Developing Assignments
From How the Virtual Volunteering Project Involves Online Volunteers
by Jayne Cravens, Project Manager

 
Before I do any recruitment of online volunteers, I develop descriptions for at least 10 short-term online assignments. I want to always have at least that many ready to give out.

To create short-term assignments, I make a list of things I need done regarding gathering more information. I also look for text documents I need converted to .HTML that are eventually, but not urgently, needed online (such as converting back issues of my Project's electronic newsletter into Web pages).

To create other assignments, I make an inventory of everything that needs to be accomplished in the next two-three months, and look for pieces of these tasks that could be completed, either wholly or partially, online. I also think about ways to divide up a task into even smaller pieces -- items that would take five hours or less to complete.

For instance, I conduct online outreach campaigns regularly to tell people about this Project and generate collaborations. I identify groups from a variety of sources - attendees to key conferences, other recipients of grants from organizations that also fund this project, etc. Every few months, I need to get more information for some agencies in my database (sometimes, I have only the organization's name and city or state of operation; I need their mailing address, phone number, URL, etc.). Every three months, I go into my database and generate a list of the organizations I have only partial information for, and I create an assignment for an online volunteer to find the additional information via online search engines and online yellow pages.

I also looked at ways other agencies involved volunteers online, to think about other assignments I could create. Practice has helped the most: once I had defined the first dozen or so online projects, it became much easier to regularly look for and create new ones. The result is, whenever I'm making a list of things I'm working on or need to work on, I always have an eye out for pieces of the job that an online volunteer could help with; it's become second nature, and I always have several short-term online tasks ready to assign.

In writing assignment descriptions, I've found that it's best to be as detailed as possible in suggesting how the volunteer approach the assignment. At first, my assignments were written as brief as possible, and the volunteer ended up e-mailing several questions before any work could begin. By including much more detail, the volunteer feels more confident in jumping right into the job.

In every assignment, I include:

• an assignment title

• deadline for completion

• estimated number of hours the assignment will take to complete

• a detailed description of the assignment

• why the assignment is important (why I need the assignment done, what completion of the assignment will allow me to do, how it will benefit users of the Web site, etc.); giving the volunteer context is a good motivational tool and results in a completed assignment that most accurately meets your need.

• suggestions for how to complete the assignment (the names and addresses of search engines, a sample of how the information should be rendered back to me, etc.)

Some assignments that online volunteers have taken on for the Project include:

• Online research to find information to update certain Web pages on the Project site
  
• Converting the email newsletter or other documents to .html for Web Site
  
• Web site proofreeding with IBM/clone PC (since I'm on a Mac), or a browser other than Netscape, to make sure pages are formatted correctly for many different types of computers
  
• Researching how Impact Online and the Virtual Volunteering Project are listed on various Internet search engines.
  
• Registering the Virtual Volunteering Project on various Internet search engines, as appropriate
  
• Researching how the Virtual Volunteering Project is linked from other Web sites (using tools such as Web Site Garage at http://www.websitegarage.com/).
  
• Compiling responses to various volunteer surveys in an easy-to-read format in .html, so that the Project's Advisors and university researchers can review the material
  
• Weekly Research and Monthly Postings on America Online
  
• Compiling a list or updating a list of Internet discussion groups relating to a particular topic
  
• Compiling a list or updating a list of Web sites for organizations with a particular mission focus
  
• Compiling a list or updating a list of publications with a particular focus
  
• Compiling a list or updating a list of state and national conferences with a particular focus
  
• Creating a list of all not-for-profit organizations in Austin, Texas with a Web site and email address, for outreach efforts
  
• Adding .html codes to make Web pages accessible for people using assistive technologies
  
• Creating index .html pages of all the pages in a certain Web directory
  
• Creating a form and the .cgi/.pl file that makes the form work
  
• Advising the Project, by viewing posts to our private discussion group for affiliate orgs and offering advice to both the Project Manager and these organizations.

 
Other parts of this essay:

• Screening and Evaluating Volunteers
  
• Keeping Track
  
• Staying In-Touch
  
• Recruiting Volunteers

• Virtual Volunteering Resources
  How to find and involve volunteers working from home or work computers, online resources for volunteer managers, advice for individuals who want to volunteer virtually, etc. These pages are updated and added to each month.

• How Your Agency Can Utilize the Virtual Volunteering Project
  Tips on how to use this Web site, information about our offline services, and how we can help you introduce or expand virtual volunteering in your agency.

• Virtual Volunteering Project home page

 
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.

If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.