UNITeS Team Member Hosts Online Event - March 2002

From Feb. 25 - March 1, TechSoup, a web site devoted to technology resources and information for nonprofit organizations, hosted an online event on "Volunteers and Technology"

The event was moderated by Jayne Cravens, Online Volunteering Specialist here at UN Volunteers and part of the staff that works on UNITeS, along with people from CompuMentor, a nonprofit organization which places and supports onsite ICT volunteers at nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay area and which operates TechSoup.

The purpose of this online event was to explore the effective recruitment and involvement of BOTH tech volunteers (information communications technology volunteers, or ICT) and online volunteers.

The topics discussed for this online event (all still available on the TechSoup web site) included:

How Can Nonprofits Use the Internet to Recruit Volunteers?

Who are technical volunteers and where do you find them?

How do you keep the technical volunteer project on track?

Has Technology Revolutionized Community Involvement?

What is an appropriate way to utilize technical volunteers?

How do you figure out if the volunteer is qualified to do the project?

How are tech volunteer projects different from other volunteer projects?

The effects of 9/11 on volunteerism and the internet

Making the connection and relationship building online

Tech volunteers and who owns their creations

Tips for Online Volunteers

Starting an OV Program

OV Stories

Online Volunteering Q & As

Finding the Right Place to Volunteer

fundraising volunteers and computer technology

How Can Corporations Use the Internet to Boost Employee Volunteerism?

Seniors as volunteers

Teaching the Teacher (volunteers teaching tech use to others)

Below are excerpts from messages posted to the event that talk about the event itself and how it was helpful; thanks to CompuMentor and TechSoup for involving UNV and UNITeS in this event!

"Thanks for the discussion thus far. I am an AmeriCorps VISTA with Community Computer Access Network (C-CAN) in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. We are a regional collaborative of CTCs. This spring we are launching a new initiative called the Tech Volunteer Hub. The goal is to match tech volunteers with the CTCs in our region. I hope to learn much from this event, and will certainly lend my knowledge when possible!"

"I appreciate this discussion and I look forward to any suggestions or ideas from others."

"What an interesting collection of folks coming to the table.
My name is Jeff and I work at The National Mentoring Partnership. We're currently working on the US version of the Digital Heroes Campaign's second year. I thought it was really cool to see the Canadian DHC program coordinator in this forum along with Jayne who helped us get our first year started!
We currently have a small virtual volunteering program going and I'm a virtual vol myself. So I'm looking forward to sharing ideas and seeing how other people are utilizing their volunteers online. Cheers!"

"Thanks to the hosts for having this discussion this week!"

[This event is a] Great idea! My name is Afi G. Osakwe, TechnologyConsultant for Blue Springs Hoke County Community Development Corporation in Raeford, NC. I also volunteer as Volunteer Coordinator.
I attended the recent Technology Volunteer Training in RTP and thoroughly enjoyed Karen and Fresh. The information they presented is very useful and Working with Technical Volunteers: A Manual for Nonprofit Organizations" is invaluable. Before attending the training, Blue Springs was already familiar with TechSoup and CompuMentor. We've made software purchases through the discount program and plan to get technical assistance in the not-too-distant future. We developed our volunteer strategy with information from TechSoup, including a volunteer manual and staff workshop for processing and supervising incoming volunteers. Now, we are going to combine the best of both worlds-volunteer information from TechSoup and CompuMentor."

"This has been a very informing discussion. I am an AmeriCorp*Vista working with TECH CORPS - Texas in Houston. One of my many duties is to recruit and manage volunteers. I have never done this before and it's a bit scary. I really like challenges and I can tell that the work I am doing will help a lot of students in Texas. I think that is what it is all about, trying to make a different - small or large. I think every bit helps. So I am learning so much for you and I just wanted to say thanks for holding this discussion."

"Jayne: Your answer reinvigorated a jaded warrior. I immediately left the forum upon reading it and went to work analyzing the site in reference to your suggestions. Our organization will surely be better in terms of our volunteer recruitment process. Thanks a bunch!"·

"this topic is of great interest to me and I will appreciate all your advice. Right now, I'm teaching most of the classes with assistance from volunteer lab assistants and some volunteers who already teach this type of class. In an large area like Los Angeles, we are able to recruit volunteers. My issues relate more to teaching non-technical teachers the content and teaching technical experts how to teach novices. Thanks to TechSoup for hosting this great discussion."