I have a series of free, short videos on my YouTube channel that, altogether, in less than one hour, create a basic training regarding virtual volunteering – in using the Internet to involve and support volunteers. The videos are focused on staff – employees or volunteers – who are responsible for recruiting and supporting volunteers at nonprofits, NGOs, charities, government programs and other mission-based initiatives.

Here is the order I recommend you watch my videos in if you want a full, basic orientation in virtual volunteering:

• A plea regarding how you talk about virtual volunteering: (spoiler: it’s not “new”). 4:28
• Virtual Volunteering: Now, It’s Essential (& still oh-so-personal). 36:17 (this was prepared for the Points of Light Foundation 2020 Conference in June)
• Safety in Virtual Volunteering. 5:10
• Virtual volunteering: it’s personal! 6:02
• Virtual Volunteering: What About Lack of Internet Access?! 6:39

Altogether, these videos cover developing initial online roles and activities for volunteers, how to rapidly engage online volunteers, how to expand virtual volunteering, how to adjust policies, how to address safety and confidentiality, the importance of keeping a human touch in interactions, addressing the most common questions and resistance to virtual volunteering and much, much more.

You have my permission to show any one of these videos, or some or all these videos, at any gathering or event of your own – a volunteer management workshop or conference, for instance – however, you must show any video you choose to show in its entirety.

(October 14, 2020 update: there’s a new, additional video, especially for corporations and businesses: Virtual Volunteering: Guidance for Corporate Employee Volunteering Programs. It’s 7 minutes long).

Does this mean there is no need to hire me as a consultant or as a trainer regarding virtual volunteering? I hope that’s not what it means! Rather, I hope It means there’s no need to hire me or anyone else for a basic virtual volunteering workshop. In fact, I would like to see basic virtual volunteering workshops go away entirely, because I think any workshop on, say, the basics of volunteer management, should fully integrate using the Internet to involve and support volunteers. A workshop on retaining volunteers should fully integrate using the internet to support and manage volunteers. A workshop on better recognizing and valuing volunteers should fully integrate using the internet to recognize and valuing volunteers. In short, virtual volunteering shouldn’t be regulated/segregated into a separate topic. It’s long overdue to FULLY integrate using the internet into involving ALL volunteers, even those you don’t think of as “online volunteers.”

What I’m much more interested in doing as a professional consultant is creating workshops or advising, as a paid consultant, on specific aspects of higher-level virtual volunteering, like:

• online mentoring – considerations for such a program’s setup, setting goals for a program, evaluating such a program, etc.
• online volunteers with particular skills or expertise training others remotely in something not virtual volunteering related, like public health messaging, teaching online media literacy to elderly people, helping public information officers prevent and respond to misinformation, etc.
• online communities where people who previously participated in an onsite program advise people currently participating in an onsite program

Are my series of free videos a substitute for purchasing my book, The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook? I don’t think so. While my videos will, I hope, win over in last holdouts regarding virtual volunteering (few that they are), and will help programs rapidly, almost immediately, create and expand online activities and roles for online volunteers (something that became essential during the COVID-19 pandemic), the book is an oh-so-much-cheaper way to get intense consulting regarding every aspect virtual volunteering, including more high-impact digital engagement schemes, than to hire me. You will not find a more detailed guide anywhere for working with online volunteers and using the Internet to support and involve all volunteers. It’s available both as a traditional paperback and as an online book. I also think it would be a great resource for anyone doing research regarding virtual volunteering as well. The book is co-written by myself and Susan Ellis.

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