks Foundation, which also provided money for the local nonprofits' programs.


Events


All Together Now: A Celebration of Service

Points of Light paid tribute to President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
and volunteer service on March 21, 2011, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Presidents
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, and
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
joined President George H.W. Bush to highlight the role volunteer service plays in people's lives. It marked the first time all four former presidents had come together since President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's inauguration in January 2009. President Obama was on a trip to South America and taped a video message for the event. The Tribute to the elder Bush — called "All Together Now: A Celebration of Service" — featured singers Carrie Underwood,
Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...
, and
Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...
, and broadcaster Jim Nantz.


Presidential Forum on Service

On October 16, 2009, President Obama held a Presidential Forum on Service hosted by former President George H.W. Bush and Points of Light at the George Bush Presidential Library Center on the campus of
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
. The event celebrated the contributions of more than 4,500 Daily Point of Light award winners and honored President Bush's legacy of service and civic engagement. At the Presidential Forum, President Obama said,


Conference on Volunteering and Service

Since 1992, leaders from the nonprofit, for-profit, government, Hollywood and military sectors have gathered for Points of Light's annual Conference on Volunteering and Service. In 2012, approximately 5,000 people attended a plenary session featuring former First Lady Barbara Bush, Second Lady Jill Biden, Points of Light CEO Michelle Nunn and actor
Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. Known for various roles, including leading man characters, Bacon has received numerous accolades such as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Bacon made his featu ...
.


Make a Difference Day

Make A Difference Day is the nation's largest day of service, created by '' USA Weekend'' magazine and held in partnership with Points of Light on the fourth Saturday of each October. An estimated 3 million volunteers spent the 22nd Make A Difference Day in 2012 helping their communities in projects ranging from bowl-a-thon fundraisers to beach cleanups.


Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Each year, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Points of Light honors King's memory with service projects across the United States, calling it their MLK Day of service. In 2013, Vice President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
and his family joined 10,000 volunteers at Points of Light's service project at the D.C. Armory to put together 100,000 thank-you "care kits" for U.S. military personnel, disabled veterans, and civilian first responders.


International Year of Volunteers

In the US, the Points of Light Foundation and the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) partnered to convene and lead the International Year of Volunteers 2001 USA Steering Committee. Members of the committee included the National Council of Volunteer Centers, National Council on Workplace Volunteering, Association for Volunteer Administration, National Parents and Teachers Association and Make A Difference Day. The USA's IYV web site, ''www.iyv2001us.org'', was launched in September 2000."IYV 2001 U.S." published a
iyv2001us.org
version December 18, 2000, archived at
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
, accessed August 3, 2016


Awards

Points of Light Foundation & HandsOn Network received a ''
Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...
'' Social Capitalist Award in 2008.


Further reading

* Nunn, Michelle (2012). ''Be the Change! Change the World, Change Yourself''. Atlanta: Hundreds of Heads. .


See also

* Association for Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (ALIVE) * Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (USA) *
European Volunteer Centre The Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) (until 1 July 2020 known as the European Volunteer Centre), established in 1992, is the European network of over 60 organisations dedicated to the promotion of, and support to, volunteers and volunteerin ...
(CEV)


References


External links


Points of Light websiteHandsOn Network websitegenerationOn websiteDaily Point of Light website
{{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state) Community-building organizations Organizations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Washington, D.C. George H. W. Bush Volunteering in the United States