Volunteer Opportunities
Our amazing volunteers are an essential facet of CIC and our services. They bring a wealth of small business experience and professional expertise. Volunteers include entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur Workshop graduates, educators, consultants, community members, and more.
Interested in joining CIC as a Volunteer and helping us fulfill our mission? Check out the menu below to learn more about our volunteer opportunities. Ready to get started? Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form and the CIC Operations Coordinator, Sarah Gibbons, will contact you for an Interest Meeting. We look forward to working with you!
Entrepreneur Workshop Group Leader
Description: Workgroup Leaders guide weekly workgroups, helping entrepreneurs develop and refine their business plans. They build close relationships with 7-9 entrepreneurs and provide ongoing support and feedback.
Time Commitment: Tuesday nights, 6 – 9 PM for 16 weeks, plus 1-2 hours of homework review & feedback per week, potential meetings or conversations with the entrepreneurs.
Program Link: Entrepreneur Workshop
Entrepreneur Workshop Discussion Lead Volunteer
Description: Discussion Leaders facilitate a one-week session of our 16-week program, sharing their business experience and expertise in topics like marketing, sales, finance, or human resources.
Time Commitment: 1 Tuesday night from 6 – 7:30 PM plus 30-45 minutes of preparation time.
Program Link: Entrepreneur Workshop
Financial Management Program Coach
Program Link: Financial Management Plan
Mentor
Description: Mentors are paired with entrepreneurs who are either currently in our 16-week workshop or have completed it. As a mentor, you will help entrepreneurs address specific business challenges or provide general coaching and support based on their goals.
Time Commitment: 🕰️ 🕰️ 🕰️
1-2 meetings per month for 6 months.
Program Link: Mentoring
Office Hours Volunteer
Description: Experts offer one-hour consultations to clients in their area of expertise, such as law, accounting, marketing, goal setting, human resources, and insurance. 1:1 meetings between expert and client.
Time Commitment: 🕰️
2-3 hours once per month to 2-3 hours once per quarter.
Program Link: Office Hours
Resource Fair Volunteer
Description: Similar to Office Hours, but it is a single, multi-hour, tabled-event where a wide variety of volunteers are available to meet w/ clients for 30 min at a time to discuss a particular area of expertise (social media, accounting, ABC licensing etc.). This way it is a one-stop shop for folks who have a lot of specialized questions.
Time commitment: 🕰️ 🕰️
One afternoon, usually 3-4 hours. Four Resource Fairs are held per year (2 in Cville and 2 in Culpeper) and volunteers are welcome to participate in just one or all of them if they would like.
Small Business Circles Volunteer
Description: Small Business Circles (SBC) are facilitated small groups of CIC entrepreneurs that meet on a monthly basis. These circles can be themed and based around a particular type of business (i.e. food-based businesses). SBC offers accountability, goal-setting, structure, and support to CIC entrepreneurs as their businesses grow and change. Small group meetings.
Time Commitment: 🕰️ 🕰️
Monthly 2-hour meeting for a minimum of six (6) consecutive months.
Program Link: Small Business Circles