You’ve heard of telecommuting? Think of this as televolunteering. It’s the same principle, just a different name for the tasks being accomplished. A telecommuter works at home, typically connected to the organization's office through on-line channels of e-mail and the Internet. A televolunteer connects and interacts with their organization in the same way – but instead of work tasks, he or she is completing volunteer tasks. It’s as simple as that.
Put another way, it’s using your home or work computer – along with your technology skills – to accomplish volunteer tasks. Also known as “virtual volunteering,” this is now becoming a popular – and convenient – way to donate your time and talents. Service in Cyberspace can benefit schools, non-profit organizations and other agencies where volunteers contribute their efforts.
Benefits for the volunteer
What’s the number one reason people don’t volunteer? Time. They think they don’t have the time or schedule flexibility to do so. Jobs, families, school and the normal challenges of day-to-day living seem to take up most of our waking hours. Who wants to drive somewhere else, or attend yet another meeting? But look at the flexibility televolunteering provides:
- The ability to donate your energies from your own home or office
- The casual atmosphere most conducive to your productivity: complete your volunteer tasks listening to your favorite CD, your favorite beverage in hand, wearing your slippers
- Flexibility in when you volunteer your time – you can complete many tasks in the evening or on weekends; whenever it’s convenient for you. You can stop mid-task to help kids with homework, watch your favorite TV show, or play catch with your new puppy, and then resume later when you have time
- A chance to help, even when you may be required to stay at home – be it for health or mobility reasons, childcare responsibilities, or lack of transportation
- A chance to learn new technology skills, or to improve existing skills – a non-profit organization will usually be more than happy to let you practice and hone your skills while helping them
Benefits for the organization
What’s the number one reason that non-profit organizations are often behind in technology? Money. An organization whose number-one goal is to provide a service – often free – is not spending their precious dollars on the latest computers. An organization whose staff is skilled in providing much-needed services to clients is not necessarily hiring employees who are also technology gurus. Sad, but true, industry steals away these folks with higher salaries than many non-profits can even think about providing.
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