A free resource for nonprofit organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other mission-based agencies
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

My Resources Regarding Research & History of Volunteering

The best part about reading the history of volunteering is that you find out other people have solved the problems you are now facing regarding volunteer engagemet - and have some great solutions!

Certainly anyone who wants to develop an app regarding volunteer management or recruitment should read through some of the research first - and not be surprised when they find their great idea isn't such a great idea.

Research & History Regarding Volunteering

Studies and Research Regarding Virtual Volunteering
A compilation of research regarding virtual volunteering - the most comprehensive list you will find anywhere - and a list of suggested possible angles for researching online volunteering. New contributions to this page are welcomed - research can be about any aspect of engaging unpaid people online, even if it never mentions the term virtual volunteering, such as volunteers that contribute to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
Virtual Volunteering Wiki
A compilation of resources regarding virtual volunteering, including a list of RSS feeds, a frequently updated list of news articles and blogs, and a history of virtual volunteering.
Virtual Volunteering in Europe 2013
For much of this year, I researched and wrote about Internet-mediated volunteering (virtual volunteering, online volunteering, microvolunteering, online mentoring, etc.) in European Union (EU) countries. I've provide some analysis from that project that either aren't in the paper I've submitted, but I think they should be out in public for discussion, or, that are in the paper, but I wanted to highlight them in particular for discussion.
Initiatives opposed to some or all volunteering (unpaid work), and
online and print articles about or addressing controversies regarding volunteers replacing paid staff
This is a list of organizations and initiatives opposed to some kinds of volunteering (unpaid work), or ALL kinds of volunteering, including unpaid internships at nonprofit organizations / charities. They are anti-volunteer engagement: they disapprove of any position being volunteer (unpaid) and dispute any benefits except that it "saves money". It is also a list of online and print articles about or addressing controversies regarding volunteers replacing paid staff. Most of the links are to initiatives or actions in Europe or the USA. This list has been compiled to help researchers regarding volunteerism, as well as for policy makers and volunteerism advocates who want to avoid these kinds of controversies at nonprofit organizations and government agencies. This list is also compiled to refute those who believe that there are no such controversies (believe it or not, those people DO exist). Note that many of these initiatives are fueled by talk of the value of volunteers in terms of a monetary value per service hour, or talk of how volunteers "save money."
Tech Volunteer Groups / ICT4D Volunteers
A list of tech volunteering initiatives, some defunct, some still going strong, that recruit tech experts to volunteer their time support either local nonprofit organizations or NGOs in developing countries regarding computer hardware, software and Internet tech-related tasks.
What Was NetAid?
First there was Band Aid, then Live Aid, and Farm Aid, and then came NetAid, an initiative that was also launched with celebrity-laden concerts and a great deal of media coverage. The NetAid initiative was meant to harness the Internet to raise money and awareness for the Jubilee 2000 campaign, to raise awareness for the challenges in developing countries, and to allow people to volunteer online, donating their skills to help people in the developing world. NetAid's goal was to make global philanthropy more efficient. This page reviews who was involved, how the initiative evolved, and its legacy regarding virtual volunteering.
Al Gore Campaign Pioneered Virtual Volunteering
Back in 2000, when Al Gore ran for president, his campaign championed virtual volunteering by recruiting online volunteers to help online with his election efforts. I've tried to present some of what his campaign did - this pioneering effort deserves to be remembered, as do some of the lessons from such.
Impact Online: A History
Impact Online was a nonprofit organization founded in the mid 1990s. It was one of the first web sites, and maybe the first web site, where nonprofits could post their volunteering opportunities and people that wanted to help could sign up to help. It later became VolunteerMatch. Unfortunately, someone requested that old versions of the Impact Online web site be removed from the Internet Wayback Machine, and so all archives of the original web site are gone. Luckily, I downloaded some of text and graphics from that original, pioneering web site. I'm sharing them here because the original Impact Online initiative deserves to be remembered and honored.

You can see my academic / research work, including that which is related to volunteerism, at my profile on academia.edu. Most of the academic articles that have cited my work regarding virtual volunteering are listed at my Google Scholar account.

Return to this web site's index of volunteer engagement-related resources

Also have a look at:

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook:
Fully Integrating Online Service Into Volunteer Involvement.

A comprehensive guide to using online tools for supporting & engaging ALL volunteers, & for creating online roles & online tasks for volunteers.

The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up Virtual Volunteering At Any Organization.

Here's how to order
(includes table of contents and reviews).

Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.

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