E-mail Newsletters by Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organizations

This newsletter is by the Virtual Volunteering Project... and I can't really comment on it, because I wrote this and, therefore, am a bit prejudiced about it.

Note that NONE of these URLs or email addresses work anymore!

\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/ VIRTUAL VERVE November 2000 /\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\ An update on resources to help you use the Internet to work with volunteers. By the Virtual Volunteering Project, http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/ Charles A. Dana Center, University of Texas at Austin Please repost or reprint this information, as appropriate, per our credit request (see below). CONTENTS 1. VV Project Helps Launch Online Mentoring Program at Austin, Texas Elementary School 2. List of Online Mentoring Programs Continues to Grow. Is Your Program Listed?! 3. "How Do I Volunteer Online?" 4. New Resource: Working with Web Volunteers 5. VIRTUAL VERVE in December After All! ___________________________________ 1. VV PROJECT HELPS LAUNCH ONLINE MENTORING PROGRAM AT AUSTIN, TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL With help from the Virtual Volunteering Project, Sanchez Elementary School in Austin, Texas launched its own online mentoring program in early October, with more than 30 online volunteers exchanging e-mails each week with two fourth grade classes. This program is applying some of the best practices of other online mentoring programs identified by the Virtual Volunteering Project. Standards for this program are based on the standards for face-to-face programs established by the National Mentoring Partnership (NMP), and those for the Austin Independent School District's (AISD) onsite mentoring programs. Unlike many other online mentoring programs, volunteers in the Sanchez project aren't just from one company; they are from across the U.S., and two are outside the country as well. The program is highly-secure, with all e-mails reviewed by the program coordinator or teachers before they are sent on to young people, and a strict prohibition on off-line contact information. All of the orientation, training and safety materials used for the Sanchez program are available at: http://www.vvonlinementors.org The VV Project will share learnings and tips from the launch and management of this and other programs via the ever-growing online mentoring resources section of its web site: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/direct/ Updates about this collaborative project, as well as virtual volunteering and online mentoring resources and activities in general, are posted regularly to VIRTUAL VERVE. ___________________________________ 2. LIST OF ONLINE MENTORING PROGRAMS CONTINUES TO GROW. IS YOUR PROGRAM LISTED?! The number of online mentoring programs continues to grow, and the VV Project lists profiles of all e-mentoring programs we know about at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/orgs/mentor.html Media representatives, including those from national press outlets, rely on this listing when preparing stories about online mentoring. Organizations interested in online mentoring rely on this page as well. It is the most comprehensive listing available of online mentoring programs. If you would like for your online mentoring program to be included in this listing, please complete our online survey at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vvnow.html ___________________________________ 3. "HOW DO I VOLUNTEER ONLINE?" It's the most frequently-asked question of the VV Project from volunteers. "How can I volunteer online?" The number one mistake people make when trying to volunteer online is signing up for an assignment before they've evaluated their own time, resources, intent and availability. This leads to incomplete or never-started assignments, which in turn leads to frustration for both the volunteer and the agency. That's why the VV Project feels that the FIRST step if you want to volunteer online is to make sure you are READY to do so. You can take a self-evaluation to determine your readiness at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vvready.html Other resources for online volunteers, including how to find an online assignment, how to approach or educate an organization about volunteering online, and resources to use while volunteering online, are at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/forvols.html ___________________________________ 4. NEW RESOURCE: WORKING WITH WEB VOLUNTEERS http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/webvols.html Many organizations want to involve an online volunteer to initially build or maintain a web site. This is an excellent way to involve an online volunteer, however, before you recruit such a person, there are several factors to consider to ensure the project's success. This new resource by the Virtual Volunteering Project deals with many of the evaluation, management and security issues an agency should consider before involving an online volunteer, or a group of volunteers, to help with a web site. ___________________________________ 5. VIRTUAL VERVE IN DECEMBER AFTER ALL! In the past, VIRTUAL VERVE has always taken a break from publishing in December. However, there's just too much going on these days! So, expect to hear from us next month! ------------------------------------ Please pass on this newsletter to any organization that involves volunteers (on or offline!), employee volunteer managers, university researchers, volunteers, colleagues, and anyone interested in using the Internet to make a difference! Reprint permission is granted, on or offline, if the information is credited to: Virtual Volunteering Project http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/ ------------------------------------ CONTACT INFORMATION Virtual Volunteering Project Jayne Cravens, Manager 512-232-2295 vv@serviceleader.org ------------------------------------ THANK YOU FOR BEING ON THE VIRTUAL VERVE ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST! VIRTUAL VERVE is a monthly electronic newsletter providing information to encourage the development and success of opportunities that can be completed by volunteers working and reporting via home or work computers. The VIRTUAL VERVE e-mail list is used exclusively for the distribution of this newsletter; e-mail addresses of subscribers are not sold, traded or given to any other organization. If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE to this electronic update, send an e-mail to: listproc@lists.cc.utexas.edu and in the body of the e-mail, type: unsubscribe vverve (be sure this command comes from the SAME e-mail address as the one the newsletter is being sent to, and do not write anything else in the body of the message). To SUBSCRIBE (in case this update was forwarded to you by someone else, or you are reading it via an online discussion group), visit http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vverve.html or send an e-mail to: listproc@lists.cc.utexas.edu and in the body of the e-mail, type: subscribe vverve YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME example: subscribe vverve Jane Doe (The computer program will reject requests that do not contain a first and last name). ------------------------------------

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