So much public health communications failure!

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Face with rolling eyes

I ranted back in April about the lack of public health messaging targeting teens and young adults, specifically, regarding how they are spreading SARS-CoV-2, the infectious disease which causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). I was told that such specific messaging was “unnecessary.”

I was right about the need for this targeted messaging… and I really didn’t want to be… and now we’re seeing the consequences, as young people quickly became, and still are, some of the most prolific spreaders of this virus, while most of them remain unaffected by such.

I have so hoped we’re all learning about how to best communicate about this global pandemic, particularly regarding prevention. But after the last four days, my hopes have, once again, been dashed.

Here’s a first-hand account of just how bad communication and contact tracing is across corporate HR departments and across city and county health departments in the USA – from my current home in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area:

Someone in my household got exposed to COVID-19 by a co-worker 11 days ago. He found out about the exposure on Friday – day eight after exposure. He came home and we implemented our quarantine protocols (yes, we have them!), retreating to divided-up spaces of the house (his part and my part), him wearing a mask at all times etc.

No one told him to, but he made an appointment with Kaiser, our health care provider, to get tested for SARS-CoV-2. He got tested the next day, nine days after exposure. He got his results – “undetected” – on day 10. He continued to stay home on day 11, today, despite some in his workplace implying it’s okay now for him to come back.

We have waited for our county public health office to contact him with whatever they need to contact him for. That’s how contact tracing works, right? He finally heard from a Multnomah County person on Day 11, yesterday, who said, “Oh, you know, I shouldn’t be the one contacting you, it should be Washington County” (where we live).

The representative also told him he had to quarantine until December 4, and he asked WHY!? She said she had down in her records that he was exposed on Friday. He explained that he was exposed a week ago Thursday, 11 days ago. She corrects her records and then says she has a letter for him for his employer, but she can’t send it – she’ll have to send it to Washington County and they will send it to him.

That same night, on Day 11, his doctor texted him to tell him his test was negative – which he knew from an earlier message on Sunday (Day 9).

Neither his company’s HR department, nor Kaiser, nor the Multnomah County Health Department ever told him about these official guidelines for our area on what to do after you get tested. I saw a link to the guideline on a friend’s Facebook newsfeed on Monday morning – that’s the only reason we know about such.

So, in sum: his company failed (wrong date on exposure, wrong date on when to return to work, never told him about the official guidelines for what to do after being tested), our health care provider/testing site failed (never told him about the official guidelines for what to do after being tested), and two health departments have failed (the wrong one contacted him, contact was not at all timely, and no representative ever told him about her own department’s official guidelines for what to do after being tested).

What didn’t fail? Face masks and social distancing. It’s why he doesn’t have COVID-19. It’s why I don’t either.

There is a global pandemic going on, hospital rates are soaring, infection rates are soaring, and if this is how it is, not just in the Portland, Oregon metro area but across the USA, this is part of why: information isn’t timely and complete, accurate information isn’t being distributed. None of the aforementioned, with the exception of the timeliness of the public health department finally reaching out, can be attributed to lack of money nor lack of time.

We’re hopeful that he’ll make it to day 14 – Thanksgiving – without developing symptoms, and that if he does have it, I don’t. We’re thankful to still be able to work and that we have a home big enough for quarantine protocols. But, yes, I’m frustrated! There’s no reason not to do better regarding public health communications!

supporting your stressed-out team without falling into toxic positivity

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Because of the global pandemic and the drastic way our work, volunteering and social lives have been altered, volunteers are stressed. Employees at nonprofits are stressed. Consultants at nonprofits are stressed. WE’RE ALL STRESSED.

The changed types and degrees of workload, the increased demands on most nonprofits, the dire financial crisis at most nonprofits – it’s causing anxiety to be at an all-time high.

“The onslaught of bad news is so relentless, it begs the question: How do we cope with it all?” Also, “positivity that isn’t grounded in reality… can actually poison your expectations,” as this article from October 15 from Fast Company notes. The article, How to inspire your team during a crisis without falling into toxic positivity, also offers realistic advice that can be helpful in your work with volunteers (and everyone). It’s written by the CEO of an agriculture tech company.

Also see:

How not to treat volunteers: another saga.

Your right to turn away volunteers who won’t adhere to safety measures (& your right to refuse to volunteer at an unsafe program).

You do not need to meet via video conference with every potential volunteer.

A senior neighbor with intellectual disabilities gets an iPad

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I live two doors down from a home for adults with intellectual disabilities, most of them over 40 years old. Some residents are on the autism spectrum, some have Down’s Syndrome, and some have brain damage from birth. They are terrific neighbors: kind, observant and friendly. And a couple of them are my friends: we sit together on the low wall around my front yard and interact with my dog and the various neighborhood dogs and cats that pass by – and the people, but always from a safe distance, as this is a group of people who are particularly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

Because of the danger of COVID-19, most of the residents can’t do the daily things that have brought them joy: one that had a job has now lost it because there isn’t enough work. They can’t go to church. They can’t go to the bottle drop center to recycle bottles and cans, something they enjoyed as much for the social aspect as the money. They can’t walk through Goodwill or Walmart. They can’t take mass transit. There are no public festivals. There are few garage sales. And their favorite shows, Live PD and Cops, have been canceled.

A month ago, a sister of one of the residents I’m particularly close to decided to buy him an iPad, so he could watch the church services he’s dearly missing because of the global pandemic, as well as watch videos like the dog videos I regularly record and share on YouTube. I volunteered to try to set it up in such a way that her brother could more easily navigate it. My goal was that, once someone logged into the iPad for him, he could watch the videos he wanted to without someone having to load a video each time. What I imagined was that there’s a particular time of day – let’s say 10 a.m. – when a staff person would log on to the device for him and, from there, he would have just a few clicks to watch and re-watch the videos pre-selected for him, and he could do that for, say, an hour on his own. It was tough to set up: he cannot read, so everything has to be done by easy-to-recognize icons. I don’t think he can remember more than two steps on a device. There can’t be too many things to click on – it will just be a sea of confusing symbols. He’s over 70 and has no experience using any device other than turning a device on or off or changing TV channels manually (he can’t use a remote and a phone is much too complicated for him to operate, even to call someone).

I spent hours looking at the Internet trying to find apps he would enjoy as well, but all seemed too advanced for him. Everything I read about online about apps that people with intellectual disabilities can use required a level of remembering and understanding and reading he just doesn’t have. There are lots of resources for parents to find apps to help their children with intellectual disabilities use an iPad or Android, and there are lots of resources to help people help elderly people use these devices, but resources to help seniors with intellectual disabilities use these devices? THAT has been a fruitless quest.

Here’s how I set it up:

  • I made three web pages, which are on my own web site, so that I can change them from my own home, without having to take his device back. I have a shortcut to the home page for these pages on the iPad, in the top left corner of the main screen. I wish I could have made the icon a cat or a dog, two images he easily recognizes, but I never could figure out how. The icon also has his name on it, which he does recognize.
  • I made the icons on the iPad as large as I could (and even then I wish I could have made them larger).
  • I moved all the icons off the first screen that I don’t want him to use. I left the icon to the web page that I created as his main interface, as well as the shortcuts to YouTube, kids’ YouTube, FaceTime, Zoom, his contacts and the camera button.
  • I created accounts for him on Google (for YouTube and gmail) and Facebook, and automatic logins for such. He will not use email, but he needed an email account in order to have accounts on things like video-conferencing software his sister might want to use to communicate with him.
  • After someone signs him in, he clicks on the icon with his name on it and he will come to a web page with three photos on it. One is of his church, one is of his pastor and one is of me. If he clicks on the church photo, he goes to a long list of links that go to church videos on Facebook. If he clicks on the photo of his pastor, he goes to a long list of links to videos his pastor has made, some on Facebook and some on YouTube (singing, puppet ministry, etc.). And if he clicks on the photo of me, he goes to a long list of my animal videos and silly videos on YouTube. He clicks on a link and pushes the play icon, and can watch the video.

Here’s the problem: after the video is done, he doesn’t have the capacity to navigate Facebook or YouTube and go to the next video. Instead, he has to remember to push the home button at the bottom of the device. Then he starts all over: clicking on “his” icon, coming to the web page with the three photos, choosing which “channel” of videos he wants to view, and then choosing a video to watch.

So, how is it going? I can’t observe him using it, and I wasn’t able to train him myself on using it. But in the evenings, I have been sitting out on my wall, talking with the pastor’s wife sitting eight feet away, and my neighbor has come walking over to say, “I saw you on that box thing!” He then recounts seeing her or her daughters singing or her husband preaching. I don’t know how often he watches videos on it, but it seems to be enough to delight him a few times a week. And as we all stay home day after day, being delighted a few times a week is the best we can hope for.

I hope it continues to work out for him. But either no one is thinking about people like him in the development of apps and interfaces, or they are but they’ve made those tools extremely hard to find.

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. 

Online Harassment Field Manual

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PEN America is a 501(c)(3) organization based in the USA. Founded in 1922, PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to access the views, ideas, and literature of others. Its members are a nationwide community of more than 7,200 novelists, journalists, nonfiction writers, editors, poets, essayists, playwrights, publishers, translators, agents, and other writing professionals, as well as devoted readers and supporters who join with them to carry out PEN America’s mission.

Writers and journalists, particularly women, are facing unprecedented levels of online hate and harassment. PEN America has created an Online Harassment Field Manual that has strategies and resources that writers and journalists, their allies and their employers can use to defend against cyber hate & online abuse. I have found it very helpful.

Manual chapters include: 

  • Prepare for Online Harassment – Tactics, tips, and guidelines for protecting your online presence and accounts
  • Respond to Online Harassment – Strategies for response, including assessing threats, navigating social media and email, deploying cyber communities, and practicing counterspeech
  • Practicing Self-Care – Advice for practicing self-care and maintaining community during online harassment
  • Legal Considerations – What to expect when turning to law enforcement during online harassment
  • Requesting and Providing Support – How-to guides and helpful information for targeted writers, their allies, and their employers
  • Learn More about Online Harassment – What is online harassment, what forms does it take, and why is it a free expression issue?

I highly recommend this manual. Read it even if you are not being insulted or harassed online. Even if you don’t think you will ever be thus targeted, even if you think being insulted or harassed online wouldn’t bother you, even if you don’t have any public social media activities (you aren’t on Facebook, you don’t blog, etc.), but you do produce content in some way, or you oversee staff or have co-workers that produce online content, you need to read this.

On a related note: there’s also this resource from the Women’s Media Center: Online Abuse 101. It’s a primer on targeted online harassment. “The purpose of harassment differs with every incidence, but usually includes wanting to embarrass, humiliate, scare, threaten, silence, extort or, in some instances, encourages mob attacks or malevolent engagements… Online harassment can be a steep tax on women’s freedom of speech, civic life, and democracy.” 

And if you haven’t in a while, check-in with whoever manages your social media and make sure they are okay. Ask them what sort of negative comments get thrown their way. They need to know that senior management supports them.  

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. 

NYT spotlights how seniors are volunteering virtually

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The New York Times, in a story last week, says “Older adults, particularly vulnerable in a pandemic, still work for their causes, but primarily from home now”, via virtual volunteering.

The story notes what all of us that work in or with nonprofits know so well: in March, the health risks of in-person contact brought in-person volunteering to an immediate halt at many programs, particularly for seniors / the elderly. Volunteers are the lifeblood of many nonprofits and other community programs,, but the pandemic has created major barriers to volunteer participation, especially for older people, who face a higher risk of serious illness or death if they contract the coronavirus. As a result, many seniors have pivoted to virtual volunteering, and some of these elderly volunteers are finding themselves devoting even more hours each month to their causes now.

The story profiles two senior volunteers who are doing more virtual volunteering because of the pandemic, and what they are doing as online volunteers:

Before the pandemic, Paula Brynen devoted 15 hours a month to various causes, including arts groups and a volunteer recruitment clearinghouse. For instance, she volunteered onsite for the local chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, volunteering that is especially important to her, having survived leukemia in 2011. She used to help with the setup for the annual fund-raising walk; now, she focuses on fundraising phone calls. Opportunities with arts groups have disappeared for her for now, but she has several new projects, including working as a mentor with Table Wisdom, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that matches older adults with students and young professionals in the United States and abroad who need career advice and help with English-language skills. She connects each week via Zoom with a young environmental engineer in Colombia who is hoping to advance her career by improving her English. Ms. Brynen is also volunteering for Democratic candidates in the November election, and she recently helped a graduate student in psychology complete her training by serving as a sort of virtual guinea pig, doing sessions as an art therapy patient.

Barbara Lewers is a 79-year-old New Yorker who spent two afternoons every week volunteering at Senior Planet’s center in Manhattan before the pandemic. When Senior Planet, a program of the nonprofit Older Adults Technology Services and which helps older adults learn to use technology. shifted its work completely online, Ms. Lewers shifted, too. A retired advertising creative director, she has volunteered in a program that makes check-in calls to older New Yorkers. She has also helped with a program that has deployed 10,000 tablet computers to older low-income residents in city housing, helping to train people how to use them.

The Times article notes that technology can be a barrier for some older adults, who can be less likely to use the latest technology, according to the Pew Research Center; for example, last year 59 percent of Americans age 65 and older had broadband internet connections, roughly 20 percentage points fewer than those in younger age groups. Efforts to help seniors use online tools are noted now almost every week on the TechSoup online community forum (do a search for the world senior, click on forums, sort by date).

I am not surprised at all that the online volunteers profiled in this NYT story are people who already had an established relationship with the nonprofits they are now helping as online volunteers – that’s something that’s usual for online volunteers even when there isn’t a pandemic going on (as noted in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook). I’m not surprised that these experienced, traditional volunteers are finding themselves spending MORE time as online volunteers. I am very glad the article spotlighted senior citizens as the online volunteers in this story, not just as the recipients of service. I just wish this story had talked to more nonprofits about how they are creating activities and roles for volunteers, what challenges they are facing, etc.

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

For much more detailed advice on creating assignments for online volunteers, for working with online volunteers, for using the Internet to support and involve ALL volunteers, including volunteers that provide service onsite, and for ensuring success in virtual volunteering, check out The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. Tools come and go – but certain community engagement principles never change, as this Times article confirmed! You will not find a more detailed guide anywhere for working with online volunteers and using the Internet to support and involve all volunteers – even after home quarantines are over and volunteers start coming back onsite to your workspace. It’s available both as a traditional paperback and as an online book. It’s co-written by myself and Susan Ellis.

Also see all of the blogs I’ve developed JUST THIS YEAR to help nonprofits quickly launch online roles & activities for online volunteers and to deliver their programming and services online:

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. 

Volunteers guide process for future park district decisions in Oregon

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image of a panel discussion

We hear a lot about volunteers just cleaning up a park.

What about volunteers leading in information gathering and guidance for the future of an entire park and recreation district?

The board of the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD) in Oregon solicited feedback to guide them in future decisions, and that information-gathering, as well the subsequent report, was done by volunteers:

A dedicated multigenerational, multiethnic, and multilingual volunteer group – the Visioning Task Force (VTF), was recruited to work together and with district staff to lead outreach efforts. Their task: lead and help create public involvement strategies to meet communities where they are. Throughout the summer of 2019, they captured the unique stories, experiences, and creative ideas of district residents.

Our volunteers represented the community well, reflecting a diversity in age, ethnicity, race, gender, and languages spoken. Their ability to connect with and advise the district on outreach strategies was impressive. Even more impressive was their commitment and dedication to leading the engagement efforts themselves and the hours they spent volunteering at events throughout the community to gather input.

The resulting Vision Action Plan was written by those community volunteers.

Here’s more about the effort.

Was this done because it was cheaper than hiring a consultant? I hope not. I hope the reason it was done was because volunteers were probably the best people for this task: they had no financial interest in telling the board what they might want to hear. Volunteers can often be more neutral, more questioning and more free-to-speak than paid consultants or employees. I would love to know more how these volunteers were chosen, supported and guided.

How is your organization involving volunteers in LEADERSHIP roles?

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. 

Virtual volunteering is more than “making cards for the sick/elderly”

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The proliferation of projects right now during the global pandemic where people write cards or postcards for elderly people, people in residential care facilities, patients in hospitals, people who are homebound, etc., is astounding. The number of schools and corporations proudly touting this as “virtual volunteering” is equally astounding.

Cards can be nice. When my grandmother turned 100, my sister and I coordinated with our friends so that she would get more than 100 birthday cards via postal mail for her birthday, and she did, and she was delighted. It was nice. I’m glad we did it.

But that thrill lasted a day or two.

What she enjoyed far more, on a weekly basis:

  • Learning to play Wii.
  • Learning to use a tablet to download free books.

I wish it had dawned on me to get her signed up on Facebook so we could have played Scrabble together. I wish I had figured out if we both got the same episode of Jeopardy at the same time, so we could have live-chatted during it on WhatsApp.

What I’m getting at is this: are these “let’s write and send cards for the homebound” something that the recipients REALLY want, or is much more substantial virtual volunteering and online collaboration what we should be shooting for?

What about remote programs where volunteers:

  • Ask for their stories about particular periods in history: Where were you when the first men landed on the moon? How did you know that happened? What was your life like during the civil rights movement? Tell me about September 11, 2001? What was it like to go to grade school when you were a kid – did you walk to school? What did you wear? What if those sessions were recorded and made available via the local library or the local historical society, or spliced together into a video to share on YouTube, or edited into weekly or monthly podcasts?
  • Cook together with the person they are visiting remotely: each comes up with a relatively simple recipe, tells the other all the ingredients that might be needed, and one dish is cooked one week and another dish is cooked a week or two later?
  • Teach a person how to use Wikipedia, or even how to edit Wikipedia. What if they worked together on improving a Wikipedia article about local history?
  • Play free online word games together, like Scrabble? Or play even more advanced, free games together? Don’t be surprised to find out a lot of seniors are already engaged in online gaming.
  • Make something together while you are online together: origami, paper hats, lightsabers from toilet paper rolls (you don’t think seniors are Star Wars fans?!?), some other simple, crafty thing made from things you both can easily get your hands on… Again, record the session, splice all the sessions into something fun and share on YouTube.
  • Have an online book club, where seniors and teens all read the same book and then talk about it together online.

In short, volunteers and corporate social responsibility program managers: quit thinking you know what seniors want and what will make them happy, based on what’s most convenient for YOU. Don’t think of seniors and people in residential homes sitting there passively waiting for your uplifting message. Think about ENGAGEMENT. Think about INTERACTION. Think about what the seniors or patients might want, not primarily what you THINK they want. Have you asked them? That might be a great place to start.

Here’s a very long list of virtual volunteering roles and activities. Writing cards isn’t on it, by the way.

And here’s a seven-minute video where I say most of the things I’ve just said in this blog – and more!

August 3, 2021 update: An example of a high quality digital volunteering/friendly visitor program born out of COVID: It was oh-sorefreshing to learn about the Digital Buddies initiative in Scotland, which started during the Covid 19 pandemic to enable older people in the Scottish Borders to connect digitally with friends, family, groups & the wider world. Digital Buddies teamed the older people up with a digital buddy, often a family member, friend or neighbor, and they did not do it simply by creating a web site and giving people each other’s Skype IDs and hoping for the best. The volunteer buddy supports the person with whatever they wish to learn to do at their own pace, with the aid of SEVERAL step-by-step picture instructions and the assistance of staff. We also provide a tablet and access to the internet to those who do not have access to technology. There are just 15 older people in the Borders participating in Digital Buddies. Many were apprehensive at the beginning, as they worried they might not remember or manage. With the help from their buddies they are now regularly using their digital device to video call with friends and family, join local groups, meetings or classes that have moved online in Covid19, attend virtual religious services, do their shopping, and much more. Resources provided to participants include how to access the accessibility settings on the tablet devices used, how to charge the devices and use them to listen to podcasts, access email, etc., as well as digital inclusion tips.

My favorite part of the program is this:

When we were looking for buddies we weren’t looking for IT specialists, we were looking for people who:

  • Had a little spare time.
  • Were patient.
  • Were comfortable explaining in non jargon terms.
  • Knew how to do the basics on touch screen devices – we try to match people who have knowledge of similar devices.
  • Could commit to supporting someone for at least 6 months.

Yes, six months. Not just a few weeks. And not a few-minutes-a-week commitment: volunteers were expected to engage in something meaningful and impactful.

See Setting up a Digital Buddies project – What we Learned for more.

It’s the sign of a quality virtual volunteering program that when an initiative produces such a report, talking about what’s worked and what hasn’t and what comes next.

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

For much more detailed advice on creating assignments for online volunteers, for working with online volunteers, for using the Internet to support and involve ALL volunteers, including volunteers that provide service onsite, and for ensuring success in virtual volunteering, check out The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. Tools come and go – but certain community engagement principles never change. You will not find a more detailed guide anywhere for working with online volunteers and using the Internet to support and involve all volunteers – even after home quarantines are over and volunteers start coming back onsite to your workspace. It’s available both as a traditional paperback and as an online book. It’s co-written by myself and Susan Ellis.

On a similar themes:

Vanity Volunteering: All About the Volunteer.

*Another* Afghanistan Handicraft program? Really?

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 during the holidays during a pandemic

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

The question will be coming soon, at least in North America: how can I, or my entire family, volunteer to help others during the holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas – during this pandemic?

First, know that nonprofits, even when there is not a pandemic, are deluged with people looking for a feel-good, heart-warming, short-term volunteering experience that makes them feel like they are helping others, that they can bring along their kids, maybe take some selfies… and some nonprofits are willing to create these opportunities because programs can use them to educate the volunteers about hunger, homelessness, etc. and get some financial donations. But these holiday opportunities fill up QUICKLY. In non-pandemic times, I advise potential volunteers to look for holiday volunteering opportunities in the summer because these roles fill up so quickly.

What’s the landscape like during the pandemic for holiday volunteering, especially with a family? Even smaller, in terms of opportunities.

If you want to volunteer during the holidays, onsite rather than online, your best bet is to focus on local Meals on Wheels programs and food banks, and to be flexible with many different days and times you are available in November and December. Look into requirements to volunteer NOW – the web sites of various programs should have complete details. If you can volunteer for more than one day, all the better – it’s a lot of investment to train and screen volunteers, and it’s much easier to involve volunteers who will come a few times, not just once.

You can also start taking inventory of your own immediate neighborhood. Do you know who your neighbors are? Do you know their Thanksgiving plans? In talking to your neighbors (socially-distanced and with a mask, of course), do you find any that will be alone for Thanksgiving? Would they be open to your bringing them a Thanksgiving Day meal, or a meal on some other day? What about making five chicken pot pies or some other thing that can be homemade and frozen and giving them to neighbors to use/eat whenever they want to? Or some bags of groceries (including toilet paper)? People who are far from family, who live alone – some are elderly, some are foreign students, and on and on – are probably all around you.

Is there a church, temple or mosque nearby, and would they be able to match you with a family or a single person in need that would welcome a meal or bags of groceries? This will probably be done anonymously – you probably won’t get to meet the family unless you are already a member of that community of faith.

What about neighbors that have dogs – are there any that have trouble walking their dog and would welcome you and your family walking their dogs some days over the holidays?

Do you have neighbors who are homebound – elderly, people living in a home for people with disabilities, etc. – who would enjoy chalk art drawings on the sidewalks outside their homes?

I’m really good at creating volunteering opportunities that are skills-based and project-based, that are about more sustainable results, not so much charity. But charity is what most volunteers want to do over the holidays. So, the above are my ideas. What are yours? What are you planning to do over the holidays to volunteer safely during the pandemic? Please offer ideas in the comments below.

More: Volunteering in the time of the novel coronavirus/COVID-19

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. 

Milestone: more than 100 virtual volunteering research articles

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As of October 2020, a milestone has been reached regarding virtual volunteering: I’ve found more than 100 research articles, dating back to 1997 and most with a university association, related to virtual volunteering. These are all listed here at the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.

I started tracking published research regarding virtual volunteering – using the internet to engage and support volunteers – when I directed the Virtual Volunteering Project at the University of Texas at Austin. I began heading the project in December 1996 and within several months of looking, I not only had found about 100 programs, most at nonprofits, a few at schools, that were involving online volunteers, I also realized that the practice was at least a couple of decades old, first starting at the Project Gutenberg, a volunteer effort that began in 1971 to digitize, archive and distribute the full texts of public domain books, such as works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain. But what I had trouble finding was academic research on the subject. I had found a fair amount by the time The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook was published, but even so, it seemed still to be rather on the lean side for a practice that was so well-established.

I had no funding to research and write The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, and I’ve had no funding to continue maintaining the Virtual Volunteering Wiki, which tracks news and research regarding using the Internet to engage and support volunteers. But, indeed, I’ve maintained the wiki all these years, focusing on things that I deemed newsworthy and, especially, academic research. When I realized that there are now more than 100 research articles, dating back to 1997 and most with a university association, related to virtual volunteering, I felt it was worth celebrating. And this is just the English-language material: I bet there is a fair amount in Spanish, given Spain’s leadership in virtual volunteering for a couple of decades now.

Note that sometimes research articles do not call the unpaid contributors or unpaid virtual team members “volunteers.” For instance, any research paper on Wikipedia contributors could be considered research on virtual volunteering, as Wikipedia contributors – Wikipedians – are unpaid by Wikimedia for those contributions.

Also note that many of the papers make the mistake of talking about virtual volunteering as new, ignoring or overlooking its more than three-decade history. When I read that this is a “new” practice in an academic paper recently published, especially a thesis or dissertation, it makes it very hard for me to take the rest of the research seriously. I wish more university professors would catch that inaccurate point of view early on in a PhD student’s exploration of the subject.

It’s so wonderful to see that virtual volunteering now has a rich research history to go along with its rich history of practice, and I love reading perspectives about virtual volunteering by people who ARE NOT ME. Look, it’s been fun to be the world’s expert regarding virtual volunteering, but I’m so hungry to read perspectives by other people, particularly regarding what works best in supporting online volunteers, particularly different demographics of such volunteers – is it different to involve teen online volunteers in India versus tech-savy senior volunteers in Germany? Is there something that works well supporting online volunteers in South Africa that is different than what’s done in Spain? Is engaging and supporting rural online volunteers different from engaging and supporting urban or suburban online volunteers, even in the same country? I’d love to see such comparative studies!

What’s not needed? Research on the motivations of people who volunteer online. Good grief, people, ENOUGH!

I would also love beyond words if a university would step forward and be willing to take over management of the Virtual Volunteering Wiki. Having university students and faculty maintaining this would make it a much more rich and valuable resource. Any takers?

Let me be frank: I’m going to eventually retire. I’ll always be interested in virtual volunteering, and I’ll be an online volunteer myself for, I hope, decades to come (in between my extensive motorcycle riding). But just as there is no one Queen or King of All Things Volunteer Management, there shouldn’t be just one person, or always the same person, keeping track of news and research regarding virtual volunteering and distilling the key points of such. It’s overdue for new leaders, and a diversity of new leaders, to emerge in this field. I stand ready to support those new leaders (or, at least, figuratively – I can’t stand as long as I used to).

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. 

Addressing anger in the workplace (including online)

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Mental Illness Awareness Week 2020, October 4-10, is winding down, and it’s a good time to remind ourselves that we are ALL all under a tremendous amount of stress now per so many, many things associated with the global pandemic (at least if we’re among those taking it seriously). And some of us are also dealing with enormous amounts of anger from customers, clients and others.

I wrote a series of tweets, published Wednesday, to talk about dealing with intense anger from co-workers, clients, customers and others. The first was an introduction tweet that had much of the same content of the opening paragraph. Here is the content of the rest of the tweets:

Anger isn’t automatically a bad thing. Anger fuels social justice movements, human rights movements & important changes in societies & systems. Anger can even be an effective motivator of volunteerism. But anger can also hijack a person’s life in negative, even dangerous ways. [2/17]

Intense anger can affect reasoning and self-control, which can be further weakened by substance use &/or mental illness, ranging from depression to delusional thinking. That kind of intense anger can affect, even destroy, your work and relationships. [3/17]

If you are seen as a perpetually and irrational angry or vindictive person, it can affect your employability, your ability to keep employees and volunteers at your nonprofit – & even the funding of your nonprofit, NGO or charity. [4/17]

If you are online a lot, you see intense, irrational anger among trolls, those people whose primary purpose online seems to be to hurt others. Many aren’t anonymous: they don’t care that their barrage of insults hurts their professional reputation. [5/17]

That kind of intense, irrational anger and aggression are closely tied to several mental health conditions, including major depression, bipolar, irritability, Oppositional defiant behavior, Narcissistic personality, and PTSD https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/anger [6/17]

Program managers at nonprofits, NGOs & charities, as well as managers of volunteers, need to support staff in dealing with angry customers, clients, volunteers, donors and others. Dealing with intensely angry people is draining and people need to feel supported in this work. [7/17]

It’s not just your social media manager: even if your nonprofit, NGO or charity staff are all working from home, they may be dealing with intensely, even irrationally angry customers, clients, volunteers, donors and others. [8/17]

And your staff may be dealing with situations such that they are quite angry themselves and it may be affecting their work. Senior managers need to assume that both of these scenarios might be happening and take steps to help. [9/17]

Remind staff that you know things are tough now & that tensions can be running high among staff & volunteers, as well as those they’re dealing with. Talk openly about anger: how to deal with it ourselves & with it among customers, clients, volunteers, donors & others. [10/18]

Emphasize SAFETY. People should feel safe in doing their work. Talk about what harassment looks like. Give staff safe ways to report harassment from colleagues, customers and the public and to talk openly about the difficulty in dealing with it. [11/18]

Make sure staff know when harassment becomes something potentially illegal and even dangerous. Know when to call police. These resources regarding online harassment, defamation & libel can help: http://www.coyotebroad.com/work/harass.shtml [12/18]

Circulate mental health support resources among all employees, volunteers and consultants, including those focused specifically on dealing with anger, like Anger management: 10 tips to tame your temper from the Mayo Clinic:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/anger-management/art-20045434 [13/18]

Psychologists can help people recognize and avoid the triggers that make them angry. They can also provide ways to help people manage the inevitable anger that sometimes flares without warning.
https://www.apa.org/topics/understanding-anger [14/18]

Is your temper hijacking your life? Tips and techniques can help you get anger under control and express your feelings in healthier ways.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/anger-management.htm [15/18]

Here are Anger Management Treatment Program Options
https://www.psychguides.com/anger-management/treatment/
[16/18]

Here is advice on What To Do When You Have Anger Issues
https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/anger/what-to-do-when-you-have-anger-issues/ [17/18]

& the best for last: NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 am–6 pm, ET. 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org [18/18]

Twice this year, I have dealt with intensely angry and irrational people in my work. In both cases, it’s been utterly exhausting. In one case, heartbreaking, because it is related to dementia to someone I respect a great deal, and in another case, it’s terrifying, because I fear it could turn violent. And as an independent consultant, with no staff – it’s just me – I don’t have a supervisor to check in on me, I don’t have a staff to delegate some responsibilities too, and I can’t follow a lot of the advice I’ve just offered above. Coupled with the global pandemic and a very intense political situation, these are particularly difficult times for independent consultants. So I want to give a specific shout out to such consultants who are in a similar position. Reach out to me if you need to talk.

In addition, the same day, I tweeted about domestic violence and the importance of any workplace having a domestic violence policy and training staff, including volunteers, on how to recognize domestic violence and where to find guidance and resources for themselves or co-workers – because all that is also a mental health issue and is most definitely, and sadly, related to helping someone navigate, and protect themselves from, someone else’s anger. I won’t re-create those tweets here, but here’s the start of that much shorter series.

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.