A community service letter template is a kind of certificate to an individual or organization for some kind of community service being provided by them. So, it is usually issued by the NGOs and charitable organizations that seek volunteers for their NGO services.
Further, a community service letter template contains all the information about the services being provided by the person or organization such as:
- When the service was provided?
- How long the service was provided?
- Where the service was provided?
- What was the nature of the provided service?
Also, it is important to include the complete details of the duties and responsibilities being handled by the person during community service time.
What is community service?
Community service is volunteer work done by an individual or group of people that benefits others. You don’t get paid for this volunteer work but sometimes food and small gifts are given to the volunteers. It is frequently done nearby the area where you live in. So, your own community takes the advantage of your work.
Community service can help many people that are in need such as children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, English language learners, and more. Moreover, it can also be used to help animals, to improve places such as local parks, historic buildings, or scenic areas as well.
What is the purpose of a community service letter?
Let us discuss below some of the purposes of a community service letter;
For college applications
You can request a letter afterward in case you had done any kind of community service in an organization. You can attach your letter to your other documents when you start applying to different colleges. This letter says that you are volunteered to do work for a good cause.
For scholarship applications
You may have to submit a letter if you want to apply for the scholarships which revolve around volunteering in the community. This letter confirms that you had actually provided a service.
For graduation requirements
Some schools may ask their students to complete a specific number of hours of community service before being allowed to graduate. You can ask for a community service hour letter when you’ve done the work. It makes sure that you had actually worked for the organization.
For your resume
Such a letter is also used by the people who are done with their studies. In your resume, you can mention the volunteer work you’ve done. Then, attach the letter with your resume as a supporting document. Since it indicates that you care and you are willing to do volunteer work for organizations so it will add a good element to your resume.
Components of a Community Service Letter Template:
The community service letter is always provided on the letterhead of the organization to which the community service is being provided by the volunteer. So, it always includes information about the objective organization.
The letter starts with the typical greeting words. Where a very basic introduction to the volunteer as per the nature of service. Further, an elaboration of the duties being performed by a volunteer is provided in the community service letter.
Finally, it is important to include the appreciation words as per the quality of service being provided. So, it may raise the morale of the volunteer to participate more and more in community service activities.
So, there are five main parts of a community service letter template:
- The Heading (Incl. Subject)
- The Opening Greeting
- The Body
- Introduction
- Details of Service
- Appreciation
- The Complimentary Close
- The Final Greeting and Signature Line
What can you do for community service?
Here is the list of community service project ideas, organized for you that includes what you can do for community service.
Collecting items or things for the community:
Take a look around your community, here you will find a few places that accept donations such as food pantries, family shelters, and schools. You can collect school supplies, backpacks, non-perishable food items, gently used jeans, etc.
Do things for the community:
You can do many things for your community; some task takes a few minutes and others a bit longer. However, you can mow your elderly neighbor’s lawn, donates blood, take care of elderly ill people, etc.
Teach the community:
You can help kids with their homework; give free music classes, etc.
Create things for the community:
You can create handmade gifts for many people who are living in hospitals, old-age homes, shelters, etc.
Volunteer things in the community:
You can do volunteering anywhere in your community. You can volunteer at a community center, at an animal shelter, at a food pantry, etc.
How to create a Community Service Letter?
A community service letter is pretty similar to a basic letter than is being written for any purpose. Although, it is a type of community service certificate that is issued by the organization to acknowledge the volunteering service of a volunteer for certain activities.
The community service letter templates are available on the internet. One can simply download an MS Word-based community service letter template to fill in the required information.
Also, when a charitable organization organizes an event. The organization advertises the event with a call for volunteers. So, there are a lot of people who fit the required criteria and got selected for volunteer work.
Further, the organization has to issue hundreds of certificates or community service letters to volunteers to acknowledge these services. It may take a lot of time and effort to make each letter from scratch. Thus, a community service letter template specific to the event is drafted, and get it verified.
Later, an MS Excel spreadsheet of volunteers is created. This file includes all the details necessary to mention the community service letter. So, the MS Word macro feature is used to create a macro and then run to automate the process of integrating volunteers’ information from an Excel spreadsheet to a Word document based community service letter.
The use of macro features does not only do the task quickly. But also saves a lot of human effort of manually entering the data of each volunteer in the community service letter template.
How to volunteer for community service?
Let us discuss the whole process of volunteering for community service;
- If you want to do volunteer work, you can search for the right opportunity online. The job you selected to do thoroughly read the duties and responsibilities that come along with it.
- After finding the possible volunteer positions, find out the organizations which are offering the opportunities.
- Next, to become able to apply for volunteer work, find out whom you should contact in the organization. You can find a contact number or an email address on the website of the organization or the company.
- The next step is drafting a letter of application in a professional manner as you are applying for an actual job.
- Format your letter after making a good draft of the content. To indicate that your letter is professional, make use of the proper margins and fonts. At the top left-hand corner of your letter/application, include your complete name, primary contact number, and email address.
- Start your letter and use the appropriate title to address the recipient of your letter. In case, you don’t know the name of the actual recipient then start your letter with a subject line.
- In the letter’s first paragraph, introduce and market yourself to the organization.
- The second paragraph contains some more details about yourself. This paragraph tells the organization more about you.
- Conclude yourself in the third paragraph. Make sure to introduce yourself properly in the first two paragraphs. Explain all your skill sets and positive points in order to convince the reader that you’re a great candidate for the position.
- In the last paragraph, mention a specific amount of time and the best days you can commit to the volunteer work. This will inform the hiring organization when to assign you to the volunteer work.
- Make sure your letter should be professional from top to bottom and use appropriate business language.
- Affix your signature to the letter and proofread the letter before sending it. Also, you have to attach your resume with the letter.
- Submit the letter in such a way as mentioned in the advertisement how letters and applications should be submitted.
How to request for a community service confirmation letter?
Consider the following tips to make a request for a community service completion letter;
- To get a community service confirmation letter, you should contact the organization and ask the authorized representative such as a manager, an officer, a supervisor, or any person who supervised your volunteer work to provide you with the letter.
- After getting hold of an authorized representative, request for a letter from that person. You can tell him/her that you need this letter for the verification of the volunteer work you had done with them.
- The person who is writing the letter tells him to whom the letter should be addressed. It should be addressed to the right person in case you have to submit it as part of the requirements.
- Ask your representative to include the following information in your letter;
1- The name of the organization
2- The time period you have done your volunteer work
3- The specific work you have done
4- A precise explanation to supplement the information
5- Your contributions and services that helped the organization - Give the representative a self-addressed envelope once you have done with all your requests.
What are the benefits of community service?
Community service is one of the best ways to benefit the community. Let us discuss some benefits of community service;
- Community service helps you to connect to the community by improving it and making it a better place to live in.
- It helps you to get experience and skills when you are thinking of changing your career.
- Community service raises social awareness. It provides you an opportunity to become closer to the community you live in.
- It enables you to make friendly relations with your neighbors.
Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
A community service essay is an essay that describes detailed information about the volunteer work you did. It also describes the impact of this volunteer work on you and your community. These essays can vary extensively depending on particular requirements listed in the application, but, in common, they explain the work you had performed, why you found the work significant, and how it benefited people around you.
Community service essays are generally needed for two reasons;
To apply to college
To apply for a scholarship
If you are doing something in your free time, after school, on weekends, during lunch-time, during school vacations, and without any sake of profit, then it is counted as community service.
