Virtual volunteering

Virtual volunteering is a term describing a volunteer who completes tasks, in whole or in part, offsite from the organization being assisted, using the Internet and a home, school, telecenter or work computer. Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, cyber service, telementoring, and teletutoring, and various other names. Virtual volunteering is similar to telecommuting, except that, instead of online employees who are paid, these are online volunteers who are not paid.

Virtual Volunteering in practice

It would be as impossible to list every possible virtual volunteering task, just as it would be impossible to list every possible onsite, face-to-face volunteering task.

People engaged in virtual volunteering include those who, from home, school, a telecenter or work computer, undertake a variety of activities, without pay, for a nonprofit organization, school, community, environmental or cause-based initiative, such as:
* translating documents
* researching subjects
* creating web pages
* editing or writing proposals, press releases, newsletter articles, etc.
* developing material for a curriculum
* designing a database
* designing graphics
* providing legal, business, medical, agricultural or any other expertise
* counseling people
* tutoring or mentoring students
* moderating online discussion groups
* writing songs
* creating a podcast
* editing a video
* monitoring the news

History of the practice

The practice of virtual volunteering dates back to at least the early 1970s, when Project Gutenberg began involving online volunteers to provide electronic versions of works in the public domain [cite news
title = Online Volunteering Enters Middle Age - And Changes Management Paradigms
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = Spring 2007
work = Nonprofit Quarterly
publisher = Nonprofit Quarterly
city = Boston ] .

In 1995, a new nonprofit organization called Impact Online, based in Palo Alto, California, began promoting the idea of "virtual volunteers" [cite news
title = Fundraising in Cyberspace: Direct E-Mail Campaigns, Virtual Volunteers, Annual Fund Drives Online. Does the Information Superhighway lead to new horizons or a dead end?
last = Green
first = Marc
date = Fall, 1995
work = The Grantsmanship Center Magazine
publisher = The Grantsmanship Center
city = Los Angeles ] . In 1996, Impact Online received a grant from the James Irvine Foundation to launch an initiative to research the practice of virtual volunteering and to promote the practice to nonprofit organizations in the USA. This new initiative was dubbed the Virtual Volunteering Project, and the web site was launched in early 1997 [cite news
title = [http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/FAQ/funds.html who funds the virtual volunteering project?]
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = February 2001
work = The Virtual Volunteering Project
publisher = University of Texas at Austin
city = Austin ] . After one year of operations, the Virtual Volunteering Project moved to the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2002, the Virtual Volunteering Project moved within the university to the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

The first two years of the Virtual Volunteer Project were spent reviewing and adapting telecommuting manuals [cite news
title = [http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/tcredits.html related resources]
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = April 2001
work = The Virtual Volunteering Project
publisher = University of Texas at Austin
city = Austin ] and existing volunteer management guidelines with regarding to virtual volunteering, as well as identifying organizations that were involving online volunteers. By April 1999, almost 100 organizations had been identified by the Virtual Volunteering Project as involving online volunteers and were listed on the web site. [cite news
title = [http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/ Virtual Volunteering Project]
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = February 2001
work = The Virtual Volunteering Project
publisher = University of Texas at Austin
city = Austin ]

Due to the growing numbers of organizations involving online volunteers, the Virtual Volunteering Project stopped listing every organization involving online volunteers on its web site in 2000, and focused its efforts on promoting the practice to nonprofits, profiling organizations with large or unique online volunteering programs, and creating guidelines for the involvement of online volunteers.

Until January 2001, the Virtual Volunteering Project listed all telementoring and teletutoring programs in the USA (programs where online volunteers mentor or tutor others, through a nonprofit organization or school). At that time, 40 were identified. [cite news
title = [http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/orgs/mentor.html agencies and initiatives that involveonline volunteers as mentors or tutors]
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = February 2001
work = The Virtual Volunteering Project
publisher = University of Texas at Austin
city = Austin ]

Current state of the practice

Virtual volunteering has been adopted by at least a few thousand organizations and initiatives. [cite news
title = Online Volunteering Enters Middle Age - And Changes Management Paradigms
last = Cravens
first = Jayne
date = Spring 2007
work = Nonprofit Quarterly
publisher = Nonprofit Quarterly
city = Boston ] The United Nations runs an online volunteering service that places virtual volunteers. Several other organizations, for instance VolunteerMatch and Idealist, that match traditional volunteers also offer virtual volunteering positions.

ee also

* Volunteer

References

External links

* [http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/ The Virtual Volunteering Project]
* [http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/book.html The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook]