virtual volunteering project FAQs
 
why are there so many steps
to volunteer with the vv project?

Not every online volunteering program has as many layers as the VV Project does for potential volunteers to go through before they can receive an online assignment. And when the VV Project first started involving online volunteers, the process was much more casual -- someone merely had to answer a few questions on an online application, which could be found via our home page, and they were sent an online assignment right away.

Unfortunately, we found that the majority of people filling out this application at that time were hitting "submit" before they really thought about the commitment and time they needed as an online volunteer. Many people were also applying to volunteer with the Project but not really understanding what the Project was about, or the audience it served, and were frustrated to find that the assignments weren't exactly what they were looking for. Subsequently, the Project Manager was spending a great deal of time developing online opportunities, but the vast majority of these assignments were never completed.

Over the last two years, several steps have been added to volunteer with our Program. The pages that a volunteer has to go through before they get to our online application are:

1. The VV Project home page, which links to...

2. The index of resources for online volunteers, which links to...

3. The page "How to find an online volunteering opportunity", which links to many, many OTHER organizations before it finally links to...

4. The page "Volunteering with the VV Project", which outlines exactly the kinds of volunteer tasks available. It also has a link to an index of sites for people looking for paid internships (which many people e-mail our project looking for). At the very bottom of this page, at last, is the link to...

5. The application to volunteer with this project. HOWEVER, one of the first things this applications requires is that the person take the self-evaluation tool, Are You Ready to Volunteer Virtually?

This heavily-layered process has cut down immensely on the number of people who complete our online application but then never complete an assignment. This in turn has freed up time on the Project Manager's part to assist agencies directly and to develop meaningful volunteer tasks and match them appropriately to potential volunteers. It is our philosophy that, if a potential volunteer cannot follow this online system, online volunteering is probably not for him or her, as all online assignments require a great deal of reading and attention to detail.

See Orienting and evaluating volunteers for virtual assignments for more information, and sample applications and online orientations (including our own).

 
If you have other questions and cannot find the answers on this web site, please contact us.

• Virtual Volunteering Resources
  How to find and involve volunteers working from home or work computers, online resources for volunteer managers, advice for individuals who want to volunteer virtually, etc. These pages are updated and added to each month.

• How Your Agency Can Utilize the Virtual Volunteering Project
  Tips on how to use this Web site, information about our offline services, and how we can help you introduce or expand virtual volunteering in your agency.

• Virtual Volunteering Project home page

 
If you find this or any other Virtual Volunteering Project information helpful, or would like to add information based on your own experience, please contact us.

If you do use Virtual Volunteering Project materials in your own workshop or trainings, or republish materials in your own publications, please let us know, so that we can track how this information is disseminated.

part of the Volunteerism and Community Engagement Initiatives of the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas Austin Copyright © 1999 The University of Texas at Austin. All Rights Reserved. Linking to or from these pages