Online Volunteering Awards 2002

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Also see lessons from onlinevolunteering.org. This is a list of key learnings from the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.

Also see:

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

available for purchase as a paperback & an ebook

from Energize, Inc.
Completely revised and updated, & includes lots more advice about microvolunteering!
Published January 2014.

Tech Volunteer Groups / ICT4D Volunteers
A listing of organizations and groups that promoted and placed tech volunteers - both defunct initiatives and current ones.
United Nations ICT4D Initiatives
Various United Nations offices have launched initiatives to promote the use of computers, feature phones, smart phones and various networked devices in development and humanitarian activities, to promote digital literacy and equitable access to the "information society," and to bridge the digital divide. This web page is my effort to track UN Tech4Good / ICT4D programs, from the oldest through 2016. My goal is to primarily to help researchers, as well as to remind current UN initiatives that much work regarding ICT4D has been done by various UN employees, consultants and volunteers for more than 15 years (and perhaps longer?).
List of Initiatives to Related to Bridging the Digital Divide or Building Digital Literacy in the Developing World or Globally in 2002.
UNDP Chief Warns G-8 Leaders of a Widening “Digital Divide” from July 2000.
Short-term Assignments for Tech Volunteers
There are a variety of ways for mission-based organizations to involve volunteers to help with short-term projects relating to computers and the Internet, and short-term assignments are what are sought after most by potential "tech" volunteers. But there is a disconnect: most organizations have trouble identifying such short-term projects. This is a list of short-term projects for "tech" volunteers -- assignments that might takes days, weeks or just a couple of months to complete.
One(-ish) Day "Tech" Activities for Volunteers
Volunteers are getting together for intense, one-day events, or events of just a few days, to build web pages, to write code, to edit Wikipedia pages, and more. These are gatherings of onsite volunteers, where everyone is in one location, together, to do an online-related project in one day, or a few days. It's a form of episodic volunteering, because volunteers don't have to make an ongoing commitment - they can come to the event, contribute their services, and then leave and never volunteer again. Because computers are involved, these events are sometimes called hackathons, even if coding isn't involved. This page provides advice on how to put together a one-day event, or just-a-few-days-of activity, for a group of tech volunteers onsite, working together, for a nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO), community-focused government program, school or other mission-based organization - or association of such.
Volunteering Abroad (especially for Westerners)
An in-depth look at the different kinds of volunteering abroad, with extensive information on what a person would need to do and study to become a viable candidate for long-term volunteering gigs where the volunteer does NOT have to pay his or her own travel and accommodations, such as the PeaceCorps or UNV.
Incorporating virtual volunteering into a corporate employee volunteer program (a resource for businesses / for-profit companies)
Virtual volunteering - volunteers providing service via a computer, smart phone, tablet or other networked advice - presents a great opportunity for companies to expand their employee philanthropic offerings. Through virtual volunteering, some employees will choose to help organizations online that they are already helping onsite. Other employees who are unable to volunteer onsite at a nonprofit or school will choose to volunteer online because of the convenience.
Women's Access to Public Internet Access, a resource I developed through research & experience to support the development of women-only Internet centers/technology centers/etc., or women-only hours at such public Internet access points, in developing and transitional countries.
Lessons from onlinevolunteering.org
Some key learnings from directing the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.
Early History of Nonprofits & the Internet
The Internet has been about people and organizations networking with each other, sharing ideas and comments, and collaborating online. It has always been interactive and dynamic. And there were many nonprofit organizations who "got" it early -- earlier than many for-profit companies. So I've attempted to set the record straight: I've prepared a web page that talks about the early history of nonprofits and the Internet. It focuses on 1995 and previous years. It talks a little about what nonprofits were using the cyberspace for as well at that time and lists the names of key people and organizations who helped get nonprofit organizations using the Internet in substantial numbers in 1995 and before. Edits and additions are welcomed.