What Is Virtual Volunteering?

Excerpts  From: The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook
by Susan J. Ellis and Jayne Cravens, © 2000, ImpactOnline, Inc.

What Is “Virtual Volunteering”?
“Virtual volunteering” refers to volunteer tasks completed, in whole or in part, via the Internet and a home or work computer. It’s also known as online volunteering, cyber service, telementoring, teletutoring and various
other names.

The concept is not meant as a substitute for traditional “in person”  volunteering. In fact, one of the most exciting things about this innovative use of technology is that it is adding both to the quantity of service contributed and to attracting people who have not necessarily  volunteered before.

Virtual volunteering offers greater access to community resources and provides more ways for people to support community groups, nonprofit agencies, schools and other organizations.

For some people, service online will be a preferred avenue of volunteering but, for most, it will be an additional way of contributing time and talent.

Most organizations which involve online volunteers do so in addition to welcoming on-site volunteers. Also, only a few online volunteers work solely via the Internet. Often a combination of on-site and online tasks for volunteers works best for everyone involved (volunteers, staff, clients).

As will be described later, assignments can have different levels of virtuality. For instance, one volunteer may interact with clients online but meet on-site with a staff member regularly; another may talk with a client via e-mail in addition to regular face-to-face visits.

Why Involve Online Volunteers?
Online volunteers, just as those who come on site, extend the resources of an organization. The additional help augments staff resources and allows an organization to reach more clients.

There are many good reasons to involve volunteers via online technologies, as well as to use the Internet for recruitment of on-site volunteers:

• Potential volunteers not reached by traditional off-line means may be reached online.

• There are people who don’t read the newspaper’s column on volunteer opportunities or who don’t read bulletins from the local volunteer center, but who would, indeed, love to volunteer and are easily reached online via the World Wide Web and appropriate Internet discussion groups.

• People who prefer not to volunteer on-site may be willing to do so via their home or work computers.

• Setting out expectations online allows prospective volunteers to self-screen their interests before contacting an agency.

• Some people prefer to communicate via online means. Dashing off an e-mail or filling out an online sign-up sheet is more convenient and, for some people, preferable to calling an organization.

• Virtual volunteering programs allow for the participation of people who might find on-site volunteering difficult or impossible because of a disability, mobility issue, home obligation or work schedule. This, in turn, allows agencies to benefit from the additional talent and resources of more volunteers.

• People in their 20s and 30s are more prone to use the resources of the Internet than other age groups and like the novelty and convenience of finding and signing up for either on-site or virtual volunteering via this technology. These younger volunteers can turn into long-time supporters, including becoming financial donors.

• Online volunteers are environmentally friendly—no car exhausts, less paper waste, etc.

What Can Someone Do as an Online Volunteer?
The Virtual Volunteering Project has defined two categories of online  volunteering:  technical assistance and direct contact with clients.

Technical Assistance
“Technical assistance” assignments utilize the expertise of a volunteer to support paid staff or other volunteers at an agency, and usually involve accomplishing a project or reaching an objective. The results are readily visible:  a final product, a report, etc. E-mail is the main form of communication as the work progresses.

Here are just a few examples of what a volunteer can do to provide virtual technical assistance:

• conduct online research: find information to use in an agency’s upcoming grant proposal or newsletter, gather information on a particular government program or legislation that affects an agency’s clients, gather Web site addresses of similarly-focused organizations, etc.

• provide professional consulting expertise:  answer an agency’s questions regarding human resource, accounting, management or legal issues, write a speech, develop a strategic plan for a particular department, etc.

• conduct online outreach and advocacy: post information to appropriate newsgroups and electronic lists, prepare legislative alerts to be sent via e-mail, etc.

• design an agency’s newsletter or brochure, or copy edit an agency’s publication or proposal

• design a logo for an agency or program

• translate a document into another language

• prepare information for an agency’s World Wide Web site

• make sure a Web site is accessible for people using assistive technologies

• register an agency’s Web home page and other appropriate pages with online search engines, directories and “What’s New” sites

• design a database

• do daily searches for news articles relating to an organization or a particular topic

• provide an online orientation to all volunteers with Internet access (whether or not they are on-site or online volunteers), or survey volunteers via e-mail about their experiences with an agency or program

Direct Client Contact
Most organizations readily see the potential of involving volunteers in doing virtual technical assistance. A much more complex subject is how to create electronic links between a volunteer and a client or other recipient of service. This subject is discussed in more detail later, but here are some ideas for what an online volunteer could do with or for a client…

Download the entire Virtual Volunteering Guidebook pdf to read more.

We’d like to hear how your organization uses virtual volunteers — share your thoughts and stories.