Category Archives: About Jayne

30 Years on the Web

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my company logo of a coyote howling at the moon

30 years ago yesterday, I launched my own web site online, a place to publish some of the work I was regularly posting to the soc.org.nonprofit USENET newsgroup, like Basic Customer Database Principles and Overview of Databases.

I created those database tips because so many nonprofit staff were being asked to manage data about volunteers, donors, event attendees and clients, but they had zero background in data management, and were regularly asking for help on that online community. My data management background came from hands-on experiences, mostly at nonprofit theaters, which live and die by data about event attendees and donors – and we used index cards before computers. I kept developing new web pages on other tech-related subjects to offer advice in plain language, because I felt like software developers and tech bros were doing a lousy job of doing so. I wanted to present tips for using all this emerging computer and Internet technology in human language so it could be understood by anyone, not just IT folks, and to show what it could do in language that showed it really was a great tool, not just something shiny.

I called my web site Coyote Communications. I wrote about why I called it that here, and what my driving philosophy was in creating the web site. That page also offers guidance on how to see that very first web site.

Merely having a web site of my own helped in my landing a few jobs in the 1990s, though I abandoned my web design business after my first client – I knew I was no web designer, although I quickly turned out to be quite a good manager of such, which is also a very important skill to have.

It was 1996, the start of what turned out to be a year of tremendous loss and change for me. I was really excited about launching my own site and, having been online for a couple of years and having a really positive experience from such, I was really optimistic about what the Internet could mean for humanity. I was downright perky. As I ended the year in a new home in Austin, Texas, having completely rebooted my life, I was down about personal things but still optimistic professionally, mostly because I was starting a new job that would allow me to do the oh-so-radical thing of work from home, a job I’d gotten because of my online work up to that date: I began designing the program I would direct for four years, the Virtual Volunteering Project, an initiative that eventually led me to a job, and a career, with the United Nations and a long time association with TechSoup.

But that’s getting ahead of myself. Back to Austin at the end of 1996: years passed, and my web site evolved as I evolved professionally. I never got rid of that focus on tech tips for the non-tech person at nonprofits, but over the years it expanded to resources for Community Outreach, With & Without Tech, resources for Community Engagement, Volunteering & Volunteerism, resources for people Working in International Development, particularly regarding communications, and travel resources for women, especially women motorcycle riders.

Lots of observations as I think about this anniversary:

  • People were nicer online in the 1990s. No question.
  • Web sites were easier to use 20 years ago.
  • It is so jarring to talk with people younger than my web site.
  • I could not survive without the Internet Wayback Machine.
  • I thought that accessibility in web site design would be a widespread priority now. I remain stunned that web site accessibility is still not the industry standard, and that so many web designers, and those that employ them, have either never heard of it or don’t think it’s important.
  • I thought the US Congress would have designed much better laws to protect the data of citizens and other residents, as well as visitors.
  • Most of the ideas I hear from tech bros regarding their new tech tools aren’t new ideas.
  • I have close friends and professional colleagues now that I first met online. Those type of connections don’t happen nearly as much now as they did in the 1990s and 2000s. I met so many of them on YahooGroups. I so miss YahooGroups.
  • I think those of us who worked in environments without computers and the Internet are better at using tech tools than so-called “digital natives.” My generation knows that we always have to be ready to adapt to change, and knows that most of the time we’re on our own to figure out how to use something – and how to best leverage that tool in our work.
  • AI slop is insidious and is ruining the Internet.
  • The algorithms that are supposedly putting information in front of us based on our unique preferences are making it harder to find the information I’m actually looking for. Search engines worked far better even 15 years ago than they do now.
  • The algorithms that are supposedly putting information in front of us based on our unique preferences are driving misinformation and a startling, horrific extreme right wing agenda. I regularly get things in my social media newsfeeds that I’m not only not interested in, they go against everything I believe at my core – and what I believe at my core is no secret online.
  • We all need to spend less time looking at computer and phone screens. More time looking at movie screens is acceptable.

I hope my web site is still valuable to someone out there. And I hope my 2026 goes far better than my 1996.

Also see:

What does Reddit AI say about YOU?

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Here’s what it says about me (It’s accurate – but it’s also based on my actual words, not what it thinks I have said):

Reddit name: coyotebroad. u/jcravens42. Joined 12 years ago. 69/.9K karma. Moderator. Overview: Posts focus on volunteer opportunities and philanthropy. Co,ments offer constructive criticism and advice in relevant subreddits. No NSFW or hateful content detected.

Hope you are ending 2025 well, and I wish you a 2026 of prosperity and your best hopes fulfilled.

And here is my list of Reddit4Good, a list of subreddits somehow focused on philanthropy, volunteering, noprofits and “doing good.”

Packing for Paraguay – answers to an FAQ

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A drawing of a woman dragging a luggage on wheels

As this blog publishes, I should be in Paraguay, on my first international Habitat for Humanity build. In fact, it’s my first Habitat build, period – my work schedule or personal schedule kept me being involved in the builds here in Oregon, at the Habitat affiliate I work for, and then, when my schedule freed up, we took a break from construction.

I’ve written already about why I’m doing this and all that it entails. And I hope I’m posting to some of my social media channels in real time about what I’m doing.

I’ve been asked by a few people what I’m packing. I’m relying on both my experience working in Afghanistan and Ukraine and my motorcycle travels to come up with what I need. I’ll have two carry-ons, one to go under the seat in front of me, and everything has to fit into them.

It takes a full day of flights (three) to get to Paraguay, and then I’ll be there for eight days for building a house, then just a couple of days in Brazil as a tourist. What I take will be somewhat different from what I tell humanitarians to take on their first mission abroad. For instance, I’ll be taking work shoes that I intend to leave in the country when the work is done: they are terrific, tough trail running shoes, but the soles are worn and can’t be repaired. They are great for spilling paint on but not for trail running. In fact, or team leader says that we can leave any clothes we want to, that are still whole and in good condition – they will be used by locals. Added bonus: it will create room at the end of the trip for things I might want to bring back.

I’ll most definitely be taking a carbon monoxide detector. When I worked at UNDP/UN Volunteers, one of our volunteers died in the field because of carbon monoxide poisoning in his guest house, and I once read about almost everyone dying in a guest house in Spain from carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s a scary and very possible reality. I take one even for travel in the USA. But I will NOT be leaving the carbon monoxide detector behind… I need it!

And for sure I’ll take The Dress. You’ve probably seen it in a few of my photos. In fact, if you do a search for the word UNICEF in my photo account, most of my dress photos will come up. I get tired of wearing motorcycle clothes or even just shorts and t-shirts when I travel, especially if I’m going to have a day just walking on a beach or going out at night. I bought it from the UNICEF Market. I love UNICEF, the UNICEF Market has items procured directly from artisans in Asia, Africa and Latin America. By buying through the UNICEF Market, I support these local artists and small, fragile economies abroad, and also support UNICEF (which gets a portion of sales). This dress is multi-colored (easy to hide spills), comes almost to my knees (which it was a BIT longer), HAS POCKETS (oh, yes, you read that right) and dries quickly (terrific to wear over a swimsuit).

Follow me online to read more about this Paraguay adventure – and whatever else I might be doing!

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Volunteering: not a black & white subject

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In the same day, I’ve been accused by a person of being unfairly opposed to all forms of voluntourism (paying to volunteer abroad) and accused by another of promoting voluntourism.

In the same week, I’ve been accused of pushing an agenda that makes volunteering too difficult for most people to access and also pushing an agenda that makes volunteer involvement too easy and puts clients at risk.

Some people have said I think people paid to do work are better than volunteers, and others have said I want to eliminate paid roles and replace such with unpaid volunteers.

Most people who bother to actually read what I write know exactly where I stand on voluntourism (I do think there is such a thing as ethical voluntourism, but I think such ethical experiences are rare), know exactly where I stand on volunteer engagement (I don’t trust any nonprofit that doesn’t involve volunteers while also believing that organizations have every right NOT to accept every offer to volunteer) and know that I don’t think volunteer engagement should be used as a way for job elimination (but that I DO think some roles are best done by volunteers).

Talks about volunteerism are, and should be, full of nuance. Volunteerism is a complex subject. If you want to see a fight break out, ask a room full of managers of volunteers to define the word volunteer. Which is right? In many ways, they ALL are. There’s nothing simple about this subject – that’s why it’s held my interest for a few decades.

And I do change my mind. Over many years, I went from being okay with voluntourism to being totally opposed to it to being back to being okay with it, with certain qualifications. I change my mind because I’m always reading opinions from other people, testimonials from volunteers and those that involve such, and most importantly, those served by volunteers. I hope you do the same.

But quit trying to put me in a box.

A drawing of Jayne behind the screen of an old Macbook.

A reminder of everywhere I am online

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Here’s where to find me online (& get my latest updates).

like me on Facebook     Mastodon logo    Bluesky logo    follow me on Reddit    follow me on LinkedIn     view my YouTube videos

Here’s the text version for those that don’t understand the logos:

Jayne on Facebook.

Jayne on Mastodon.

Jayne on BlueSky.

Jayne on Reddit.

Jayne on LinkedIn.

Jayne on YouTube.

Should you follow me or “like” me in all those places? Probably not. For instance, I post almost exactly the same things to BlueSky and Mastodon, and I post the most to those accounts. And I post almost exactly the same things to LinkedIn and Facebook.

Here are the communities I moderate on Reddit:

Should you follow me in all those places? No. Join only those Reddit communities that are of particular interest to you personally or professionally. If that’s any of those, great!

And a reminder of this list I compiled, called Reddit4Good, an exhaustive list of subreddits focused on some aspect of volunteerism, community service or philanthropy (& also subreddits where you may post to if your post here gets deleted)

The online media landscape changes frequently, with online social networks and communities coming and going, or certain ones being abandoned per the ethics and values of the owners. My first communities were on America Online and USENET, back in the 1990s. There will never be an online community that lasts forever, or that you will always want to be a part of.

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Me participating in a volunTOURism activity? Yes, it’s happening!

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A drawing of Jayne, with wild hair, jogging while pulling a suitcase on wheels behind her.

I’m well known in many corners of the Interwebs for speaking out against unethical voluntourism, where people from North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand pay money to a company to go abroad for a week or two for a feel-good experience and lots of photos, doing things that can actually be harmful: interacting with orphans and refugees (who need long-term relationships and should never be used as Instagram props), interacting with wildlife (who should never be exposed to repeated human interactions, especially tourists), doing activities that local people want to do themselves and paid for (building a school, building a well), and undertaking activities that aren’t a priority for nor led by local people. Unethical voluntourism is vanity volunteering at it’s WORST.

But there is such a thing as ethical voluntourism: where local people define the activity and lead it. Where the focus is on educating the visitors so they can become advocates back in their own countries. Where the activity actually creates jobs for local people. Where short-term visitors are kept away from vulnerable people, like orphans, and view wildlife from afar, not interacting with them as though they are pets. Where intercultural learning really does happen. And, yes, volunteers might have fun and take lots of photos, but in an ethical matter: no photos of children without parental permission, for instance.

I’ve long promoted the idea of transire benefaciendo, “to travel along while doing good.” When I travel abroad, I try to eat at locally-run restaurants, eat locally-sourced food, drink locally-produced beer, book local guides, and stay in locally-run, small guest houses as much as possible. I try not to create a lot of waste. I refuse to have my photo taken with supposed “orphaned” or performing wildlife. I find an adult to ask permission of before taking a photo with a recognizable kid in it. As I say on my web site,

I think transire benefaciendo is also about traveling with purpose. It’s a trip, a journey, with the intention of learning, with an intention of local interaction. It’s travel that is mutually beneficial for both the traveler and the people in the place where the journey will take place. transire benefaciendo is purposeful travel, about widening a traveler’s understanding of the world rather than ticking something off a bucket list.

But I’ve never thought about a voluntourism trip for myself… until now.

In May 2025, if all goes as planned, I’m going to Paraguay with Habitat for Humanity. And if I know you – as in, we’re linked in LinkedIn or my personal Facebook page, or we have worked together, YOU CAN COME WITH ME.

Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program was revamped during the COVID epidemic. I sat in on the official video call going through the program. Some things I learned:

  • From the beginning, volunteers participating in this program will learn about the need for adequate housing around the world, so they can become advocates regarding the cause and champions for equitable housing long after their trip has ended. 
  • Habitat wants to avoid, specifically, “voluntourism” and “white Saviorism.” International volunteers should be “partners”, not “saviors.” The program is moving away from the charity mindset to a community-partnership mindset. Community-centered volunteering focuses on local leadership and local impact. International volunteers should to enter a community with their own ideas of what needs to be done. Local people should be listened to. The “agenda of change” needs to be defined by and led by the local people being served, not the funder, not the outside volunteers coming into a community. 
  • Habitat Global Village projects are designed by local communities. Focus will be on local ownership and local sustainability. Local leaders will be identified and will be leaders in these Habitat projects. The goal of the builds will be to support existing projects in the country.
  • Local partners will be front and center in communications and marketing.   
  • Habitat wants to be involved in more than just the creation of a structure – it’s also the support for “development,” like better safety and security, children doing better in school, etc.
  • Volunteer activities will be focused on volunteers engaging in mutual learning and exchange with local people, rather than tourism activities.
  • A promotion of safeguarding will be much more emphasized throughout the experience.

I was thrilled as I sat through this presentation, especially when the research cited for these changes was from UN Volunteers (my former employer) and VSO (one of my former consulting clients). And I was even more thrilled when I got the invitation from the team leader to go to Paraguay!

So, what will it take for you to come with me?

  • You need to email me and say you are interested. If you know me, you have my email.
  • You need to read the information I send you. And if you decide you want to go, you let me know and I will connect you with the group leader.
  • You will have to fundraise a certain amount of money for Habitat, just as I had to (and I will help fundraise on your behalf), and you will to pay your own expenses (airline tickets) for your part of the trip, just as I have to. Habitat makes it SUPER easy to fundraise. I also made a video to help promote my trip and support for such. So, yes, this trip is going to cost you money. You will find out how much when you contact me.

Let’s go to Paraguay!

(but what if I do NOT know you & you want to go? Then you are going to have to do some very effective convincing for me to know you are a good, reliable, appropriate person to recommend for this trip).

Why Work for the United Nations? & What is Working the for UN really like?

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Three years ago, someone on Reddit wrote on the subreddit UNPath, “Why Work for the UN?” Their post said:

What is the appeal? It seems very difficult to even get in at all, regardless of qualifications. So why try? I am studying a field that would probably be perfect for the UN but I’m not sure why it’s actually even appealing or worth trying to get in.

Here’s my reply from then, with some edits for clarity:

A lot of people want to work for the UN because they believe all sorts of myths – UN employees get to travel the world, you get paid a huge salary, you get a special passport, everyone is impressed that you worked at the UN and will want to hire you, etc. In fact, most UN employees don’t travel for work, don’t get a “huge” salary and don’t get that special passport. And some people, including employers back in your home country, view working at the UN as some weird thing – or will say to you, “But you worked at the UN, so why are you now applying for a boring normal job?”

Spoiler alert: a lot of UN work is really boring and normal.

I’m suspicious of anyone who says, “I want to work at the UN” on this subreddit or in a cover letter and leaves it at that. It’s like saying, “I want to work for a mega huge software company.” It doesn’t tell me anything about what work you actually want to do. It sounds like you just want a certain company on your CV. But what kind of WORK is it you want to do?

The nature and atmosphere of work for a UN employee in Bonn, Germany working on government policy recommendations for climate change is nothing like the nature and atmosphere of the head accountant that’s been brought in from abroad to work in the UNICEF office in Afghanistan. They might as well be working on different planets. Most UN jobs are administration – you’re sitting at a desk, not driving orphans to safety.

Why do I like working for the UN as a communication professional or project manager? Because the work feels very much like it matters and is making a difference on a scale far bigger than just in one community. Because I love reading country strategies and program strategies and interviewing a diversity of staff to try to represent their work. Because I love taking photos of the work my colleagues are doing and then sharing those photos in a variety of communications materials. Because I love helping people understand the benefits and impact of development projects, from earthen dams to repaired bridges to work training programs to HIV AIDS education programs to micro loans and on and on and on. Because I love working in multi-cultural environments or in an environment filled with local people staffing most of the posts in a developing country and getting to help build their capacities. And, indeed, the pay is competitive, far more than doing that exact same work for a nonprofit.

My UN job in Bonn, Germany was mostly at a desk. I met a ton of interesting people from all over the world, but I rarely traveled for work. Most of my colleagues didn’t travel for work. My jobs in Afghanistan and Ukraine were spent mostly at a desk, trying to rapidly prepare material for very demanding funders from various foreign governments – in one I had to be taken to work in an armored car and couldn’t leave the work campus except to leave for the day, nor leave my home except with approval. In the other, I could walk to work, go out with colleagues after work, go to street markets and live life like anywhere – except on the days when there were potentially violent protests. But even on “boring” days, the work always, always felt like it mattered. But note: a lot of colleagues, doing very similar work, didn’t feel energized by it – it was just a job.

As for it being difficult to get in – I have to say, most of the people I see here wanting a job in the UN don’t offer anything to show any qualifications at all for working at the UN. They seem to think there’s some sort of magical master’s degree or PhD that gets you “in”. Or some magical way to phrase things in a cover letter. And as a person that often was the person who went through a stack of CVs to pick who would get interviewed, it was soooo easy to disregard 80% of applicants, because they so clearly did NOT have anything in their CV that showed they had all – and I mean ALL – of the skills and experience asked for in the job description.

End of my reply on Reddit.

A lot of this could be said for why I prefer working for nonprofits or government agencies, rather than in the private sector: because it feels like the work matters, even if it’s at a desk most days. I like helping a specific community, including the one that’s all around me currently. And the differences between rural Oregon and rural anywhere else aren’t as great as you might think.

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

I’m in Washington, DC this week

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I’m in Washington, DC this week for a work-related conference. I’ll be here all week. If you would like to meet face-to-face while I’m here, email me at the email address you have for me, or text me at the phone number you have for me, or comment below and send me your email and I’ll get in touch!

Most popular blogs of 2022

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logo

We’ve celebrated another trip around the sun, and that means it’s time to look at what were my most popular blogs of 2022 – and to try to figure out why. It’s an exercise I do not so much for YOU, my readers, but for me. It’s the kind of self-analysis every nonprofit, NGO, government agency, or consultant for such should do.

There are eight blogs here that had enough readers (clicks) to qualify for being “popular”, in my opinion. And here they are.

Nine plus four emerging volunteer engagement trends (a VERY different list than you will read elsewhere) is not only the most popular blog I wrote in 2022, it is also in the top 20 of the most popular blogs I have EVER written. I was really surprised at how many people retweeted it.

The key to retaining volunteers. Another blog that got a LOT of retweets. It’s worth noting that Twitter has always been the most popular driver of people to my blogs – way more than Facebook or LinkedIn. That’s why I can’t quit it… yet.

What funding volunteer engagement looks like. A really popular blog – but I thought it would be even more so.

Seen a drop in volunteers? Quit blaming the pandemic & fix the problems. This blog struck quite a nerve, based on retweets.

How are you supporting the mental health needs of your volunteers? This blog, published in July 2022, saw a surge in popularity late in the year. Not sure why – I can’t see that someone has reposted it. But thank you to whoever did so.

How to connect & engage with volunteers remotely – even when those volunteers work onsite. More and more nonprofits are realizing that the Internet is an essential tool for supporting ALL volunteers, including those that you see onsite most of the time.

Either be committed to quality or quit involving volunteers. A blog I worked on for months and based on SO many conversations with nonprofits, schools and community programs that recruit volunteers, as well as my own experience trying to volunteer.

When IT staff isn’t providing proper support for volunteer engagement. Another blog I drafted over months. I’ve wanted to write it for years. I wish IT staff wasn’t an obstacle for managers of volunteers but, sadly, too often they are.

A couple of months, I’ve been blogging every other week, rather than every week. I’ve had a lot of other projects going on that need my energy and time, and cutting back on blogging let me do those other projects too. But for the first four months of 2023 at least, I’ll be back to blogging every week for a while, because those other projects have given me OH so much more to say! Let’s see how long that lasts.

Happy 2023! Hope yours is off to a great start.

If you have benefited from any of my blogs or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

Also, I have exactly 18 copies of The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. And when they are gone, they are gone – as in, you will have to pay a LOT more by ordering them from Amazon. If you want to learn how to leverage online tools to communicate with and support volunteers, whether those volunteers are mostly online (virtual volunteering) or they provide service mostly onsite at your organization, and to dig deep into the factors for success in supporting online volunteers and keeping virtual volunteering a worthwhile endeavor for everyone involved, you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. It’s based on many years of experience, from a variety of organizations. It’s available both as a traditional print publication and as a digital book.

Most popular blogs of 2021

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It’s the end of a calendar year, and that means it’s time to look at what were my most popular blogs of 2021 – and to try to figure out why. It’s an exercise I do not so much for YOU, my readers, but for me. It’s the kind of self-analysis every nonprofit, NGO, government agency, or consultant for such should do.

One seismic shift this year: not one blog I published this year made it to the list of top 11 blogs of all time. Usually, I knock off at least one blog from the top 11 spot – but not this year.

My top 11 blogs for 2021 – the ones that got the most clicks:

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

It was also another good year for The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook – lots of sales (though not as many as in 2020). If you want to learn how to avoid the common pitfalls in virtual volunteering and to dig far deeper into the factors for success in creating assignments for online volunteers, supporting online volunteers, and keeping virtual volunteering a worthwhile endeavor for everyone involved, you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. It’s available both as a traditional print publication and as a digital book. And if you buy it directly from me, the last two boxes in my closet will soon go away! I also get a bit more money than if you buy it from Amazon (and it’s slightly cheaper to buy from me as well).

Also see Reflections on Virtual Volunteering in 2020 (& My Most Popular Blogs for the Year).

Here’s to 2022!

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.