This is an archived version of the Virtual Volunteering Project web site from January 2001. The materials on the web site were written or compiled by Jayne Cravens. The Virtual Volunteering Project has been discontinued. The Virtual Volunteering Project web site IS NO LONGER UPDATED. Email addresses associated with the Virtual Volunteering Project are no longer valid. For any URL that no longer works, type the URL into archive.org. For new materials regarding online volunteering, see Jayne Cravens' web site (the section on volunteerism-related resources). |
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FAQs About the Virtual Volunteering Project
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for volunteers: dos and don'ts for technical assistance volunteers A technical assistance online volunteer is a person who provides support to an agency's staff members or other volunteers (such as help with building a Web site or explaining a legal issue) rather than an organization's clients (such as mentoring young people). Technical assistance online volunteers are greatly valued by not-for-profit and public sector agencies. Picture these scenarios in a not-for-profit and public sector agency setting:
To keep your volunteer experience beneficial rather than frustrating for the person or organization you are trying to help, we suggest you keep the following (gathered from various resources) in mind:
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The Christian Macintosh Users Group (CMUG) has a page on How to Work with Volunteers in Desktop Publishing at http://www.c-mug.org/H/yp.workvolunteers.html ; this page has additional information for both volunteer managers and volunteers themselves.
CompuMentor, a not-for-profit organization based in San Francisco, California, has an online version of its handbook to prepare its mentors for what to expect in volunteer situations. It includes information to help volunteers working on projects involving helping someone use a computer, structuring volunteer projects, working in schools, helping with databases, helping plan, install or administer a network, or help an agency find donated or recycled computer resources. It's available at:
http://www.compumentor.org/cm/resources/mentor/default.html
Also see Organizing A Technology Volunteer Program In Your School District for detailed advice on assessing a volunteer technical team's resources, recruiting and screening volunteers, and creating effective communications between school coordinators and volunteers. While this is a school-focused resource, it is more than applicable to nonprofit settings as well.
Phil Agre has posted his excellent publications about computing's impact on community and social practice on his Web site at http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/. Phil Agre's comments are from How to help someone use a computer, an article available at CompuMentor's Web site, which was adapted from The Network Observer.
The Virtual Volunteering Project has more Advice for Volunteers, produced by Susan Ellis, a recognized expert in volunteerism. Susan is president of ENERGIZE, Inc., an international publishing, training and consulting firm specializing in volunteerism. See Susan's Web site at http://www.energizeinc.com/.
Thanks to these folks, whose own experience greatly added to these tips:
More Online Resources for Volunteers
If you find this or any other Virtual Volunteering Project information helpful, or would like to add information based on your own experience, please contact us.
If you do use Virtual Volunteering Project materials in your own workshop or trainings, or republish materials in your own publications, please let us know, so that we can track how this information is disseminated.
This is an archived version of the Virtual Volunteering Project web site from January 2001. The materials on the web site were written or compiled by Jayne Cravens. The Virtual Volunteering Project has been discontinued. The Virtual Volunteering Project web site IS NO LONGER UPDATED. Email addresses associated with the Virtual Volunteering Project are no longer valid. For any URL that no longer works, type the URL into archive.org. |
If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.
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