Badger Volunteers (BV) is a semester-long program (11-week commitment) that pairs teams of students with community organizations to volunteer 1 to 4 hours each week at the same organization. The program is designed to foster meaningful and consistent connections between community partners and students over the course of an entire semester.
Badger Volunteers provides logistical support, transportation, training and educational workshops for student volunteers in the program. Volunteer opportunities are loosely organized within five thematic areas:
- Urban Farming & Community Gardening
- Food & Resource Security
- Community Education & Afterschool Programming
- Isolation Intervention & Companionship
- Awareness Raising & Affinity Spaces
Badger Volunteers is open to all UW–Madison student (including graduate students) in any major and any interest! You do not need any special skills or prior experience to join Badger Volunteers!
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As a Badger Volunteer, you are expected to:
- Volunteer each week at your site, following all UW and community partner-specific safety measures.
- Maintain consistent communication with your team, community partner, and BV staff.
- Attend Badger Volunteers General Orientation at the start of semester.
- Attend one Badger Volunteers Engagement Session during the semester.
- Engage in a monthly reflection discussion with your team. In-Person team leaders will submit team responses, while virtual volunteers will be asked to submit their own reflections.
- Represent Badger Volunteers and the University of Wisconsin-Madison positively through respectful and consistent commitment to your volunteer position throughout the semester
Each Badger Volunteers team is assigned a team leader. Serving as a team leader is a low stakes opportunity to gain valuable leadership experience, take on an increased role in the program, and put your organizational skills to use while continuing to volunteer on a team.
Team leaders are responsible for:
- Serving as main contact between team members, community partner site, and BV staff
- Recording team attendance every week using BadgersEngage on GivePulse
- Coordinating team transportation to and from volunteer site (depending on site distance from campus, this entails riding the bus together or managing the team Lyft pass provided through our Transportation Options program)
- Leading monthly reflection discussions with your team members based on prompts provided by BV staff
Badger Volunteers Summer 2025
Timeline and Registration
Badger Volunteers Fall 2025 opportunities will be viewable on our dashboard starting Monday, Aug. 11. If you are interested in being a team leader this semester, our application process will take place from Monday, Aug. 11, through Friday, Aug. 22. General Volunteer Registration will begin Monday, Aug. 25 and end Friday, Sept. 12.
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Important Dates
Team Leader Application Process — 8/11 – 8/22
Registration opens for all volunteers — 8/25
Registration closes — 9/12
Orientation Day for Team Leaders — 9/12
Orientation Day for Volunteers and Team Leaders — 9/20
Volunteering begins — 9/22
No Volunteering for all sites — 11/25 – 11/30
Volunteering Ends — 12/5
How to Register and Use BadgersEngage GivePulse
If you are new to Badger Volunteers, please create a BadgersEngage on GivePulse account using your Wisc NetID. You will be asked several questions before you can confirm your account. Once you create your account, you can begin to navigate the Badger Volunteers GivePulse subgroup and see the open volunteer opportunities.
For more specific instructions on how to create a BadgersEngage on GivePulse account and register for Badger Volunteer opportunities, see our How-To document.
Many volunteer opportunities fill up very quickly, so register as soon as possible!
Orientation
All Badger Volunteer Team Leaders will be asked to attend Team Leader Orientation on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 12, from 4-5:30pm in the On Wisconsin Room AB located in the Red Gym.
All Badger Volunteer Team Leaders and Volunteers will be asked to attend General Orientation on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9:30-11:30am on the second floor of Gordon Dining Hall.
After you have registered on BadgersEngage, you will receive more detailed information regarding these orientation sessions.
Volunteer Requirements
Badger Volunteers is open to all UW–Madison students, including graduate students! In order to foster meaningful connections with the community, we ask that each of our volunteers commits to the following required components:
- Orientation Session(s)
- Weekly Volunteering
- Engagement Session(s)
- Team Reflection
- Consistent Communication
More Information and FAQs
Contact
Badger Volunteers Program Manager Lara Miller
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History of Badger Volunteers
Check out our Badger Volunteers 10-Year Yearbook or watch “Celebrating 10 Years of Badger Volunteers”
Can I Volunteer for More Than One Site in a Session?
Yes, however we strongly encourage you to make sure you can keep multiple commitments for the entire session.
Keep in mind each volunteer opportunity has a cap on capacity. If you are interested in that opportunity but the capacity is full, you are welcome to join the waitlist and we will let you know by the end of registration if there is room.
We encourage students who join a waitlist to also register for a second-choice opportunity in case they don’t get their first choice.
How do I get to my Community Partner Site?
Badger Volunteers provides transportation support through the Morgridge Center’s Transportation Options program. If a community partner site is close to campus, BVs can walk, use their ASM-provided city bus pass, or check out a BCycle pass paid for by BV.
If a BV community partner site is over a 35-minute bus ride from campus, Morgridge Center’s Transportation Options program will work with team leaders to provide team transportation through Lyft, Union Cab, or UW fleet vehicles. Please note, the time listed for volunteer hours does not account for transportation to and from the site. Make sure your schedule can accommodate extra time before and after volunteering.
Please contact Lara Miller if you need additional accommodations or have access issues.
What Happens if I Fail to Adhere to Volunteer Expectations?
Community partners rely on Badger Volunteers to serve as dedicated, responsible and engaged volunteers. Any of the following actions could result in denial of future involvement as a Badger Volunteer:
- Conducting yourself in a disrespectful, unsafe, or disengaged manner while volunteering
- Missing more than two volunteer sessions for undisclosed or non-emergency reasons
- Dropping out of the program mid-semester
- Failing to complete an engagement session
What if I couldn’t join Badger Volunteers this session?
No worries! The Morgridge Center has peer advisors who will help connect you to other volunteer opportunities that match your interests.
You can also sign up to receive Morgridge Mail, our weekly e-newsletter which includes volunteer opportunities, events, jobs and internships.
Badger Volunteers is generously supported by UW–Madison Facilities Planning & Management.
