Tag Archives: community

When volunteering is bad for your mental health

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graphic representing volunteers

This is an excerpt from a comment on a Quora post from last year, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it:

Honestly, volunteering was really bad for my mental health.

The thing was, the bosses all thought they were doing my a favour by letting me work with them. They appreciated their other volunteers but they didn’t really want a depressed and disabled person working with them. They didn’t see it as me giving up my time to support a charity I cared about – they saw it as them ‘finding me something to do’, that I needed this in order to fill my time, that they were kind to let me.

I didn’t need to fill my time. Filling my time has never been an issue for me. I just wanted to help others, to contribute to a cause I cared about…

I’m very shy and not a natural chatter. I also had limited life experiences so I had nothing to contribute to most of their conversations… I’d been there 4 months before I discovered there was a weekly trip to the pub which everyone else went to but which I had never been told about. I just happened to be within earshot when it was explained to someone else on his first day…

My mental health got worse and worse. I felt humiliated… I quit in the end because I couldn’t take it anymore… Volunteering makes me feel depressed, anxious, worthless and a total freak. I wouldn’t do it again. I will happily donate money or possessions but I don’t want to be made to feel that way ever again… This probably isn’t the sort of reply you’re looking for and I know that a lot of people find volunteering a really valuable and helpful experience but I thought maybe it was important to hear all points of view?

This should give pause to every person who works with volunteers, and every person who promotes volunteering. This is why I have so many cautions regarding people who tout volunteering as a great way for a person to improve their mental health issues – the reality is, volunteering, in the wrong circumstances, can make mental health issues WORSE.

I wrote about this before, back in 2019, quoting people who were posting online looking for volunteering and had wildly unrealistic expectations about how volunteering might help them, as well as about their abilities to step into a volunteering role, especially one abroad. And as you see at the end of this blog, I take protecting the mental health of volunteers very seriously. We need to not only make sure we aren’t being unrealistic about what volunteering can do positively for a volunteer’s mental health, but also make sure we are better ensuring volunteers’ mental and emotional safety while volunteering.

Let’s be realistic about volunteering and mental health. Otherwise, we’re going to turn more people off to volunteering – and that’s not helpful for anyone.

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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. 

Love for NGOs in Belize

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A montage of four photos, each representing one of the NGOs that is highlighted below. The first photo is of a gift shop, the second is of an adorable puppy, the next is of children in a library, and the last is of a natural spring swimming hole in Belize.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and in honor of love, I’m going to show some love for the NGOs I interacted with or noticed while on my recent two-week trip to Belize.

I was not volunteering in Belize; I was vacationing. But when I travel, I always do so with a mind to transire benefaciendo: “to travel along while doing good.” So here’s a thread to highlight some awesome NGOs I encountered as a tourist in Belize:

The Belize Audubon Society. They staffed some of the sanctuaries and parks we visited. And staff was always AWESOME. Note: they have volunteering opportunities!

Cayo Animal Welfare Society. It’s the Humane Society serving San Ignacio / Santa Elena and the Cayo District of Belize. I wrote them about a disturbing incident of dog abuse by the people operating a snack shack at Cahal Pech & they promptly wrote back.

Maya Center Women’s Group. They have a cultural center & gift shop at the entrance of Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. They are local artisans & by purchasing from them, you help sustain their families. They are lovely to talk to.

Miss Bertie’s Hopkins Community Library. We walked by it every day we were in Hopkins, Belize. But I never went in, because it was either closed or OH so busy & I didn’t want to be a bother. But what an important resource!

Please show them some love as well: go like some of their Facebook posts. If you can, make a financial donation to any or all of them!

Why did these groups get my attention? Because I encountered them while visiting a site and they were particularly helpful, because they had a great presence wherever they were located and that presence jumped out at me when I went by, and/or because I asked them a question online and they responded. Does YOUR nonprofit or NGO meet all of that criteria, wherever it is in the world?

And next time you travel, I hope you will consider keeping in mind transire benefaciendo.

You can volunteer to address the critical needs of refugees IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY

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Four human figures hold hands and lean back, none of them falling because they are all holding each other.

The Earth is experiencing unprecedented numbers of refugees and asylum seekers – people who have left their countries of birth, desperate to escape dire economic and environmental circumstances or threats to themselves and their families. They are looking to find a new home in another, more stable country. There are also record numbers of internally-displaced people (IDP) – people in the same situation, fleeing their homes but staying within their country of nationality.

Once a refugee, asylum seeker or IDP reaches a place of sanctuary, their struggles are far from over: they need permanent, affordable housing, the adults need jobs, the children need to be enrolled in school, the entire family needs language instruction in the local language, they need to know how to access health care (including dental care), they need to know how to access things like playing soccer at school or in a local league, when shops are closed for various holidays they may not be aware of, how to open a bank account, how to use mass transit, how the garbage system works, and on and on and on. It’s a huge amount of help that’s required.

Nonprofits, government programs and systems designed to help refugees are overwhelmed. In the USA, refugees and asylum seekers receive most of the help they need from VOLUNTEERS – people who are donating their time to help, time that competes with work and family requirements. And there are not enough volunteers to help address all the needs that refugees have, not in the USA and not in most other countries.

Before you start pursuing a volunteering gig abroad to help refugees, I beg you to look for opportunities in your own community. I live in a small town in Oregon and have discovered volunteering opportunities all around me to help refugees from Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Somalia and more. I have seen similar opportunities not too far from my hometown in Western Kentucky to help Afghan refugees.

I’m volunteering to help a family that is just around the corner from me. I’m volunteering through Portland Refugee Support Group. So far, I’ve:

  • found information already in Arabic from various government offices.
  • helped the children 16 and over, only two of whom speaks English, apply for jobs (three have found employment).
  • helped the oldest child, who is 20, find free English classes.
  • explained how to try out for the high school soccer team for the 16-year-old interested in such.
  • explained how Thanksgiving and Christmas affect store closings, bank closings and traffic.
  • taken the mom to the Halal groceries.
  • read through their postal mail and explained what they are receiving.
  • explained how the green card and citizenship process works (the official web site of the US government has complete details, plus I helped a family member of my own get a green card).
  • recruited two other volunteers to help (and I’m working on more).

Google Translate has been essential in communicating with most of the family members, but I can translate only two or three sentences at a time using that tool. Through my Reddit activities, I connected with a young woman abroad who is fluent in Arabic and wanted to volunteer as a translator – she translates large amounts of text for me, like explaining how the garbage bill works.

Other volunteers have helped with jobs research and interviews, as well as transportation, filling out government program applications, moving items, even getting a Christmas tree. One volunteer just drives the mom to the grocery once a month, nothing else – and that’s GREAT!

You can volunteer as much or as little as you want to – you don’t have to volunteer every day or even every week. You can volunteer just once a month. But you need to help on an ongoing basis. And when you sign up, you will need to go through a criminal background check and a short training – and the training will probably be online.

How do you find opportunities to work with refugees and asylum seekers near you? You go to Google and type in the name of your city, or the nearest big city, and the phrase help refugees and nonprofit (that’s how I signed up to volunteer where I live). You might find such opportunities on VolunteerMatch as well.

I signed up initially just to help with recruitment of more volunteers. I had no intention of working with refugees directly, because I live far from the center of the nearest metropolitan area, and most of the refugees live far from me. But after just two months, it turned out there was a refugee family right around the corner from me, and my help was welcomed.

I recommend volunteering through an existing nonprofit that helps refugees. But if you are ready to take on a lot more responsibility, including fundraising, and you are in the USA, note that, the Department of State, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, has created the Welcome Corps, a new private sponsorship program that empowers everyday Americans to play a leading role in welcoming refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and supporting their resettlement and integration as they build new lives in the United States. Groups of at least five individual American citizens or permanent resident adults will be able to apply to the Welcome Corps to privately sponsor the resettlement of refugees in the United States. Private sponsors, as volunteers, will be responsible for independently raising funds and directly providing essential assistance to refugees for their first 90 days in their new community. This assistance includes helping refugees find housing and employment, enrolling children in school, and connecting refugees to essential services in the community. Sponsors must raise a minimum of $2,275 in cash and in-kind contributions per refugee newcomer being welcomed. This is used to secure and furnish housing and provide for the refugee’s initial basic needs.

As for me, speaking as a volunteer through PRSG helping one family here in the town were I live, as a part of a team of three volunteers: it hasn’t been easy and sometimes, it’s been quite stressful. They need an enormous amount of help, far more than we can give. And the more successful I’ve been as a volunteer, the more I’ve been asked to do. It’s been essential for me to be realistic about the time I really can give and to set boundaries, and to recruit other volunteers to help.

If you are volunteering with refugees in the USA, or want to, you might find this resource helpful: Helping Refugees In Your Own Country. It’s USA-centric, but is adaptable to other countries. It outlines exactly the kind of help refugees need that you, as a neighbor, can realistically help with.

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. 

Volunteer engagement could help address negativity that rose in recent years.

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I’m a fan of The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. The Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of human well-being. It uses these science-based studies to promote skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society. I find it a wonderful pushback to the pseudo-science that too many people are falling for. I follow the Center on social media and encourage you to do so as well.

In the end-of-year article The Top 10 Insights from the “Science of a Meaningful Life” in 2022, the center highlights what it considers the most provocative and influential findings published during this past year. The entire article is excellent, but this part of the article stood out to me in particular, and I hope you will consider what this could mean regarding volunteer engagement:

In a September paper published in PLoS ONE, a team of researchers studied more than 7,000 U.S. adults whose “Big Five” personality traits had been monitored from 2014 onward.

Observing people over time, the researchers didn’t find significant changes in personality through the start of the pandemic. But then, as time wore on into 2021 and 2022, personalities did in fact start to shift:

  • Extraversion: We became less likely to seek out company and enjoy time with others;
  • Openness: We lost capacity to seek out novelty and engage with new ideas;
  • Agreeableness: Sympathy and kindness declined, affecting our ability to get along with others;
  • Conscientiousness: We became less motivated to pursue goals and accept responsibilities.

Another study published just this month by Biological Psychiatry combined mental health assessments with brain scans of 163 adolescents, before the pandemic and then two years later. The results are startling: “Youth assessed after the pandemic shutdowns had more severe internalizing mental health problems, reduced cortical thickness, larger hippocampal and amygdala volume, and more advanced brain age.”

Yes, these studies document negative changes—but if personalities can shift in that direction in so short a time, they can shift in positive directions, too. 

I think that, in the USA, the political situation also has greatly affected our capabilities at civility, and not in a good way. I think these personality shifts are real – but not entirely the fault of the pandemic.

Could more volunteer engagement help address these negative personality shifts? Do these personality shifts explain, in part, why so many organizations have experienced a drop in volunteer engagement? I say yes to both, and call on funders, especially corporations, to invest in volunteer management at nonprofits to help increase the number of volunteers across the USA. Here’s what funding volunteer engagement looks like.

This isn’t the first time I’ve said increased volunteer engagement could help address a negative trend in our society: I also believe that volunteering can help to build community cohesion. But none of this is going to happen without vast increases as funding for volunteer management.

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into developing material, researching information, preparing articles, updating pages, etc., here is how you can help.

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Most popular blogs of 2022

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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.

The ethics of nonprofits staying on Twitter

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In April 2022, I started a thread on the TechSoup community about the ethics of nonprofits, NGOs, charities, etc. staying on Twitter. Given more recent events by the new owner, I’ve weighed in on the thread with updated thoughts. I encourage you to read the thread and to add your own comments there.

Expectations for volunteering by the volunteer – too much?

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graphic representing volunteers

Volunteering is promoted as something that will give volunteers significant personal fulfillment, that will make them feel like they’ve made a real difference, that will make volunteers feel like superheros, and on and on. And many people expect their volunteering experience to make them feel like they have changed a person’s life forever, or that it will be so impressive that it will get them a full scholarship for university and into the university they most want to attend, or that it will cure any mental or emotional issue they are facing.

Here’s a tweet that’s a good example of how a lot of people and organizations talk about volunteering:

How volunteering can help you?

  • It fixes your mental health.
  • It gives you a purpose.
  • It kills your self-doubts, anxiety.
  • It improves your social skills.

The reality is that volunteering can amplify mental health issues. It can exacerbate self-doubt and anxiety and even loneliness. It can contribute to uncertainty if volunteering doesn’t go well – and very often, volunteering doesn’t always go well. Volunteering can, in fact, leave you feeling like a failure.

I’ve read a litany of online comments from people who tried of volunteer and don’t have the magical, perfect healing experience so many promise. And I so I must ask: are we overselling volunteering?

A recent post to a community for Peace Corps members – and those that wish to be such – reminded me of how not every volunteer gets the feelings so many recruitment messages promise, or how many volunteers don’t have their expectations met. This person has also seen many comments by frustrated Peace Corps members who did not get the amazing experience implied in recruitment messages:

I often come across posts online from returnees talking about how applicants need to expect to accomplish nothing or the bare minimum throughout the 2 years. Why is this? I understand there are complications regarding “making a difference” in some developing countries, but surely the majority of volunteers accomplish fairly impressive things?

And that certainly does happen: you can work as an employee for years at a nonprofit helping to address poverty in one community and never feel like you’ve really made a difference. But now, let’s stick to talking about volunteers (I’ll address the other issue in another blog).

When volunteering disappoints someone, it can lead to disillusionment with volunteering, frustration, even anger. Volunteering activities can also augment a person’s many negative feelings: as I’ve noted elsewhere, volunteering, when it’s not a good experience, can make feelings of depression or failure even worse.

A comment on a recent blog of mine seems to feel similarly about better preparing people for what volunteering really is.

I’d love to see the overarching organizations like state offices of volunteerism Americorps, Points of light, etc. Spread (the) word about (the) basics of being a volunteer. How to be a good volunteer. What to expect.

I agree: these organizations promoting volunteering, encouraging people to volunteer, need to ALSO be telling people that the commitment is REAL, that they need to take it seriously, that if they sign up they need to show up, that most rules that volunteers must follow are there for very good reasons, that training is just as important as the service itself, etc. And they need to make sure people understand that there will be moments of frustration and boredom – and that their volunteer service may be met with hostility from other volunteers, clients and community members.

Absolutely, let recruits know about the benefits of volunteering they could experience. They may, indeed, have a transformative experience. They may get skills that will help them in paid work. They may get knowledge and experience to help them in their career goals. They may see that they really have made a difference in someone’s life. But they also need to be prepared for when volunteering tasks seem boring, or not impactful, or just something to do so they look busy, or not really helping at all. They need to be frequently reminded of the “bigger picture” and how this seemingly unimportant task contributes to the large cause and impacts they may never see firsthand. That will keep volunteers engaged – and keep their expectations in check.

Also see:

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. 

Executive Directors & Board Members: Get Out in Your Communities

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image of a panel discussion

The forum for candidates running for local city council or mayor, or county-level elected office.

The opening of the community farmer’s market.

The Spring musical by the community theater.

The rummage sale by the largest church in town.

The open house at the local mosque.

The Day of the Dead celebrations at the Hispanic cultural center.

The local Juneteeth celebration.

Your nonprofit MUST have representation at community events. Your executive director or a member of your board needs to be there, meeting people, shaking hands, listening to their program, showing your nonprofit organization is a part of the community.

I love the Internet, including social media. Yes, still. Any nonprofit that ignores its Internet presence, or doesn’t try to do something meaningful and collaborative online, is foolish and isn’t going to last. But the same is true for onsite, face-to-face community networking: you have to show that you care as much for other nonprofits as you want them to care for you. You have to look directly into the eyes of elected officials if you want your organization to matter to them.

What does this kind of in-person networking get you?

  • More donors.
  • More volunteers.
  • More and more appropriate client referrals and larger audiences for your programs and messaging.
  • More collaboration.
  • More community support, including cross-party political support.

“But I don’t have time!” you whine.

No, the problem is you don’t MAKE the time. Of course, you can’t go to absolutely everything – but you must build a list of key events and decide at which ones someone from your organization needs to be present.

Your marketing director, the chair of marketing on your board, or a trusted volunteer needs to research upcoming community events EVERY MONTH. Get it on a calendar and let the Executive Director, board members, even the entire staff, have a look. Encourage those that could represent the organization to choose what they might be able to go to – some might already have plans to go and hadn’t thought about going as a representative of your organization.

Prep your staff and volunteers that go to events on behalf of your organization in how to present themselves as representatives:

Give them an opening statement, like, “Hi, I’m so-and-so, and I’m a board member of such-and-such organization. Great event!” It’s that simple. Who do they say this to? Anyone they think might have something to do with organizing the event.

Over time, this kind of engagement cultivates a familiarity with your organization. Your organization seems more approachable and collaborative. Someone might tell you about partnership opportunities, a great candidate for your board, even misinformation about your organization that is spreading. You may find out about a local funding opportunity you would not have otherwise. A candidate for office may decide the cause you address – affordable housing, the performing arts, domestic violence, recycling – is worth supporting as a policy or legislatively.

And don’t be surprised if your online followers increase and your online messaging starts to have a lot more reach as well.

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. 

When some nonprofit employees & volunteers don’t really understand what the nonprofit is trying to address & why

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image that represents a panel discussion

I believe that everyone that works at a nonprofit, whether they are the Executive Director or the janitor, is seen as a communicator on behalf of that nonprofit. People are going to ask any employee or volunteer at a nonprofit a question about what that nonprofit does and why, and the person asked needs to be able to give at least a short, accurate description and then direct the person to the appropriate staff person (that person’s phone number or email) to get more info.

Too often, I see a disconnect between non-profit staff and the staff that work with clients and funders regarding what the nonprofit does and why. For instance, an IT staff member once came into my office at the United Nations program where I worked and said, “What does this UN program do? I don’t think I really understand.” And the more I talked with him, the more I realized he had NO idea not only what our program did, but what the UN really does.

I have seen and heard non-program employees and volunteers making unfortunate, even inaccurate, statements about the issues a nonprofit is trying to address – among themselves, to their family, on their own social media, to friends, to someone who they are interacting with as part of their job, etc. The consequences are REAL: they have now created misinformed members of the community, and these people will, in turn, talk to others. Maybe they won’t donate money or volunteer as a result – and will discourage others from doing so.

I would love to read any blogs or articles about how to address such a disconnect within an organization where some employees and volunteers don’t have a clear idea of what the nonprofit they work for does, why that is the mission, etc. I’d like to read blogs and articles that also have a strong argument for why ensuring all staff understand such is vital. For instance, why do frontline employees and volunteers at a thrift store that funds a nonprofit addressing poverty, job training, addiction, etc. need to understand where other funding comes from, how services are delivered, etc.? How do you get senior staff on board with making sure all staff and volunteers see that video you just shared with donors about the great work of the nonprofit, for instance?

If you know of such, please drop them in the comments.

an online group for potential donors for your nonprofit – possible? appropriate?

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Someone wrote on an online community I’m on:

I am interested in using Facebook to build a community of potential donors. Anyone have expertise in this area?

Here’s what I think:

image of a panel discussion

No one likes to be identified as a potential donor. They really don’t. You can think of me as a potential donor because I’m a volunteer, or because I’ve donated in the past, or because I came to your event, or because I’ve otherwise expressed some kind of interest in your nonprofit, NGO, charity, etc. But I won’t join a group called “potential donors,” because I don’t want to be thought of only as a financial donor, as someone that gives money, or should be targeted to give money.

People will join online groups that are focused on a cause they care about, or an online group that is going to educate them about that cause. They want to hear about the great work the program is doing. They want to know how to “live the cause” in their own lives: how they can recycle or how they can register voters or how they can explain the importance of vaccinations to their family or whatever. They will join online groups that discuss and debate topics related to the cause – how to advocate for accessible web design, how to rescue wildlife, how to run a youth soccer league, etc. And if those groups also, sometimes, solicit donations, that’s appropriate and will probably generate some donations – as long as no member feels that’s why the group exists (to ask for money). They are going to leave a group that just asks for money.

If you are going to call me a partner, by the way, that means I’m going to get to offer my advice, ask questions and disagree. If you don’t allow that on your online group, then I’m NOT a “partner.”

That said, in the 1990s I joined an online group for organizations that had received funding from one funder – the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation. It was wonderful: we learned so much from each other, and MEAF got to see the nonprofits it funded collaborate in real-time. It was one of the best online community experiences I’ve ever been a part of.

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

For advice specifically on how to create and leverage an online community for your volunteers specificallly, have a look at 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! And your copy will be signed with best wishes from me! 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:

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.