Tag Archives: research

New report NOT by me re: microvolunteering

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At long last, someone that is not me has conducted a fact-based, non-hype review of micro volunteering, and not just from the volunteers’ point of view, but from the volunteer-involving organizations point of view as well. Hurrah!

Published by the Institute for Volunteering Research and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the report, The value of giving a little time Understanding the potential of micro-volunteering, is focused on United Kingdom-based efforts, but is applicable to other countries regarding what micro volunteering really looks like, and what it takes for it to be successful.

Do I agree with everything in the report? No. For instance, the writers don’t believe micro volunteering is episodic volunteering; I’m adamant that it is. The writers include offline activities within their definition of micro volunteering, something that is a very new way of thinking. But every researcher has to define the parameters of their study, and I respect how they’ve chosen to define the practice, even if I don’t agree with it 100%.

And is it micro volunteering, microvolunteering, or micro-volunteering? I just do whatever spell check tells me…

That said, it’s a good report and worth your time to read, particularly if you are skeptical of the idea of micro volunteering. My favorite part was part 6, “What are the challenges of micro- volunteering?” It’s the part of the report that breaks new ground, because (1) it admits that there ARE real challenges to creating micro tasks and involving volunteers in those tasks, something people promoting micro volunteering to date have been reluctant to admit, and (2) it offers a detailed list of those real challenges, and a start on how they might be addressed.

I have managed probably hundreds of online volunteers in micro volunteering projects – though it didn’t have a snazzy name for most of the years I did so. In September 2013, I blogged at TechSoup about what it’s like to manage its micro volunteering initiative, Donate Your Brain, pointing out just how much time and effort it takes to look for micro volunteering opportunities in relation to the TechSoup community forum. I’d like to see others that are creating micro volunteering tasks and supporting the volunteers in them do this as well: talk about what it REALLY takes!

I have to say that Table 3 in the report, “Are organisations experiencing the benefits of micro-volunteering?”, made me laugh out loud – it reads oh-so-much like the benefits of virtual volunteering for organizations that was written back in the 1990s!

Here’s more of my own recommendations regarding micro volunteering. And in January 2014, The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook will be published, and it includes practical guidelines on how to create micro tasks for volunteers, and how to support volunteers in those tasks. But more information, and voices, are needed! We need more, real research that answers these questions, in detail:

  • What does successful micro volunteering look like for an organization? I don’t mean just a list of tasks; how do they measure success? What measurable impact does engaging with volunteers in micro tasks look like, for the organization and those it serves?
  • How much time and other investment, in detail, is required by the organization to create successful micro volunteering that makes the investment of time and effort by the organization worth it?

Let’s hope that national institutes that study community engagement, as well as traditional volunteer centers, will, at last, embrace micro volunteering (and all virtual volunteering, for that matter) and start including it in their studies, workshops, publications and trainings.

With all that said, and as much as I really do like this report, the reality is that not every organization is going to be able to create micro tasks for micro volunteering. Just as not every organization can, or should, create opportunities for family volunteers, or other group volunteers. Not every task can be altered so that any volunteer can do it. Not every task can be done by episodic volunteers – sometimes, the best person for a task or role is a long-term volunteer who can give a substantial amount of time every month. Different tasks require different kinds of staffing. And all volunteering, including micro volunteering, takes real time – let’s NOT say it’s perfect for people that don’t have time to volunteer, because it DOES take real time, even if it’s just a few minutes.

The challenge isn’t creating micro tasks for volunteers; the much greater challenge is supporting those charged with supporting volunteers at organizations large and small with the resources they need to create all of these different avenues for volunteer engagement. Are you ready to fund and equip your manager of volunteers with the resources he or she needs to make this a reality?

Finding out how many orgs are involving online volunteers

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A followup to my last blog, where I whined that so many organizations charged with measuring volunteering in a region or country refuse to ask any questions related to virtual volunteering.

As I’ve said many times: when I do workshops on virtual volunteering, and describe all the different aspects of what online volunteering looks like, including microvolunteering, someone always raises a hand or comes up to me afterwards to say, “My organization has online volunteers and I didn’t even know it!” or “I’m an online volunteer and I didn’t know it!”

If you ask organizations, “Do you have virtual volunteering / microvolunteering at your organization?” most will say “No.” But if you ask the question differently, the answer is often “Yes!”

How would YOU ask the question of organizations to find out if they were engaging volunteers online?

Here’s one idea:

In the last 12 months, did any volunteers helping your organization work in whole or in-part offsite on behalf of your organization, and use their own computers, smart phones, notebooks (Internet-enabled devices) from their home, work or elsewhere offsite, to provide updates on their volunteering, or the results of their volunteering?

What is your idea for ONE question? Please post it in the comments.

Challenges to getting answers:

  • There’s rarely just one person at an organization involving volunteers; often, several employees or key volunteers are involving volunteers, but there may not be one person tracking all of this involvement. So if you ask this question of just one person at the organization, you might not get an accurate answer.
  • The word volunteer is contested. People will say, “Oh, we don’t have volunteers. We have pro bono consultants, we have unpaid interns, we have executives online, we have board members, but we do not have volunteers.” That means someone who is advising your HR manager regarding the latest legislation that might affect hiring or your overworked marketing person regarding social media, and offering this advice unpaid, from the comfort of his or her  home or office or a coffee shop, won’t be counted as an online volunteer – even though they are. In fact, I talked to the manager of an online tutoring program who brought together students and what she called “subject matter experts” (SMES) together online for school assignments, but because it never dawned on her that the SMES were volunteers (unpaid, donating their service to a cause they believed in), she had no idea she was managing a volunteer program, let alone a virtual volunteering program.

This is not easy. I’ve been researching virtual volunteering since 1996 and, geesh, it’s still not easy! When does it get easier?!

Volunteerism research should include virtual volunteering!

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The NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac , published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), maps the the size and scope of the voluntary sector in the United Kingdom.

The Independent Sector does the same for the USA, as well as promoting the oh-so-dreadful dollar value of volunteer time (which does so much to reinforce the idea that volunteers are a great way to save money and replace paid staff). The Volunteering and Civic Life in America report from the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship also provides stats on volunteering in the USA.

You can find statistics online for volunteerism in Australia.

Through these and other research organizations, you can find out about how many organizations are involving volunteers, or the demographics of volunteers in certain countries.

But here’s what you can’t find out:

  • how many organizations are using the Internet to recruit, screen and/or support volunteers
  • how many people are using the Internet as a part of their volunteering service
  • the demographics of people using the Internet as a part of their volunteering service
  • etc.

Why? Because, even in 2013, these organizations and other researchers are STILL not asking these questions as a part of their studies / data collection regarding volunteering.

Virtual volunteering – including microvolunteering – has been practiced as long as there has been an Internet – making it a practice more than 30 years old. The Virtual Volunteering Project did the first research regarding virtual volunteering in the last 1990s. References to using the Internet as a part of volunteering service are now common place in trainings, books and articles. Yet… these research organizations continue to ignore online tools as a part of volunteering.

I am regularly asked for data regarding online volunteering – how many organizations are engaging people online, who is volunteering online, etc. And I cannot answer those questions with hard data because, since the expiration of the Virtual Volunteering Project, there is no one collecting the data!

And it’s worth noting: back in 2012, myself and Rob Jackson drafted and circulated a survey regarding software used to manage volunteer information. The purpose of the survey was to gather some basic data that might help organizations that involve volunteers to make better-informed decisions when choosing software, and to help software designers to understand the needs of those organizations. We published the results of the survey here (in PDF). But we learned some things that had nothing to do with software.

We asked a lot of questions that didn’t related directly to software, like about how many volunteers these organizations managed, as well as what volunteers did. We expected the percentage of volunteers that worked onsite to be huge. We were very surprised, and pleased, to find, instead, that so many organizations that responded to our survey involved volunteers that:

  • worked offsite, with no direct supervision by staff
  • worked directly with clients
  • worked directly with the general public
  • worked online from their home, work, school or other offsite computer or handheld device
    (virtual volunteering, including microvolunteering)
  • engaged in on-off activities, like a beach cleanup – otherwise known as episodic volunteering

You can see the breakdown for yourself here.

Wouldn’t it be great if NCVO, the Independent Sector, CNCS, the Points of Light Foundation, universities, and anyone researching anything to do with volunteering anywhere would start asking questions related to online tools? Wouldn’t it be great if finally, in 2013, they finally understood that virtual volunteering is an established, widespread practice and is worthy of inclusion in all discussions and research about volunteering?

I guess I’ll keep dreaming. Or move to Canada. Because, OF COURSE, the Canada report on volunteering in that country includes statistics on virtual volunteering.

Can virtual volunteering lead to better employability?

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Can engaging in virtual volunteering, particularly by individuals in the European Union, lead to better employability for those individuals?

The ICT4EMPL Future Work project is exploring “pathways to employability mediated by ICTs – Information and Communications Technologies.” For the next few months, I am working on part of this project, specifically regarding internet-mediated volunteering or virtual volunteering, including microvolunteering. 

I – and my fellow researchers – are seeking specific information for this project, such as:

  • Individuals, especially those living in Europe, who have volunteered in any way, onsite or online, for charities or NGOs, and believe that, because of this experience, they have improved their inclusion in society or difference communities, had an interview for a paid job, been hired for a paid job (as an employee or a consultant), created an entire career, or become more employable in some way.
  • Organizations, especially those based in Europe, that have used volunteering, onsite or online, as a way to help their clients, volunteers or others gain skills that improve their employability (this does not have to be a primary mission of the organization).
  • Organizations, especially those based in Europe, that help train unemployed or under-employed people in computer and Internet-related skills in order to improve their employability.
  • Organizations that involve volunteers online, in whole or in part, and would be willing to be interviewed for this project, and would be willing to encourage their volunteers to be interviewed for this project as well.
  • Resources and research related to Internet-mediated volunteering (virtual volunteering) that is specific to a European country or Europe in general.
  • Resources related to telecommuting, virtual teams and remote management that is specific to a European country or Europe in general.
  • Any research that relates to any of the aforementioned (it can be USA-centric, or from any country outside of Europe, but it needs to be a resource that will help inform this project for possible applications in Europe).

Update April 12, 2013: I am ALSO looking to connect with individuals / organizations that have:

  • Evaluated a virtual volunteering/Internet-mediated-volunteering-related initiative in a European country and would be willing to share the evaluation with us.
  • Evaluated a volunteering initiative in a European country that related to volunteers developing job skills for paid work or career advancement and would be willing to share the evaluation with us. 
  • Hosted or lead workshops on virtual volunteering/Internet-mediated-volunteering for NGOs, charities and other organizations in a European country, with the goal of these NGOs, charities and other organizations involving volunteers via the Internet in some way (virtual volunteering, crowdsourcing, microvlunteering, etc.) or expanding such involvement.

If you would like to submit information for this project, edit content for the wiki for this project, or ask any questions, send an email to me, Jayne Cravens.

Información en español es aceptable

Informations en français est acceptable

Informationen in Deutsch ist akzeptabel

DEADLINE: I’d prefer to get information before June 1, 2013, if at all possible, but I will continue to accept information through early August, 2013, if I haven’t gathered enough information by that point for the end of my part of the project (actually, I’ll probably always accept information related to this project, since I’m forever identified with virtual volunteering, and am always interested in the subject, particularly outside the USA).

For more information, check out the wiki for “my” part of this project.

The ICT4EMPL research project is in the context of of implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Voluntary Sector & Volunteering Research Conference, Sept. 2013 in the UK

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Reposted from a message by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) in the United Kingdom:

Call for Papers: Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference
10-11th September 2013, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

This is the primary UK conference for the voluntary sector and volunteering research community. It brings together academics, practitioners and policymakers with a shared interest in the voluntary sector and volunteering. It also attracts some delegates from overseas and this provides an opportunity for networking with researchers from different countries and contexts. In 2013 the partners who have been responsible for organising the event in the past – NCVO and VSSN – have been joined for the first time by IVR a development which reflects the increasing interest in volunteering among participants.

Our aim is simple: to provide the opportunity to share new, emerging research, and then to make the most of the evidence base by connecting researchers with the policymakers and practitioners who use research.

The conference is your ‘open space’ to share new and existing research, so this call for papers is an open invitation to all researchers working on or with the sector and on volunteering.

CONFERENCE THEMES
We are inviting proposals – either for individual papers or entire sessions (3-4 papers or a panel) – which address the three main aims of the conference:

1.       TO INFORM AND ASSIST THE WORK OF PRACTITIONERS

We would welcome proposals for papers that:

  • focus on issues of internal organisation – such as leadership; accountability; governance; financial management; strategic planning; and performance improvement;
  • explore and discuss the ways in which voluntary sector organisations interact with their environment – such as their relationships with government, their interaction with businesses and the ways in which they co-operate, collaborate and compete with other voluntary organisations; or
  • address issues of volunteering and volunteer involvement including motivation and rewards, volunteer management and other ways in which the work of volunteers can best be organised to provide successful opportunities for volunteering.

2.       TO INFORM AND INFLUENCE POLICY

We would welcome proposals for papers that analyse and explore the implications for volunteering and voluntary organisations of:

  • developments in ‘horizontal’ policies which impact on volunteering or the voluntary sector as a whole – such as the ‘Big Society’ and government expectations about the role of voluntary action; the promotion of giving time and money; and commissioning; or
  • changes in ‘vertical’ policies which affect the work of organisations working in specific fields of activity (such as the welfare of older people, children or those with disabilities and people in need of advice and information) and users of their services.

3.       TO SHARE THE FRUITS OF RECENT RESEARCH AND THEORY-BUILDING

We also welcome proposals for papers that:

  • report on the findings from recent research on the voluntary sector and volunteering; or
  • make a contribution to the theoretical understanding of any aspect of voluntary action

SUBMISSIONS
You can submit a proposal for either a single paper presentation or for a whole session. In all submissions, please be sure to include your name,organisation and email address. The deadline for all submissions is 15thMay 2013. Please email your proposals to conference@vssn.org.uk. Proposals will only be accepted in the template provided (click here to download the template)

1. SINGLE PAPERS: Parallel sessions will offer a balance of presentations and discussion time. Typically, sessions include three 15 minute presentations, followed by substantial discussion. All papers presented in the parallel sessions will also be available in the conference proceedings, so that, where appropriate, more detail can be provided.

Submission: You should send us a 400 to 600-word summary of your research. We welcome submissions discussing preliminary findings as well as those on completed projects. There is no need to include references at this stage.

2. THEMED PANEL SESSIONS: In panel sessions, researchers and practitioners will discuss a theme, with audience participation. Submissions for panel sessions should list panel members and give a clear overview of the topic to be discussed. Please also make it clear whether the proposed session consists of linked papers on a shared theme or involves the discussion of a topic by a panel of commentators.

Submission: Please submit a 400 to 600-word proposal that provides an overview of the theme to be discussed and the form the discussion will take. This might be a workshop, debate, panel or structured discussion or a suite of papers on related topics. If the format consists of papers on a shared theme, please submit brief abstracts for each of them as well as the overarching proposal.

If your submission is successful, we will ask you to send us a longer 2500 to 4500-word paper or papers for inclusion in the conference proceedings. We will give details on the preferred format of the paper when we confirm acceptance of your submission.

THE CAMPBELL ADAMSON PRIZE
Each year NCVO offers a prize for the best paper submitted to the conference. Papers will only be considered for the award if they are received by the deadline of 31st July 2013. The prize will be awarded for the paper that best meets the criteria of research quality; practice or policy relevance; and accessibility of style and approach.

AFTER SUBMISSION
If your proposal is accepted you will still need to book and pay for a place at the conference. Louise Rogers (researchconference@ncvo-vol.org.uk) will be in touch to arrange your payment.

IMPORTANT DATES

Abstract of 400-500 words to be submitted 5pm on 15th May 2013
Notification of accepted submissions 3rd June 2013
Full paper of 2500-4,500 words and 150 word abstract for the conference proceedings to be submitted 5pm on 31st July 2013
Deadline for Early Bird rates 5pm on 24th July 2013
The conference 10th–11th September 2013

NEW RESEARCHERS SESSIONS
As part of the annual Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference, a special session will be run for ‘new’ researchers, by VSSN and IVR. The session runs parallel to the main conference programme and is free to attend. It is aimed at early career voluntary sector researchers, whether postgraduate students or researchers in the sector. It is a fantastic opportunity to meet, discuss research and share ideas with other new researchers as well as present your own research in a supportive setting. Their call for papers has also been issued and further information can be found on the IVR website http://www.ivr.org.uk/ivr-events

Nonprofits & NGOs: Get to Know a University

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Nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs):

Do you know what community colleges, public universities and private universities are nearest your agency, geographically? And do any of the degrees or classes they offer relate to the mission of your organization in any way?

For instance,

  • If your organization provides counseling, have you investigated to see if the nearest college or university has a graduate degree program in psychology?
  • If your organization assists victims of domestic violence, have you investigated to see if the nearest college or university has a degree program in social work?
  • If you are focused on the environment in any way, have you investigated if the college or university offers any environment resource management-related courses?
  • If you work with people trying to start micro-enterprises, have you investigated to see if the college or university nearest you offers business management classes, or even an MBA?

Here’s why your organization needs to be able to answer these questions:

  • Your nonprofit or NGO has the real-world environment that college and university faculty and graduate students need for academic research and practical experience.
  • Higher ed institutions have the skills and knowledge your organization may need as well as probono consultants or researchers or on-loan staff.
  • Faculty at colleges and universities get contacted by the media, and if the story is going to be something related to your organization’s mission, they will refer those reporters to you as well.
  • Faculty may hear of funding opportunities that might be appropriate for your organization. 
  • Faculty may find themselves in a conversation with public officials or business leaders where they could recommend your organization’s work.

How can nonprofits and NGOs network with university faculty and get on their radar for potential partnerships?

  • Look at course offerings of college and universities, and identify the faculty teaching courses that relate to your organization’s work. Build a database of people you want to contact; phone numbers and email addresses for most of these folks will be easy to find online, either on the college or university’s web site or through a Google or Bing search.
  • Look to see if faculty with which you want to connect has a Twitter feed and, if so, and it’s regarding their work, follow such. Same for a Facebook profile or a GooglePlus profile. Get to know more about their work through their updates. If the person posts something that relates to your work, reply to a post.
  • Read something by that faculty member in an academic journal (you can get access to this through your local library) or other publication.
  • Add appropriate faculty to your press release distribution list.
  • Invite the faculty you have identified to your open houses and public events. Send a personalized invitation, noting exactly why you are inviting this person to such. 
  • Invite the faculty you have identified to a meeting at your organization set up just for that person, or even to lunch. Let them know about your organization’s in-house expertise. If you already have partnership ideas, propose them. If you don’t, talk about what the faculty member’s courses and research have in common with your organization, and say that you would love to collaborate in some way but you aren’t entirely sure how.

It’s an ongoing cultivation process. You are building relationships, and that won’t come from just an email, a phone call or meeting face-to-face once. Colleges and universities are a HUGE resource right in your backyard – not just as one-day student volunteers, but as potential program and funding partners. Don’t wait for them to find you – seek THEM out!

Look what partnerships with universities can lead to:

Western Kentucky University Entrepreneurship students working to revitalize downtown businesses

Volunteerism-related research wish list for 2012

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I’ve blogged about what I learned or relearned in 2011 that I want to take into 2012.

Now, here’s a wish list for volunteerism-related research that I hope organizations like the Independent Sector, any ARNOVA members, The Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), and others will delve into in 2012:

  • what are the top three factors are that keep nonprofits, NGOs, schools and other mission-based organizations from involving more volunteers
  • what are the top three factors are that these organizations feel affect their retaining of volunteers
  • if these organizations honestly believe their volunteer force needs to represent a diversity of ages, cultures and backgrounds; and if so, why, and if not, why not
  • what training all staff at an organization need in order to involve more volunteers and better support volunteers (not just the person in charge of recruiting and managing volunteers)
  • how these organizations know if their volunteer engagement is successful or not, how they define that “success”, how they know if there is a problem, etc.
  • how often these organizations revisit and revise their employee, volunteer and client policies with an eye, specifically, to safety of each of those groups
  • if such organizations have an online discussion group or intranet for their volunteers (would love to know how many have such versus how many don’t), and if they do, how they view the group’s effectiveness as a way to communicate with volunteers

I would love to know, through a survey of volunteers:

  • how many read and send email most every day
  • how many use Twitter
  • how many use Facebook
  • how many would feel comfortable using Facebook, Twitter or any social media as a part of their volunteering, versus those that would NOT want to do so (I’m hearing from many volunteers who are saying they do NOT want to mix the two)

I’ve already offered what I would love for someone to research re: microvolunteering, that I think would actually be of value to the charity sector.

If anyone does actually do this kind of research – as opposed to the oh-so-tired what motivates volunteers research that I AM SO TIRED OF – I will be happy to promote your work every way I can, because this research is needed. Greatly needed. We thirst for this data… I would dance for this data…

And for individual nonprofits, NGOs, schools and other mission-based organizations involving volunteers: why not create a free survey on SurveyMonkey and find out for yourself what volunteers are thinking about your organization, what Internet tools they use, what tools they might like to use with your organization, etc.? And share what you find? Your volunteers will see it as volunteer recognition.

It’s About Respect

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This is a followup to my blog A Stupid Name for a Service for Nonprofits, regarding the unbelievably-poorly-named online volunteering service, Pimp My Cause.

The issue isn’t just about a service using language that is anti-women and, indeed, anti-children. It isn’t just about this service using a phrase that means to market women and children for sex. The issue isn’t just about lack of respect for women and children.

The issue is about respect for the third sector.

The work of nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities and other mission-based organizations – the third sector – isn’t a pastime. It isn’t a hobby. Indeed, sometimes a nonprofit cause does become fashionable – suddenly, the media and celebrities may want to talk about getting rid of landmines, or HIV/AIDS, or immunizations, or breast cancer, or returning war veterans, and lots of flavor-of-the-day social entrepreneurs want to jump on the band wagon, with everyone wearing a particularly-colored ribbon, with lots of bumper stickers for the cause showing up on cars and SUVs, lots of shirts or shoes sporting a particular logo… but that spotlight doesn’t last. Long after the high-profile campaign by the department store or the software company or the talk show host or the singer or the actor has ended, these organizations will still be working, day-in, day-out, on a variety of worthwhile, even vital, causes.

Often, the work of nonprofits not only doesn’t catch on as fashionable or hip – it may even make people uncomfortable, because it addresses a not-so-hip issue, like child sexual exploitation and human trafficking – but nonprofits, NGOs and other mission-based organizations keep working year-after-year, without big-time donations or media campaigns.

The third sector isn’t perfect, but it serves society and the environment in ways that the for-profit or public sector cannot. Some causes are best addressed by the for-profit sector, some are best addressed by governments, and some are best addressed by mission-based organizations – and many are best addressed by all of these sectors working in partnership.

People that work for nonprofits aren’t simply nice people who can’t get jobs in the private sector. They are often highly skilled and experienced experts in their field – child psychology, emergency logistics, crisis communications, theater and dance as tools for community education and empowerment, arts management, social media to build awareness about HIV/AIDS, maternal health, organic agriculture, and on and on. They deserve to be listened to and consulted on actions that are going to involve them or effect them – and that includes being consulted by donors about new programs and projects donors want to fund.

The third sector has its own jargon, its own lingo. And different fields within the third sector each have a jargon or lingo all their own. And when you are talking to the third sector, you had better know that lingo and that culture: For instance, when you are standing in front of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, you don’t talk about drunk driving accidents; you talk about drunk driving wrecks, crashes… deaths. To do otherwise is highly offensive. If you use the term SME, you need to know what it means to the organizations and third sector experts you are talking to: Small and medium enterprises? Subject matter expert? Social Market economy? A Linux firewall?

In summary: if you are going to work with or for mission-based organizations, whether as a volunteer or as someone marketing services to them, you need to do your homework about the sector’s work, it’s language and it’s culture. The third sector deserves respect from the for-profit sector, including corporations, from the media, from the government – from everyone. To not spend time researching the sector and consulting with its members shows profound disrespect for the people working in such, and the people being served by such.  

No one who respects nonprofits, NGOs or other mission-based organizations would ever name their service Pimp My Cause.

Also see: How to Do Market Research–The Basics. I hear there’s some really good books and classes on this subject as well.

Finally, a shout out to the nonprofit FAIR FUND, a leading girls empowerment and anti-human trafficking organization that works to keep girls safe from exploitation. When I let FAIR FUND know about “Pimp My Cause”, they were ALL OVER IT. Follow @FAIRFund on Twitter and consider supporting them with a donation!

 

Yes, research microvolunteering, however…

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I was oh-so-excited when I read that the Institute for Volunteering Research in the UK is going to be undertaking a project to research microvolunteering, a form of online volunteering/virtual volunteering that’s been around for many, many years – long before there were smart phones.

But I was oh-so-disappointed to see that IVR’s project will be focused only on microvolunteering from the volunteers’ point of view.

The hype regarding microvolunteering, a form of online volunteering, is similar to the excitement a few years ago regarding family volunteering. That excitement regarding family volunteering translated into lots of campaigns to encourage families to volunteer together, rather than helping organizations get the knowledge and resources necessary to create volunteering opportunities that entire families could undertake. The result was, and is, a lot of very frustrated families who want to volunteer, but cannot find opportunities. I see the same thing happening with microvolunteering – far more organizations and media articles encouraging people to try it, rather than resources to help organizations to be able to create microvolunteering opportunities and support volunteers in these roles.

What’s needed – desperately needed – is research about microvolunteering from the *organizations’* point of view, specifically:

  • what kinds of organizations are creating microvolunteering assignments (in terms of the mission of the organizations, whether or not they have a staff member devoted to managing volunteers, the level of tech-saviness of staff, etc.)?
  • what kinds of microvolunteering assignments are most popular with volunteers? (which attract the largest numbers of volunteers, or seem to always attract at least some volunteers)
  • what kinds of volunteer management practices are necessary to ensure microvolunteering assignments are completed such that they are of value to the organization?
  • how is success measured by organizations regarding microvolunteering assignments? (is it just in number of volunteers that were involved or the amount of work done? Or do some organizations track different measures, such as volunteers’ perceptions changed, volunteers’ awareness built, volunteers signing on to longer-term projects, volunteers becoming donors, etc.?)
  • what are the challenges to organizations creating microvolunteering assignments and to effectively supporting volunteers undertaking such assignments?
  • when microvolunteering doesn’t work, from the organization’s perspective (it has no real impact on the organization, the volunteers don’t go on to become more longer-term volunteers, donors, other kinds of supporters, it’s a lot of work for very little, real return, etc.), *why* doesn’t it work?

Unless researchers try to get answers to these types of questions, unless microvolunteering research is focused on organizations themselves, rather than just volunteers, more organizations won’t create more microvolunteering assignments – and more potential volunteers will be frustrated when they get excited to participate in something that actually isn’t available to them.

Needed: Online Volunteering Research

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On the Volunteers & Technology forum at TechSoup, someone asked me what I thought the top five potential research areas are regarding online volunteering.

My answer is there, but I’ll put it here as well, with some additional info.

First, I should note that no institution is doing online research regarding online volunteering, and no one person is consistently doing it, including me — I do it when I can, as I have no funding to do such (and, actually, I haven’t been seeking any). I’ve done more in the last two years, for the revision of the Virtual Volunteering Guidebook (to be released early next year), than I’ve done in the 10 years before — but I was stunned at the lack of research by other people I could reference.

Studies regarding volunteering don’t include anything about online volunteering, despite the practice being more than 30 years old. I get an email about twice a year from some graduate student wanting to do a study about online volunteering, and I’m happy to help them, but their topic is always the same, and not at all what’s needed by the field: the motivation of online volunteers. Snooze.

For practitioners — as in nonprofit and government staff that want to be successful in engaging online volunteers — I think the priority research needs regarding online volunteering are the following, but not in any order of priority — any of them would be hugely welcomed by practitioners:

    • What are the factors for success in an online volunteering completing a volunteering assignment.
  • What are the factors that keep an online volunteer supporting an organization for at least a year.

For those first two, practitioners have been talking about this, and I’ve been talking to them about it, but I haven’t been researching it in a consistent way that would meet rigorous academic standards. For those who have been involving online volunteers themselves: we know the answers, for the most part, but the only actual academic research is from back in the 1990s. There really needs to be current research, and not by me. Such research would be an affirmation that’s really needed by practitioners in mobilizing resources to involve volunteers and, as there are a few people running around claiming loudly that no screening, no orientation, no prepping of online volunteers is needed at all, that online volunteers will magically complete their assignments without organizations being so “bureaucratic”, it means a lot of volunteer managers can get push back from senior management when asking for critically-needed resources to properly screen and support online volunteers.

Other research priorities, IMO:

    • Are there management needs that are different for online volunteers representing different groups (by age, by geographic region, by profession, by education level, etc.) to complete assignments and to be inspired to continue supporting an organization over months rather than just days or weeks.
    • How much does involving online volunteers cost – a comparison of at least 20 organizations in the USA (or any one country, for that matter).
    • What differences are there in the success of involving online volunteers in non-English-speaking countries in Europe in comparison with North America?
  • What differences are there in the success of involving online volunteers in developing or transitional countries where Internet access is available to large portions of the population (India, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Poland, etc.) in comparison with North America?

Okay, that was six instead of five. Those last two are needed hugely. Online volunteering is happening in other countries, whether the NGOs there admit it or not. I’ll never forget doing a training in Germany for about a dozen folks, and once I explained what online volunteering was, it turned out four organizations there were involving online volunteers — they hadn’t realized it, however.  Spain is doing a LOT regarding online volunteering — but no one is tracking it/researching it (I’d say they are ahead of even the UK in terms of online volunteer engagement — they were as of 2001, anyway).

Now, what I didn’t say on the TechSoup forum: why aren’t academics, organizations and institutions including online volunteering in their studies regarding volunteering? Why do they continue to ignore a practice that’s more than 30 years old, and has been talked about widely — in newspapers, at conferences, in online discussion groups — since the late 1990s? Here is why I think that’s the case:

    • Intellectual laziness on the part of of the organizations — and, in some cases, on the part of individual researchers.
    • These organizations and institutions, and many academics, are simply not in touch with what is happening on the front lines of volunteer engagement. They don’t participate in online discussion groups about nonprofits, with practitioners, for instance. Their silence is deafening.
    • They do not listen to others outside their immediate circle — and they let funders, even from the corporate world, define their research topics. Try writing, say, the Corporation for National Service or the Pew Research Center about online volunteering and the need for research or the need for it to be consistently included in volunteerism research, and see if they respond. Yes, I’ve tried, more than once. No, they never wrote back. I gave up.

Your thoughts?