ME³ (which stands for "Motivate, Educate, Empower, and Engage") believes that helping community members get involved in volunteerism can play a key role in creating a healthier, happier society, and so they make it their business to do just that.

Since 2005, ME³ has been transforming would-be volunteers into actual ones by connecting them with various opportunities throughout the Wake County community. And this is no arbitrary connection, either - ME³ works hard to gather and understand each volunteer's preferences, talents and availability in order to make the most of each match.

In January 2008, ME³ officially launched Communities In Action ("CIA"), a growing database of Wake County individuals interested in volunteering. These volunteers are coordinated and matched with local opportunities by ME³'s "CIA agents," whose aim is to provide personalized and specialized help throughout the volunteering process.

Even ME³ itself is made up entirely of volunteers, who give of their time and talents in order to help other people do the same. NCGives caught up with president and co-founder Amber Smith to get a closer look at the organization in this month's Spotlight on Giving:

NCGives: First things first... how did ME³ initially come about?

Amber: ME³ was the result of a long period of brainstorming and dreaming about how to make a difference. After some years of researching issues and causes across a broad spectrum - ranging from homelessness to environmental protection to human trafficking - I came to believe that creating widespread, systemic, long-term positive change locally and nationally required more people to get involved in helping their communities.

I began volunteering with friends locally for a variety of organizations, including a Kiwanis club, StandUp for Kids, Hope for the Homeless, the Carnivore Preservation Trust, and many more. Our volunteer experiences reinforced my belief that more volunteers were needed, and that more people working actively as volunteers could create great improvements in many areas in our community.

NCG: How might ME³ differ from "traditional" volunteer centers?

AS: While ME³ shares with volunteer centers a mission of promoting volunteerism and helping a multitude of organizations/causes, we operate with a different program model that puts the focus on each individual volunteer as opposed to community organizations. Right now, only about 29% of adults in North Carolina volunteer. The reasons non-volunteers give for not volunteering include a lack of time, an uncertainty on how to get involved, fear of over-committing themselves and the misunderstanding that they are not needed.

We feel that in order to increase the number of people volunteering in our community, we have to take away these reasons - these roadblocks - by showing people how to get involved, making it easy, and making it as fulfilling as possible for them.

NCG: Does ME³ hope to eventually expand beyond Wake County?

AS: That will depend on the community's needs. I envisioned us having chapters in other cities and states. When we're ready to replicate our program, we'll probably look into the needs. For example, volunteer centers have varying levels of success in different places, and they don't exist everywhere. So, we would probably try to start a chapter in a place without a volunteer center or program.

NCG: What are some of the nonprofits where ME³ has helped volunteers get involved?

AS: We have worked with and sent volunteers to a number of organizations. In the past, the Kramden Institute in Durham, Wake County Keep America Beautiful, Strike for Survival, the Basic Needs Ministry, A Cat's Tale, Raleigh CROP Walk, KidsConnect, Triangle Impact, the Joel Lane Museum House, and more. Very recently, we have connected volunteers to Marbles Kids Museum and North Raleigh Ministries to help with holiday-related activities.

In the end, what we hope to accomplish goes far beyond getting people to volunteer. It's about empowering people to act to make things better, to create a culture of caring and involvement. It's exactly about that excited, heart-pounding-in-your-chest feeling of knowing you just made a difference - and that feeling is what will help others decide to get involved.