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Examples of virtual volunteering

The Virtual Volunteering Project defines two forms of online volunteering:


  • Technical assistance provided by online volunteers to staff or other volunteers at an agency. Such assistance usually involves task or objective-based assignments, or the volunteer providing a particular expertise to the agency. This would include volunteers who work off-site, using a computer and the Internet:

    • conducting online research: finding information to use in an agency's upcoming grant proposal or newsletter, gathering information on a particular government program or legislation that could affect an agency's clients, gathering web site addresses of similarly-focused organizations, using online phone books and web sites to update contact information for a database, etc.

    • providing professional consulting expertise: answering an agency's questions regarding human resources, accounting, management or legal issues, writing a speech, developing a strategic plan for a particular department, setting up a video conferencing event, providing industrial designs, etc.

    • helping with advocacy: posting information to appropriate online communities (newsgroups, lists, etc.), preparing legislative alerts to be sent via e-mail, keeping track of legislation that could affect an agency's clients, etc.

    • translating a document into another language

    • providing multimedia expertise, such as preparing a PowerPoint, Hypercard, QuickTime or other computer-based presentation

    • designing an agency's newsletter or brochure, or copy editing an agency's publication or proposal

    • proofreading drafts of paper and online publications

    • researching and writing articles for brochures, newsletters, web sites, etc.

    • designing a logo for an agency or program, or filling other illustration needs

    • preparing information for an agency's World Wide Web site

    • writing a technology plan, designing a marketing strategy, or directing other types of organizational planning and outreach

    • making sure a Web site is accessible for people with disabilities

    • registering an agency's World Wide Web home page and other appropriate pages with online search engines, directories and "What's New" sites

    • inputting an agency's volunteer opportunities into the many online databases available for such

    • designing a database system using an agency's in-house database software (FileMaker Pro, Access, Lotus Approach, etc.)

    • providing advanced Web site programming (creating automated forms, interactive areas, e-commerce functions, etc.)

    • doing regular searches for news articles relating to an organization or a particular topic

    • volunteer management assistance: managing other volunteers in the aforementioned activities, providing an online orientation to all volunteers with Internet access (whether or not they are onsite or online volunteers), surveying volunteers via e-mail about their experiences with an agency or program, keeping track of volunteer hours, inputting volunteer opportunities into online databanks, etc.

     
  • Direct contact between a volunteer and a client / recipient of service. For example, a volunteer, via e-mail or a chat room, could:

    • electronically visit with someone who is homebound, in a hospital or a rest home; this can be done in addition to onsite, in-person visits
    • provide online mentoring and instruction via e-mail or private intranet (helping students with homework questions, helping an adult learn a skill or find a job, helping someone to prepare a resume or explore career options, or help prison inmates with studies or programs)

    • help with language instruction (for instance, help people learning English)

    • staff an e-mail or chat room answer/support line, like a phone answer/support line, where people write in questions and trained volunteers answer them; or, be part of an online support group, where members provide advice to each other via a chat room, list or newsgroup

    • provide advance "welcoming" of people about to enter the hospital, go to summer camp, etc. from volunteers, via email or a special Web page or Intranet, and post-service follow up to the same group via email or the Web

    • work with other volunteers and/or clients to create a project, such as writing about the news of their neighborhood, school, special interest group, etc., or gathering history information relating to a particular time or region, to post on a web site or use in printed material

    • distance learning: training volunteers in a subject via the Internet

    • volunteers who supervise any of the above activities via the Internet and provide guidance, or ask for staff guidance, as appropriate

      To See These Examples In Practice
       
      What about online support groups and other informal activities by online volunteers?
      Isn't this "virtual volunteering" as well?

      Absolutely! There are thousands (millions?) of online discussion groups that aren't formally affiliated with or supervised by any agency. On these groups, anyone can ask questions and anyone can provide support to others for just about any subject imaginable. These online support groups deal with everything from using a particular type of software to parents home-schooling their kids to people with a particular disease to fans of a particular hobby.

      To participate, a potential user merely signs up via the web, subscribes via e-mail, or points a newsreader to a newsgroup. There are many advantages to such groups from the volunteer point of view: no application or screening process, no set time commitment -- people volunteer whenever and however they like. Thousands (millions?) of people benefit from these informal online groups -- many are of tremendous value to participants.

      There are materials on our Web site participants in these informal groups might find helpful, such as our index of Resources for Volunteer Moderators and Facilitators of Online Discussion Groups.

      Some of these online groups are profiled on our list of organizations involving online volunteers, because they've initiated or demonstrated an effective or outstanding practice or activity in engaging online volunteers that other groups could learn from and adapt for their own use in effectively involving online volunteers.

      However, the Virtual Volunteering Project is focused on organized volunteering efforts designed to show measurable results and impact, and those designed to demonstrate a certain degree of quality in the type of volunteer service provided. Most agencies need to evaluate volunteer abilities before matching volunteers to assignments and supervise activities to ensure quality. These agencies also must make sure all volunteer activities fit within the agencies' mission. They must also be able to say how many volunteers participated, track and document all volunteering activities, report how many people were served by these volunteer activities, etc. Our materials are geared primarily to this audience of agency staff and volunteers.

    • Virtual Volunteering Project home page

    With Virtual Volunteering you can volunteer from "virtually" anywhere - just by using your computer. Check out the opportunities below, or if you have more questions about VolunteerMatch's Virtual Volunteering program, click here.

     

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