The Internet offers a great way to support volunteers, particularly those that work away from an agency's direct supervision:

• E-mail offers a way to update volunteers quickly about a resource they may find valuable in their service. Consider creating a regular e-mail update to send to volunteers each week, every other week, or each month. This update can include policy reminders, event announcements, or suggestions for resources to help volunteers in their service and reinforce particular issues or guidelines they should keep in mind at all times.

• An online discussion group offers volunteers an easy avenue to share learnings and ideas and to ask questions of each other.

• The Web offers a way to provide manuals, guidelines, statistics and other information volunteers may find helpful to their service. Start by making any materials you hand out to volunteers also available on the Web: policy manuals, guide books, and so on. In fact, converting this information to HTML is a great task for an online volunteer!