FAQs
About the Virtual Volunteering Project
involve volunteers answering questions
from the public or clients
(not including one:one mentoring and tutoring)
If you would like your agency to be included in this listing, please complete our online survey.
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Abuse Counseling and Treatment (ACT)
http://www.actabuse.com
A private, not-for-profit agency in Lee County, Florida. One of ACT's trained onsite volunteers transitioned into an online position, monitoring the group's domestic violence forum and online guestbooks. She corresponds online with a small group of people being served by ACT, who keep her "up-to-date on their goals, hopes, dreams, and apprehensions and makes them comfortable discussing their uncertainties, discouragements, and pain."
AfricaWorld
http://www.earthcorp.com/AfricaWorld
Involves online volunteers as moderators and contributors to its online discussion groups and education forums, which offer advice and information about jobs, work-travel-study & research opportunities and issues relevant to the African Diaspora.
Befrienders International
http://www.befrienders.org/
Has centers worldwide, including the U.S. Each center has trained "listening" volunteers who provide support via phone to people who are suicidal or despairing, and who work to increase public awareness of issues around suicide and depression. Some of the centers also provide support via e-mail; though not an immediate service, e-mail is answered within 24 hours. This organization and its centers are affiliated with Samaritans.
Community Wire
Glendale, California
Detailed profile of this organization
CompuMentor
http://www.compumentor.org
This San Francisco-based agency provides excellent information to help technical-assistance volunteers work with agencies in face-to-face settings; we've followed many of their guidelines in creating our own suggestions for online volunteers, and you will find links to CompuMentor materials on our Web site. CompuMentor has a new Virtual Mentoring Program, which matches online volunteers with specialized computer and internet-related skills/expertise with not-for-profit organizations needing such assistance. In addition, several CompuMentor volunteers participated in our betatest program, and provided feedback about their online volunteering experiences.
drkoop.com
http://drkoop.com/community/
This national online company, based in Austin, Texas, is led by Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, and "others who are dedicated to improving the quality of people's lives by empowering them to improve their health." The site has numerous interactive communities, message boards and chat rooms, all moderated by online volunteers and each centering around a particular health topic or demographic.
Flashcorps
http://www.flashlite.net/community/flashcorps.html
A new, growing group of online volunteers from around the world offering probono multimedia and web development experience, particularly "flash" technologies, to nonprofit organizations.
Gay Men's Health
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~gaymen/virtualvol.html
Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, this organization has involved online volunteers to answer questions submitted by e-mail or the organization's web site regarding safer sex and other health related matters. Online volunteers have also assisted staff members in various projects.
Information Access
(formerly the Science, Engineering, and Math (SEM) Program)
http://www.ee.udel.edu/InfoAccess/
This University of Delaware-based effort sponsors numerous ongoing telementoring projects, including Scientopia http://www.ee.udel.edu/InfoAccess/Scientopia/, an online community consisting of students, mentors, and advocates who are interested in actively discussing issues in education, research, careers, and news developments with a special emphasis on the sciences and disability; the Math Mania Contest; Science Serendipity Contest; and Student Cyberfairs.
Internet Technical Group
http://www.sandia.gov/itg/index.html
ITG, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has created a community for professionals from industry, academia and government organizations who share a common interest in Internet technologies and related behavioral phenomena. "From the guys who put so much work into setting [the group] up, to those who run the listserv and those who created and run the ITG web site, the newsletter, the job section, and many more," ITG relies heavily on online volunteers, all "busy professionals in the industry who have given up some of their time to make it [ITG] work." ITG is affiliated with Sandia National Laboratories, operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company
Math Forum's Ask Dr. Math
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math
A question and answer service for K-12 math students and their teachers. Students submit questions to Dr. Math by filling out the Web form or by sending in e-mail. Answers (by Swarthmore College math students acting as "Dr. Math") are sent back by e-mail, and these questions and answers are gathered into an online searchable archive organized by grade level (elementary, middle school, high school) and topic (exponents, infinity, polynomials, etc.). There are also materials for math teachers to use.
National Association of Purchasing Management
http://www.napm.org/Education/legacy/1998conf/gary/tsld009.htm
This association based in Tempe, Arizona presented information about on recruiting, retaining, and recognizing volunteers, and an overview of how online volunteers can help, at their 1999 Annual International Purchasing Conference. The presentation advocated that members involve online volunteers to: conduct online research, gathering information on upcoming legislation affecting purchasing, prepare information for chapter Web sites, provide online mentoring to new members via e-mail, and participate in committee sessions online.
No Wonder
http://www.nowonder.com/
Online volunteers help answer computer and software questions via email from users all over the world. "We have volunteers who have been with us for almost our 2 year existence," says founder Scott William. "Include volunteers, make them a part of the decision making process. Let them know they are valued and that their ideas and suggestions are taken seriously."
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.net/volunteer.html
The first mobilization of online volunteers? Maybe! Begun in 1971 with the uploading of the Declaration of Independance to the pre-cursor to the Internet, the Project converts a variety of Public Domain texts to electronic versions. Its mission is to make information, books and other materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read, use, quote, and search. This Web site serves as an orientation and guidebook for volunteers who want to help make texts available via Project Gutenberg.
Samaritans
http://www.samaritans.org/
A charitable organization, founded in 1953, serving the United Kingdom and Ireland. Samaritans trained "listening" volunteers provide support via phone and e-mail to people who are suicidal or despairing, and work to increase public awareness of issues around suicide and depression. The organization's onsite training of its volunteers is focused on fine-tuning listening skills and providing the knowledge and confidence necessary to support callers in crisis. The Samaritans e-mail service is not an immediate service; mail is answered within 24 hours. Befrienders International is affiliated with the Samaritans and has branches in the U.S.
Service Corps Of Retired Executives (SCORE)
http://www.score.org/
A resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration, dedicated to aiding in the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE offers an email counseling at no cost (for U.S. citizens and resident aliens only); its huge searchable databank helps users find the SCORE member whose expertise best addresses their business needs. The expertise of members if highly varied and specialized -- users can get email counseling in everything from tropical agriculture to unemployment compensation to wholesale lighting equipment. The Web site also has a database for finding local SCORE affiliates.
Sidelines National Support Network
http://www.sidelines.org
This national nonprofit organization based in California was one of the VV Projects Affiliates, and our web site features a very detailed profile of this organization and how it has involved online volunteers.
STARBRIGHT World
http://www.starbright.org/projects/sbw/index.html
A private, interactive computer network where hospitalized kids from across the nation can interact with a community of their peers, helping each other cope with the day-to-day realities of living with illness. Kids learn about illnesses, procedures and coping and learn the definitions of difficult terms. STARBRIGHT World is available in hospitals nationwide, and there is a list of these hospitals on the STARBRIGHT World Web site.
Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA)
http:www.vita.org
VITA's Inquiry Service enlists volunteers serving as technical experts to answer requests about a variety of development issues that come from around the world. Originally, experts provided their assistance via phone, fax and postal mail. VITA has now launched a version to involve online volunteers in its Inquiry Service program.
YouthOrg UK
http://www.youth.org.uk
In Aldershot, Hants, United Kingdom, YouthOrg UK's virtual community and web site are entirely managed, developed and published by volunteers. Online volunteers also maintain a Web-based bulletin board, answer technical inquiries and design graphics. "Peer to peer education is probably the best way to describe this relationship between the volunteers," says Mark Harding, founder of the organization. Mark says the factors that contribute to the success of his online programs are "praising volunteers," "ensuring their volunteering work is seen by other potential volunteers," and "ensuring the content of the web site is written in a level the youth workers and young people can relate to." He says two of the biggest obstacles are that potential volunteers "fear they need to be an Internet genius to contribute" and potential volunteers giving inacurate email addresses when they sign up to help.
