Change the World…right from your couch!
Heard about virtual volunteering? What about cyber service? What we’re talking about is people completing volunteer tasks on the internet.
While there’s still a ton of hands-on volunteer work that needs our attention, there is more and more we can do each day to make a difference without leaving the comfort of our couch. And, less you think there’s just not enough time… let’s put this in perspective.
A 2011 Mashable Social Media report by Ben Parr, reports that the average U.S. internet user spends almost 8 hours on Facebook each month.
Another source estimated that over 10.5 billion minutes per day were spent on Facebook in January, 2012. Yes, I did say, “billion!” Now, I have nothing against Facebook. I’m actually a pretty big fan. But, imagine for a moment… just how much could be accomplished if only a small fraction of this time was spent volunteering vs. friending.
Sparked is one of the virtual volunteering resources you will find on Philanthropegie. They provide direct access to microvolunteering opportunities for individuals right on their site. They also call on organizations to “supercharge” their employee engagement programs and cause marketing initiatives. And they help them do that by providing a slick tool that can be incorporated into the organizations own web presence.
I checked out Koodonation – a service of Koodoo Mobile in Canada. Koodoo uses Sparked’s tools to integrate microvolunteering right into the home page of their site. What I found was a simple, fun way to get involved that made me feel good about Koodoo’s commitment to giving back.
Another great source for virtual volunteering is serviceLEADER.org. They have a great collection of resources for individuals, organizations and nonprofits. Here are the categories they use to make it easy to find what you need to get started.
- Developing and Implementing a Virtual Volunteering Program
- Online Volunteer Resources
- Sample Online Assignments
- Volunteer Manager Resources
- Volunteers with Disabilities
VolunteerMatch is an amazing source for volunteering and volunteer management. They also have a section dedicated to virtual opportunities. One opportunity listing offered a way for you to “earn 75 hours of community service from the comfort of home.”
Use one of these links to see more volunteer resources, leave a review, or add volunteer resources to your Philanthropegie favorites:
Individuals Organizations Nonprofits
Know of other great virtual volunteering resources – do tell?
So true perspective rellay does shape your reality. Sometimes consciously giving/being kind everyday can seem like an obligation, but once I have done my daily task I see that it was opportunity to learn or connect or experience something I could never have predicted.