I keep seeing this comment in blogs and articles and tweets:
“Will virtual volunteering continue after the pandemic is over?”
Of course, it will. Just as virtual volunteering was happening BEFORE the pandemic, at THOUSANDS of organizations. Why in the world wouldn’t it continue?
Maybe my latest video will stop this question from being asked… though probably not. FYI, the video is just four minutes long.
And for a free, basic orientation in virtual volunteering, you can watch these free videos on my YouTube channel – altogether, less than an hour:
- A plea regarding how you talk about virtual volunteering: (spoiler: it’s not “new”). 4:28
- Virtual Volunteering: Now, It’s Essential (& still oh-so-personal). 36:17 (this was prepared for the Points of Light Foundation 2020 Conference in June)
- Safety in Virtual Volunteering. 5:10
- Virtual volunteering: it’s personal! 6:02
- Virtual Volunteering: What About Lack of Internet Access?! 6:39
Altogether, these videos cover developing initial online roles and activities for volunteers, how to rapidly engage online volunteers, how to expand virtual volunteering, how to adjust policies, how to address safety and confidentiality, the importance of keeping a human touch in interactions, addressing the most common questions and resistance to virtual volunteering and much, much more. You have my permission to show them at any conference or workshop or class you might be doing regarding virtual volunteering.
For some more advanced topics regarding virtual volunteering:
- Advice for corporations and businesses regarding virtual volunteering. 7 minutes
- Using Video To Support Online Volunteers/Remote Volunteers. 9 minutes
- Online Community Management as Volunteer Management. 37:28 (also available as a podcast).
Also see:
- How to Immediately Introduce Virtual Volunteering at Your Program: roles & activities a nonprofit, charity or other program could launch immediately to involve online volunteers.
If your program wants to better use online tools to support all of your volunteers, including those providing service onsite, or if your program wants to create a robust virtual volunteering scheme, such as an online mentoring program or online volunteer engagement as skills-building or other extension of your mission , check out the Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook: Fully Integrating Online Service Into Volunteer Involvement. The book can help you fully explore the reality of remote volunteer engagement, in terms of policy and procedures, to ensure success. This book was helpful long before the global pandemic spurred so many organizations to, at last, embrace virtual volunteering. This is the most comprehensive resource anywhere on working with online volunteers, and on using the Internet to support ALL volunteers, including those you might not think of as “online” volunteers.
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