Volunteers don’t always have to be physically located in the office or out on location these days. Virtual volunteers can be just as helpful when they work from home.

Virtual Volunteering is comparatively new and many NFP’s, especially smaller ones, have yet to embrace the concept.  Large organisations have quickly adopted the idea.  Even The United Nations runs an online volunteering service that allows organizations working in or for the developing world to recruit online volunteers.

How does virtual volunteering work?

People need to apply to be a registered volunteer.  Remember that they will be representing your NFP so you need to know who is out there working on your behalf.

What can virtual volunteers do?

They can do almost anything that can be done online.  Transcribing audio recordings, typing up documents, managing your website, contributing to social media, writing grants, or anything that uses their special skills for your NFP’s benefit. Sometimes the volunteer might do research for you, either online or by interviewing people ‘on the street.’

How do we manage them?

As with any other volunteer, they will need some form of training but you may be able to do that via an online system.  Each volunteer will need to understand your NFP culture and rules, and what they are allowed to do as your representative.

Sharing information with them is likely to be done online, too.  Webinars are great for sharing information and running training sessions.  Dropbox is handy for sharing files.  Facebook groups or Google Hangouts will help you connect as a group.

It’s not difficult to manage a virtual volunteer team but it will take you some time to work out your systems.

How could you use a virtual volunteer?