Community Service

Volunteer hours must be submitted for approval on Miami’s volunteer website ComMUnity Connect. Every Miami student can log in with their UniqueID.

Your service activity will generally qualify if:

1. You are volunteering through a nonprofit, school, government agency, or approved community organization (e.g., for-profit senior and retirement centers).
2. You are not receiving pay, course credit, or a grade. Free meals, t-shirts, or a place to stay does not count as pay; you can receive these items and still count the activity.
3. The activity benefits the broader community.
4. The activity is extracurricular and not required for a class or degree program.

Your service activity will generally not qualify if:

1. You are being paid.
2. You are receiving academic credit.
3. The activity primarily benefits yourself, your student organization, or a family member.
4. The activity is partisan political campaigning.
5. The activity targets only people of a certain religion or belief system (e.g., preaching, religious holiday celebrations, etc.). 

Note: some organizations (like Greek Life) have time caps each semester for certain submissions. These caps are: one hour for blood drives, one hour for card making, and two hours for donation drives.

1. Log in to ComMUnity Connect.
2. In the top right corner of your screen, select 'Add Hours.'
3. Select the opportunity, if applicable.
4. If your hours are not in connection with a posted opportunity, fill out contact fields for who can verify your hours (typically a volunteer coordinator or organization leader).
5. Add the date you completed service.
6. Add the number of hours you completed.
7. Select user group(s) you would like associated with your submission.
8. Add your description. Please include all important information about what you did during your service project. If your description includes acronyms, please write them out in order for our team to easily understand what you have completed.

In order to ensure your volunteer hours count towards your student organization or chapter, you MUST:

• Join the specified user group via Community Connect for your organization. You can request a link from your organization’s leadership or the Wilks Institute.
• Select the user group each time you submit hours through the site.

Do blood or plasma donations count for service hours?

Yes, you can count the following for donating blood or plasma, as long as you do not receive compensation for your time:

• Whole blood: one hour
• Red blood cells: two hours
• Unsuccessful donation attempts do not count

Can I count service hours for donating items through donation drives?

Yes, you can count one hour per five food items, five material items, or three clothing items. This includes donations to all drives led by chapters and outside organizations.

Can I count service hours for donating money to an organization?

No. This includes donating through a GoFundMe link, giving money through a bingo board on social media, or donating to a different organization’s fundraiser.

Do leadership positions count?

No. Holding a leadership position in a student organization does not count as volunteer hours (e.g., leading meetings, creating flyers, or time spent marketing).  

Can I count service hours for making cards?

Yes, you can receive one hour for 10 cards. This includes cards for nursing homes, hospital patients, Ronald McDonald house, and other organizations.

Do philanthropy events count?

Participating alone does not count (e.g., running/walking in a 5k, even if there is an entry fee, attending a philanthropy breakfast/lunch, or eating at a restaurant fundraiser).

What about promoting a philanthropic or charitable event?

It depends. Promoting a philanthropy event for your own organization, or another chapter, does not count as volunteer hours. Examples include posting a graphic on social media, passing out flyers, and tabling. However, if you create graphics or flyers for a non-profit organization, this does count as volunteer hours.

What about volunteering with a faith-based organization?

Volunteering alongside a faith based organization will be counted if you are impacting the greater community outside of your faith or worship community. 

Participating in events for your place of worship or events that target only people of a certain religion or belief system (proselytizing/preaching, youth group or religious teaching, holiday celebrations, and/or creating materials for religious events and practices) will not be counted.

Does tutoring count?

It depends. If you receive compensation, tutoring others does not count as volunteer hours. Informally tutoring other Miami students also does not count as volunteer hours. However, if you volunteer to tutor others through a third party organization, or tutor young children at a school, these activities will count as volunteer hours.

What about undergraduate research?

Participating in undergraduate research does not count as volunteer hours if you receive pay or course credit for doing so.

• Create an agency profile page viewable to students, faculty, and staff at Miami University and the community at large.
• Share links to your social media platforms, listservs, websites, and photo albums.
• List all of your agency’s volunteer opportunities and needs in one place.
• Recruit volunteers for both one-time and recurring service opportunities. 
• Recruit volunteers for an ongoing or recurring need.
• Track and verify volunteer hours in one place.
• Print and view agency volunteer reports on an ongoing basis.
• Promote your agency, its projects, and events to the entire campus community.
• Connect with individual students, student organizations, faculty, and staff based on their interests.

If you would like to create a page for your organization on ComMUnity Connect you can request to do so through the Butler County United Way.

Request a service event to be posted to the ComMUnity Connect platform.