Back-to-School Month Recap: 132 Volunteers, 50 Companies

Percent Pledge

Community Volunteer Event

Key Offerings

132 Volunteers Felt the Experience of Learning Differently

Employee volunteering is one of the most powerful tools for engagement, culture, and community. But finding the right opportunities is hard. The kind that are easy to organize, scale across remote teams, and deliver real impact.

That's why Percent Pledge created Community Volunteer Events: fully guided, one-hour experiences that bring employees together for good. No prep. No planning. Just show up and make a difference.

This August, Percent Pledge partnered with Understood.org for Back-to-School Month. 132 employees from 50 companies spent one hour inside Understood.org's Through My Eyes module. It is an interactive experience that puts you inside the mind of a child navigating the world with ADHD, dyslexia, or dyscalculia. Volunteers didn't just observe. They experienced it firsthand and submitted real product feedback directly to Understood.org to help improve the tool.

Here is a look at what happened, and what your team can take away from it.

Why Companies Showed Up for Back-to-School Month

Back-to-School Month is a natural moment for companies to invest in education and the next generation. But most companies don't know how to do it in a way that's meaningful for employees and easy to run.

This event solved both problems.

Volunteers weren't watching a presentation. They were inside the actual cognitive experience that children with ADHD and dyslexia navigate every single day. That changed the room.

By participating, companies were able to:

Give employees a firsthand experience of learning differences, building empathy that stays with them.
Provide real product feedback to Understood.org to improve a tool used by millions of children and families.
Start conversations about neurodiversity, late diagnosis, and disability inclusion in the workplace.
Deliver a meaningful, remote-friendly experience with zero planning required.

For HR, People, and CSR leaders, this kind of programming lands differently than a webinar. It stays with people.

What Are Virtual Volunteer Opportunities? Guide and Examples

Best Remote Volunteer Opportunities for Teams

What Is Understood.org's Through My Eyes?

Understood.org is a nonprofit dedicated to shaping the world for the one in five people who learn and think differently. They provide expert-backed resources, tools, and support for individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning differences, along with the parents, educators, and professionals who support them. Each year, Understood.org reaches millions of people with practical, research-backed guidance.

Through My Eyes is one of their flagship tools. It is an immersive, interactive experience that puts you inside the daily reality of a child with ADHD, dyslexia, or dyscalculia. Developed with real students and expert insights, the tool builds empathy, deepens understanding, and sparks meaningful conversations about neurodiversity.

At this event, volunteers went through the experience and submitted their feedback directly to Understood.org. Every piece of input helps make the tool better for the children and families who depend on it.

Inside the Back-to-School Month Volunteer Event

On August 18, 2026, 132 employees from 50 companies logged onto Zoom. They joined from 23 US states, Washington D.C., and from Germany, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Asata Evans from Understood.org walked volunteers through the Through My Eyes module. Volunteers then worked through the simulations on their own, taking notes as they went. Their feedback went directly to Understood.org.

What happened in that room was different from most volunteer events.

The simulations were hard. Disorienting. And that was the point. Volunteers came face to face with what millions of kids experience every day at school, at home, and in between.

I felt like I had dyslexia after playing the game. I felt a lot of compassion for people who are just going through this daily.
_Primrose,_{Harrison Street Asset Management}

Several volunteers had personal connections they shared in the chat. A parent thinking about what school might look like for her daughter. A volunteer who had watched his brothers struggle with ADHD for years. A person who started an Employee Resource Group specifically for adults with late diagnoses.

There is not much support or understanding for late-diagnosed adults. Especially in professional or office jobs. That's why I started an Employee Resource Group at my job.
_{Matthew Jones,}_{ConstructConnect}

The conversations didn't stop at the end of the hour. Multiple volunteers said they planned to share the experience with colleagues, friends, and family members. One asked how to bring Understood.org in for a full corporate training.

Measurable Outcomes from One Hour of Virtual Volunteering

The results speak for themselves:

132 volunteers participated.
50 companies represented.
4 countries: United States, Germany, Mexico, Costa Rica.
23 US states and Washington D.C. represented.
100% of volunteers said they would recommend this event to a friend or colleague.

Every piece of feedback submitted goes directly to Understood.org to improve a tool used by millions of children, parents, and educators.

Volunteer Voices: The Real Impact

Numbers tell one side of the story. The lived experience tells another. 100% of volunteers said they would recommend this event to a friend or colleague. Here is what they said:

It is insightful to know how much people can struggle and how frustrating this can be on a daily basis.
_{Carolina Monge,}_{Movable Ink}

This was a wonderful experience. I truly enjoyed the learning as a parent.
_{Tishon Brown,}_LEAP

I've done one or two of these in the past and feel they're a productive and feel-good hour within the month.
_{Katie Reed,}_Innovid

The most powerful thread of this event was personal. Volunteers didn't just complete a task. They understood, maybe for the first time, what a child with ADHD sits with every day. That kind of empathy doesn't fade when the Zoom call ends.

Save Your Spot: Upcoming Community Volunteer Events

Percent Pledge hosts free, one-hour virtual volunteer events every month, each tied to a cause holiday or heritage month. Here is what is coming up next:

Coming soon — Hispanic Heritage Month
Coming soon — Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Coming soon — Veterans Day

One hour. 100% virtual. No prep required. Free to join for employees, teams, and ERGs. Space is limited.

See All Upcoming Community Volunteer Events

Why Community Volunteer Events Are Unique

Percent Pledge hosts Community Volunteer Events every month, each tied to a Heritage Month or Cause Holiday. Celebrating Back-to-School Month, or any cause month on the calendar, has never been easier.

Unlike traditional volunteer programs that require weeks of coordination, Community Volunteer Events are:

Ready-made: Pre-designed and fully facilitated. Zero planning from your team.
Virtual and scalable: Employees join from anywhere. Perfect for remote, hybrid, and globally distributed teams.
Built for ERGs: Ideal for Employee Resource Groups, Business Resource Groups, and Affinity Groups. A natural fit for celebrating cause months and heritage months at work.
Consistent: Events run every six weeks, giving employees a regular cadence of opportunities to give back.

For HR, People, and CSR leaders, this model removes the biggest barrier to employee volunteering: the time it takes to plan.

Learn more about Community Volunteer Events

Why Companies Choose Percent Pledge

HR and CSR leaders consistently highlight the same benefits when they use Percent Pledge's corporate volunteering platform and Community Volunteer Events:

Built-in facilitation and logistics. No vendor meetings. No extra work for your team.
Easy scheduling that fits into one hour.
Scalable participation across teams and time zones.
Measurable outcomes ready to share with employees, ERGs, and leadership.
Strong alignment with DEI initiatives, ERG programming, and cause holidays.

For People Ops, DEI, and CSR leaders, Community Volunteer Events deliver maximum engagement with minimal effort.

Learn how our platform simplifies corporate giving and volunteering

One Hour Can Change How Someone Sees the World

This Back-to-School Month event proved something simple: one hour matters.

For employees, it was a chance to understand a daily reality millions of children face. For companies, it was a zero-lift volunteer opportunity that generated real empathy and real feedback for a meaningful cause. For Understood.org, every volunteer submission is input that helps make their tools better for the children and families who need them most.

Want to bring this to your team?