The fact is many of the greatest websites are put together by volunteers, in their precious spare time, because they love what they're doing. And it shows.
The internet offers rich and diverse opportunities: to learn, to share information, to connect with others, to make money. And the internet also offers new ways to make your own contribution to the world community, as a volunteer and patron.
If you've got some spare time and energy you'd like to put to good use, you can contribute to the wealth of information freely available online by becoming webmaster of your own site. Not surprisingly, there are lots of free resources available. HTML Goodies offers free tutorials and help for beginning webmasters. And you can find servers that will host your masterpiece for free by browsing the listings at The Free Pages Page.
Or maybe you'd like to contribute to the web community in other ways. If you like, you can make searching and surfing a little easier by volunteering at the Open Directory Project. Currently over 30,000 volunteer editors work to maintain and update lists of links for over 325,000 topics.
Cyberangels has gotten a lot of recent publicity for its efforts to make the internet safer for all of us, especially younger surfers. Volunteers can review websites for safety, monitor chat rooms, and help in the ongoing battle against cyberstalking. And don't forget Project Gutenberg, where volunteers are busy making copyright-free literature available online.
Before making a volunteer commitment, it's important to keep in mind that you are, most definitely, making a commitment. Virtual Volunteering Resources has several helpful articles to read before you begin.
And if you find that you just can't make that kind of commitment right now, maybe you could consider finding painless ways to donate some cash. For example, most of us won't be getting rich from the various pay-to-surf programs available online, but our meager earnings could add up to a nice chunk of change for a deserving charity or non-profit organization.
Some of the paying programs even let you direct your earnings to a charity directly from their website when you cash out. At eTour you can donate your earnings to the American Red Cross, after you've accumulated 5,000 points. And Cybergold has nine charities you can choose from, including the World Wildlife Fund. And MyPoints also has a donation option for points earned by reading email.
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