Home Page

The VV Project no longer includes in this list every agency involving online volunteers; rather, we concentrate on agencies that involve volunteers in virtual situations with clients or other volunteers (direct service) and offer online volunteer management suggestions for other groups; agencies or informal, all-volunteer groups that have provided the Project with information to help other organizations involve online volunteers effectively; and agencies or groups involving online volunteers in unique or innovative ways.

This is not a comprehensive list of all organizations involving online volunteers. This is a sample of more than 100 organizations engaged in virtual volunteering, to give volunteers and agencies an idea of the variety of online tasks available, and the variety of organizations -- public sector, for-profit, nonprofit, or unaffiliated all-volunteer groups -- involving online volunteers.

selected initiatives that
involve online volunteers:
a - c

Abuse Counseling and Treatment (ACT)
http://www.actabuse.com
A private, not-for-profit agency in Lee County, Florida. One of ACT's trained onsite volunteers transitioned into an online position, monitoring the group's domestic violence forum and online guestbooks. She corresponds online with a small group of people being served by ACT, who keep her "up-to-date on their goals, hopes, dreams, and apprehensions and makes them comfortable discussing their uncertainties, discouragements, and pain."

 
AfricaWorld
http://www.earthcorp.com/AfricaWorld
Involves online volunteers as moderators and contributors to its online discussion groups and education forums, which offer advice and information about jobs, work-travel-study & research opportunities and issues relevant to the African Diaspora. The group uses the Internet to recruit all of its volunteers.

 
Allen County Public Library
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/
This library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana has involved several online volunteers with Web-related projects, and was one of the first agencies to provide information to the Virtual Volunteering Project in early 1997; that feedback has been incorporated into materials on our site.

 
alt.tv-x-files
More than a fan-based online community -- members of this newsgroup have organized several online philanthropic endeavors, as well as used the Internet to coordinate offline donations to selected charities. Members of this group have also provided Project staff with insightful, practical information about the dynamics of online communities, particularly on how to approach them and invite their involvement.

 
American Lung Association
http://www.lungusa.org/vol/index.html
Staff from ALA, based in New York City, have worked the Project informally sharing their experiences working with volunteers and staff virtually, and provided materials to ALA affiliates about virtual volunteering and management.

 
America Online
Representatives from AOL, based in Virginia attended one of the first extensive virtual volunteering workshops, held in Virginia in 1997, to learn more and to share their own experiences working with online volunteers. AOL involves online volunteers to help manage its many online forums, and has launched its own online mentoring campaign with the National Mentoring Partnership and the VV Project, as well as the e-Buddies campaign.

 
Arizona Pioneers' Home Volunteers Association
http://aztec.asu.edu/azph/azpioneertoc.html
This organization in Prescott, Arizona was one of the VV Projects Affiliates, and our web site features a very detailed profile of this organization and how it has involved online volunteers.

 
Aspire²b
http://www.aspire2b.org
This is a non-profitorganization based in Augusta, Georgia. Its primary mission is to provide teenagers with a structured means of "thinking about and planning for their lives." The organization utilizes web communities, print, and broadcast media to accomplish its goals. The organization sponsors an online mentoring program, and its web site includes mentor guidelines and information about the screening of volunteers, and a mentor's kit to train volunteers for their mentoring activities.

 
Association for Volunteer Administration
http://www.avaintl.org/
This international organization based in Virginia featured information about the Project in its Journal of Volunteer Administration, and hosted the first in-depth presentation on Virtual Volunteering at their 1997 conference (a presentation repeated in 1998). AVA also involves its members as volunteers to help create new materials for its Web site and promote its activities through various online forums.

 
Austin Freenet
This organization in Austin, Texas was one of the VV Projects Affiliates, and our web site features a very detailed profile of this organization and how it has involved online volunteers.

 
Barcelona 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures
http://www.barcelona2004.org/html/indexfuc_e.html
This organization in Spain has online volunteers performing research to find online discussion groups for topics relating to the forum's mission (peace, sustainability and cultural diversity), disseminating information about the Forum (online "ambassadors"), and developing and maintaining the Virtual Forum's online activities. Those who complete the organization's online application automatically become subscribed to the group's mail distribution list, Web Volunteers 2004. Their volunteer information is available in English, but most of the site is in Spanish.

 
The BarryNet - Barry Manilow International Fan Club
http://www.barrynet.com
This Web site declares, "Barry's FANS...Call THEM Wild, call them 'Maniloonies', call them whatever you like, but at least KNOW that behind all that craziness is Not Only fans CRAZY about Barry, but fans CRAZY about making the world a better place... " There are approximately 70 Local Barry Manilow Fan Clubs around the world, and each sponsors an official charity. The Webmaster for this site provided the Project with information on how chapters use the Internet to promote and organize their philanthropic activities.

 
Befrienders International
http://www.befrienders.org/
Has centers worldwide, including the U.S. Each center has trained "listening" volunteers who provide support via phone to people who are suicidal or despairing, and who work to increase public awareness of issues around suicide and depression. Some of the centers also provide support via e-mail; though not an immediate service, e-mail is answered within 24 hours. This organization and its centers are affiliated with Samaritans.

 
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County (Pennsylvania)
Internet Mentoring Program
http://www.bbbsbc.org
This local affiliate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania launched its online program in the Fall of 1999 to bring together online adults and students from a local middle school. During the 2000-01 school year, the program is targeting students who have good grades, some basic computer ability, and at least one other risk factor in their lives (terminally ill family member, lack of support at home, new student with adjustment problems, etc.). In addition to exchanges using special e-mail addresses each week between students and mentors, the program arranges for face-to-face meetings at the initial match and at the end of the school year. Mentors are screened in the same way as the BBBS mentoring program (references check, child abuse history clearance, criminal background check, application and face-to-face interview). Online volunteer mentors complete a form each month and submit it via e-mail to the program coordinator regarding their online activities. The goals of the Internet Mentoring Program are the same as the BBBS traditional mentoring activities.

 
Boggy Creek Gang Camp
http://www.boggycreek.org
This agency is Eustis, Florida serves young people with disabilities in a variety of activities. Many participants are involved in Convomania (see below)

 
Boulder Community Network (BCN)
This organization in Boulder, Colorado was one of the VV Projects Affiliates, and our web site features a very detailed profile of this organization and how it has involved online volunteers.

 
California State Telemation Program - Telementor Projects
http://www.etc.sccoe.k12.ca.us/telemat/telemat.htm
A list of 19 telementoring projects undertaken in the California school system in 1996 as part of its "Telemation" program, with details on the curricular category each project covered (art, language, social studies, mathmatics, technology, etc.), the telecommunication resources used in each project (Internet newsgroups, e-mail, gophers, a particular software program, etc.) and the contact information for each project. A good resource for teachers looking for telementoring activities.

 
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
http://www.ccadp.org
This organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, involves volunteers in a number of ways -- designing web pages for inmates, collecting and distributing e-mail for prisoners, contacting media / attorneys to direct them to the CCADP site, researching cases online, typing penpal requests to post online, and answering students' questions.

 
Charlotte Rehabilitation Institute "Virtual Buddies" program
http://www.charweb.org/health/vb/main.htm
A representative from this North Carolina-based program shared information on the Institute's vision for virtual volunteering at its own organization in 1997, and some of the initial steps it had taken to make this dream a reality.

 
Community Linkages Program / Volunteer @ction.online
http://www.gov.on.ca/mczcr/english/citdiv/voluntar/pilots.htm
This ambitious Canadian program by the Ontario government addresses the voluntary sector's need to increase its use of technology networks to enhance volunteer recruitment and support, maximize organizational efficiency and share resources. Some of its pilot projects involve online volunteering.

 
Community Wire
This organization in Glendale, California was one of the VV Projects Affiliates, and our web site features a very detailed profile of this organization and how it has involved online volunteers.

 
Compeer West
www.compeerwest.org
This Buffalo, New York-based agency has built on their success of providing and encouraging face-to-face volunteer friendships with children and adults striving for good mental health, by creating a new online component of this program. Online volunteers must go through the same onsite screening and training as face-to-face volunteers. About 25 online volunteers have participated so far.

 
CompuMentor
http://www.compumentor.org
This San Francisco-based agency provides excellent information to help technical-assistance volunteers work with agencies in face-to-face settings; we've followed many of their guidelines in creating our own suggestions for online volunteers, and you will find links to CompuMentor materials throughout our Web site. In addition, several CompuMentor volunteers participated in our betatest program, and provided feedback about their online volunteering experiences.

 
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Web Volunteers
http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/volunteers/volindex.html
An international public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others concerned about the impact of computer technology on society. According to its web site, 33 online volunteers have helped with system administration, editing and maintaining a part of the site focused on a particular issue (gender Issues, workplace issues, cyber-rights, social security numbers) or region, and archives, among many other tasks. CPSR gives each online volunteers (all of whom must be CPSR members) detailed guidelines for creating pages and a password to load pages onto the CPSR server.

 
Concentric Media
http://www.concentric.org
Based in San Mateo, California, Concentric has recruited and mobilized online volunteers for several successful advocacy campaigns, and serves as a model for other organizations interested in online advocacy.

 
ConvoNation (formerly known as Convomania)
http://www.convonation.org
Based in Calfifornia, this national endeavor was begun by Apple Computer as a way for kids with a serious illness and/or disability to share experiences with each other via the Internet. They worked in partnership with San Jose Children's Musical Theater to produce an original musical about youth with disabilities.

 
Cyberangels
http://www.cyberangels.org
A national program begun in 1995 by the Guardian Angels and based in New York City, it's the largest online safety and educational program in cyberspace. Its mission is to help create a user-friendly and safe online surfing experience for everyone. Cyberangels involves online volunteers in a variety of activities, including: Angels Match (mentoring young people), CyberMoms (monitoring cyber-playgrounds and parenting resources), Net Patrol (patrolling the Internet looking for child pornography, stalkers, child predators, groups advocating child abuse and pedophilia, scam artists and, working with other child advocacy groups compiling and updating lists of sites harmful to children), and Teen Angels (helping to build and maintain a fun and safe place to "hang-out," teach the younger kids , and learn important skills). Their screening and online safety systems for online volunteers are fully outlined on the Cyberangels site and are models for any organization looking to match volunteers with clients or potentially vulnerable populations online.

 
CyberSeniors
http://www.cyberseniors.org
A national nonprofit organization based in Portland, Maine. Its premise (reinforced by recently published scientific studies documenting how challenging mental exercise stimulates brain cell growth in seniors) is that use of the Internet can aid and equip seniors to retain and/or regain their independence, dignity, purpose, health, long-term mental and physical well-being, and sense of community -- both real and virtual.

 
Cyberspace Seniors/InterAge CyberPals Classroom Project
http://aztec.asu.edu/cyberspaceseniors/CSS01.html
This pilot project based in Tucson, Arizona brought together teachers, students and seniors to engage in "Curriculum and Casual Correspondence" via e-mail. "I send weekly e-mail reports to the adults and also manage a discussion roster in which the adults express their thoughts about the Programs successes and failures," says the project director, Martha Gore. "I keep in close touch with the adults to make sure they understand how important their contributions are in the lives of these students, some of whom come from rather sad home environments."

 
CYBERVPM (formerly Sound Volunteer Management)
http://www.cybervpm.com
During the Project's first two years, Nan Hawthorne, a Seattle-based consultant who runs CYBERVPM, provided insights regarding online volunteering and involving people with disabilities as volunteers. Nan's online discussion group, also called CYBERVPM, gets its content almost entirely from online volunteers -- the subscribers are volunteer managers who participate in this ongoing discussion and donate time and advice to each other.