Points of Light


Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States 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. 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 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 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-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 on Charity Navigator 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 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 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 at 10 Downing Street in April 2014. The awards continued under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak 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, John Muir, 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.