Myths About Virtual Volunteering

1) Virtual volunteering is a very new concept & practice.
False.
Online volunteering has been going on probably has long as there has been an Internet (which has been around since the 1970s). More about the history of virtual volunteering. And see this short video that explains there are negative consequences of calling it "new." Virtual volunteering is a well-established, credible practice.

2) Virtual volunteering is great for people who don't have time to volunteer onsite.
False.
Volunteering online requires real time, not virtual time. If a person doesn't have time to volunteer offline, that person probably also do not have time to volunteer online. Online / remote volunteering should never be promoted as an alternative approach for people who don't have time to volunteer face-to-face. Rather, the appeal of virtual volunteering for individuals is that:

It is an additional way to volunteer to help the community or a cause.
It often doesn't require a volunteer to have to travel somewhere to volunteer.
It is an additional way for volunteers to help an organization they are already helping onsite.
It is a way for someone with time to volunteer, but who cannot physically leave home or work to do so.
It allows volunteering by people who have physical disabilities, problems with mobility, or no easy transportation options.
It permits people to help an organization, cause, or issue of great importance to them, but for which there are no onsite opportunities in their geographic area.
It can allow a person to help a geographic area anywhere on the globe, even where physical travel would not be possible or advisable.

3) People who volunteer online don't volunteer face-to-face.
False.
According to research by the Virtual Volunteering Project, in the late 1990s, as well as anecdotal evidence since then from thousands of volunteers and organizations, the overwhelming majority of online volunteers also volunteer in onsite, face-to-face settings, often for an organization in their same city or region, and often for the same organization they are helping online.

4) There are online volunteers and there are onsite volunteers, but these are entirely separate groups
False.
As stated in the previous myth, rarely will you find an online volunteer who doesn't also volunteer onsite, or an onsite volunteer that doesn't use the Internet in some way to interact with the same organization. They are all volunteers, and do not self-identify into separate online and onsite groups. Most people who volunteer online don't think of themselves as an online volunteer - they think of themselves as a VOLUNTEER, period. In addition, all the same rules regarding volunteer engagement for onsite volunteers apply for online volunteers (written task and role descriptions, screening that appropriate for the responsibility and interactions of the volunteer, progress tracking, volunteer recognition, etc.). This myth is one of the primary reasons Susan Ellis and Jayne Cravens called their book The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. Going forward, the authors hope that books, trainings and discussions about volunteer management - about screening, support, retainment, recognition, and on and on - will now always include discussions of the Internet to support and involve volunteers, rather than presenting online volunteers and virtual volunteering as an entirely separate subject.

5) Working with online volunteers is completely different than working with onsite volunteers.
False.
The key to success in working with online volunteers is the application of basic volunteer management standards—the fundamentals that make any traditional volunteer involvement work. All volunteers, whether online or onsite, need support, feedback, guidance and recognition. In addition, as this video notes, working with online volunteers can be quite personal.

Some virtual volunteering is short term or episodic, which also has its roots in onsite service. People who come out for a one-day beach cleanup do not undergo a criminal background check, receive a long pre-service orientation, or fill out a lengthy volunteer application form, and they may never volunteer with the organization again. Similarly, online volunteers who participate in a micro-volunteering task may get started on their assignment just a few minutes after expressing interest. But just as offline episodic volunteering like beach cleanups is more about building relationships, creating cause awareness, and cultivating loyal supporters, micro-volunteering needs to have the same goals, has to be worth doing, and works only when established, tried-and-true volunteer management standards are in place.

6) People who volunteer online do so for organizations that are geographically far from them.
False.
Indeed, there are thousands of people who look for virtual volunteering opportunities to engage with people far away. But most online volunteers are people who also volunteer onsite for the same organization (for instance, a volunteer designing an annual report may go onsite to meet with staff but perform most of the donated service via his or her home or work computer). Also, most people who volunteer online look for opportunities that are in their own geographic area, just as people who want to volunteer onsite.

7) Online volunteers engage primarily in technology-related tasks.
False
Online volunteers engage in many tasks completely unrelated to technology, such as advising on business plans, human resources development, fundraising, media relations, researching topics and facilitating online discussions.

8) People who volunteer online are mostly young, affluent, and living in Silicon Valley
False
Online volunteers come from all age groups. Once someone can use the Internet independently (usually starting at age 13), they can volunteer online. Online volunteers come from various educational and work backgrounds, and from various geographies and ethnicities. The breakdown of online volunteers from the UN's Online Volunteering service is telling: more than 40% are from developing countries. Of course, each organization that involves online volunteers will have its own diversity, but it is not possible to make sweeping generalizations about the demographics of online volunteers. Plus, remember, most online volunteers are ALSO onsite volunteers, and most don't identify as online volunteers - just volunteers - so research about who is volunteering online can be difficult.

9) Online volunteering is impersonal.
False.
Online interactions are quite personal. In many circumstances, people are often more willing to share information and feelings online than they are face-to-face. Also, volunteers can more easily share photos of their families and narratives about their interests via the Internet than, say, at an onsite volunteer luncheon. As author Jayne Cravens notes, "Online volunteers with whom I have worked are real people to me, not virtual people. When they have gotten married or graduated from high school or college or had a baby or gotten a job, I have celebrated, and when they have died or lost a loved one, I have cried." In addition, as this video notes, working with online volunteers can be quite personal.

10) Interviewing potential volunteers face-to-face is much more reliable than interviewing people online.
False.
Both methods of interviewing potential volunteers have strengths and weaknesses; one may be more appropriate than another for a particular situation, but each is effective. The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook talks at length about why it is never a good idea to base your screening on face-to-face, gut reactions to volunteers, and how to use tried-and-true volunteer screening for virtual volunteering, always with an eye to what the volunteering will be doing in terms of interacting with the public or clients, accessing confidential information, etc. Note that it is becoming easier and easier to interview people at a distance using Internet voice and webcam platforms—truly face-to-face, even if not in the same room.

11) People who volunteer online are very shy and have trouble interacting with others.
False.
According to already-cited research, the overwhelming majority of online volunteers also excellent at interacting with others—it's that very hunger for human interaction that often drives their volunteering, on or offline.

12) The Internet is dangerous and, therefore, online volunteering opens an organization and its clients up to many risks.
False.
The Internet is no more or less dangerous than the offline world. When people, including children, have been harmed as a result of online activities, it has often been because they or their parents did not take appropriate safety measures—they share information that they would never share to random strangers at a bus station, for instance. There is extensive information on how to ensure safety in virtual volunteering in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. There is also this blog regarding safety in virtual volunteering and this video about safety in digital volunteering settings.

13) The biggest obstacle to online volunteering is lack of Internet access.
False.
The "digital divide" still exists but is rapidly disappearing as more and more people, of all income levels and around the world, are able to obtain computers or mobile devices at decreasing cost. For organizations, the biggest obstacle to involving online volunteers successfully, or at all, is lack of experience in basic volunteer management practices. If an organization does not know how to involve onsite volunteers effectively, they won't be able to do it online. An obstacle for others is lack of technology literacy - how to use Internet tools - and lack of traditional literacy (being able to read).

14) Online volunteering requires building a dedicated online platform or using a specific tech tool.
False.
If an organization has email, the organization can involve online volunteers. Organizations can effectively involve and support online volunteers with Internet tools already in place (email, instant messaging, Skype, etc.), and there are many free Internet tools to support all volunteers (not just online volunteers). And organizations recruit online volunteers via the same offline and online avenues as their onsite, face-to-face volunteers. The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook details various Internet tools and how to use them - no matter how tech evolves and tools change.

15) Microvolunteering and crowdsourcing are completely different than virtual or online volunteering
False.
A rose is a rose. Volunteering is volunteering, and just as virtual volunteering is a part of the landscape of all volunteering - group volunteering, skilled volunteering, episodic volunteering, etc. - online microvolunteering and crowudsourcing or crowd-doing or whatever is a part of the landscape of virtual volunteering. Any form of volunteering in which service is provided online is virtual volunteering, whether a short “just show up once and help” gig or a longer-term commitment. During the time of the 1990s Virtual Volunteering Project, the term was byte-sized volunteering: online volunteering tasks that take just a few hours or a few days to complete. The newer term for this is micro-volunteering, introduced when service via smartphone became a reality. See the discussion of vocabulary in chapters 1 and 3 of The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook.

16) Much more needs to be done to get people to volunteer online.
False.
There are plenty of people who want to volunteer online—far, far more than there are opportunities for them. New virtual volunteering initiatives regularly launch and focus on recruiting volunteers instead of cultivating and defining tasks for them to do immediately. Instead, much more needs to be done to help build the capacity of organizations regarding volunteer management and to incorporate information about online volunteering into this capacity building -- another reason for The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook.

These myths are from Appendix A, "Virtual Volunteering Myths," in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook by Jayne Cravens and Susan J. Ellis, copyright 2014, Energize, Inc., pp. 177-80. However, they have been slightly updated since the publication of the book.

Virtual Volunteering Wiki Footer

Detailed information about how to use the Internet to support and involve volunteers - virtual volunteering - can be found in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. This wiki is a supplement to the book - but no substitution for it.

Join our virtual volunteering LinkedIn group (you must be a member of LinkedIn to join this group; membership is free) to know when the Virtual Volunteering Wiki is updated.

If you tweet about The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook please use the tag #vvbook

Please note: this wiki project is entirely unfunded - and I'm struggling to keep it going. If you would like to see this page continue to be updated, support my work

here's how to support this work.

Want to know more about using the Internet to engage and support volunteers? See:

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook
by Jayne Cravens and Susan J. Ellis

The most comprehensive guide available on virtual volunteering, including online mentoring, micro-volunteeirng, virtual teams, high-responsibility roles, crowd sourcing to benefit nonprofits and other mission-based organizations, and much more.

Published January 2014, based on more than 30 years of research. Available as both a print book and an ebook.