The pages in this section of my web site are
focused on people who are not professionals at nonprofits or NGOs
or charities (in contrast to the rest of my web
site). Instead, these resources on this section of my web site are
focused on individuals who want to make a difference in some way,
through volunteering or through a new career, or people who need
community service to fulfill a court-ordered obligation - or are
advice pages for people that fall outside of the mission of my web pages,
like teenagers or refugees.
I update the pages on this portion of my web site with new information at
least quarterly.
There is no charge for accessing any of this information.
The pages are written by me, Jayne Cravens. For more than 30 years, I have worked for and with nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international charities, international humanitarian agencies, government agencies, universities and for-profit companies regarding helping people, communities and the environment. You can read more about my professional work here, as well as read more about my volunteer work here. You can type my name into Google and read even more about me - I'm a real person!
My professional work is focused on not-for-profit organizations, institutions and companies that help people - but my work does not always involve my working directly with the clients these organizations serve - I don't work with people with disabilities that often, but rather, with others who work with people with disabilities. I don't work with women experiencing domestic violence - I work with people who work with women experiencing domestic violence. Through my professional consulting, I also advise organizations on involving volunteers - and, yes, I charge for that.
But I keep seeing the same questions again and again on Quora and Reddit and, previously, Yahoo Answers, and various other sites: I'm under 18 - where do I find volunteering opportunities? or I love animals and want to make a career of it - how do I do that? or I want to volunteer with seniors but I don't now where to begin or How can I devote my life to helping others all over the world? and on and on. And when I looked online for answers to those questions, the information varied in quality, and what little, good information I could find was all over the place, on various different web sites. Plus, there are a LOT of scams out there - "nonprofits" that are more interested in charging volunteers and making money for the one or two people that staff the "nonprofit." So I decided to create pages that both offer my own professional expertise - for free - and that link to the best information out there, in an effort to help people - especially young people - access the best information out there and get into volunteering quickly.
Unlike the majority of pages on my web site, all of the pages in this section of my web site - the section focused on individuals who want to help somehow - have advertising links on them. Some are from Google Ads, and some are from Amazon. By clicking on the Google Ad links on these pages, you generate income that helps me pay for the hosting of this web site, for the domain names for my web site, and for a tiny bit of my Internet access costs. If you click on any of the Amazon book links, and then buy anything from Amazon (does NOT have to be the book I've linked to), you also generate income that helps cover those costs.
You get the information on my entire web site for free - but it's not free to me to provide it. Costs include web hosting, URL / domain name registration, system/information backups, Internet access, purchase of software (and upgrades) and subscriptions to information sources that are not freely available. So, just as Facebook has advertising on it, to generate income and help pay their costs, including staff salaries, I have advertising on all the pages on this part of my web site, to help cover my own costs (and it only covers my web-related costs that I've named - it doesn't even begin to cover my time to create these pages and keep them up-to-date).
You can also help me cover the costs of this web site by purchasing my book:
This book is for both organizations new to virtual volunteering, as well as for organizations already involving online volunteers who want to improve or expand their programs. The last chapter of the book is especially for online volunteers themselves.
Other ways you can support me:
Also see:
Examples of my YahooAnswers (& reactions from others)
Contents of the pages in this section of my web site:
Detailed information on Finding Community Service and Volunteering for Teens.
How to Find Volunteering Opportunities, a resource for adults who want to volunteer
Advice for volunteering as a group / volunteering in a group
Family Volunteer - Volunteering by Families with Children
Advice for Finding Volunteer Activities During the Holidays
Online Volunteering (Virtual Volunteering)
Volunteering to Address Your Own Mental Health - This resource is designed to help you have realistic expectations for volunteering and to avoid an experience that will make you feel worse instead of better.
Using Your Business Skills for Good - Volunteering Your Business Management Skills, to help people starting or running small businesses / micro enterprises, to help people building businesses in high-poverty areas, and to help people entering or re-entering the work force.
Volunteering In Pursuit of a Medical, Veterinary or Social Work degree / career
Fund Raising For a Cause or Organization
Donating Things Instead of Cash or Time (In-Kind Contributions)
Creating or Holding a Successful Community Event or Fund Raising Event.
Group Volunteering for Atheist and Secular Volunteers
Careers Working With Animals (for the benefit of animals)
Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters.
How to Make a Difference Internationally/Globally/in Another Country Without Going Abroad
Ideas for Funding Your Volunteering Abroad Trip.
How to Get a Job with the United Nations or Other International Humanitarian or Development Organization
Ideas for Leadership Volunteering
Activities & Girl Scouts Gold Awards
These ideas are good for anyone (not just a Girl Scout) seeking
ways to create or lead a sustainable, lasting benefit to a community, to
have a leadership role as a volunteer. These are also good mitzvah
projects.
Ideas for Creating Your Own Volunteering Activity.
How you can advocate for an issue important to you
Helping People Address Their Problems with
Plastic
How to mobilize a community to clean up plastic bottles, plastic bags
and other plastic waste from their environment, and how to reduce their
use of such items in the future
A Teenager's Guide to Emancipation
Disclaimer
Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use
of information contained within this document.