5 ways in which the Internet has transformed Volunteering!

Renu is an avid communicator and is also good at designing creatives. She wants to use her skills to help NGOs who require support in communication. So, she browses through the website of an online platform that connects volunteers with NGOs.

Renu looks through the various volunteering opportunities available on the website. She decides to choose a volunteering project with an NGO that works for girl child education. This pro bono project involves creating and designing an appealing annual report for the NGO.

Renu and the NGO connect over an email for preliminary discussions. The NGO sends across the necessary content and pictures that they want to include in their annual report. In a month, Renu prepares the annual report!

While Renu lives in Bangalore, she had prepared the annual report for an NGO that works for the girl child education in Jaipur.

What made this volunteering feat possible? Without an ounce of a doubt, it is the Internet!

Now, wouldn’t you agree that the Internet and Volunteering are quite a power-packed combination? The Internet has spearheaded and opened up more possibilities for the field of Volunteering.

Following are 5 different ways in which the Internet has transformed Volunteering:

1. Volunteering beyond geographies — NGOs who need support in critical functions such as communication and marketing, human resources, information technology can now access volunteer resources across the country or even internationally. For instance, a volunteer in India may provide pro bono support to a charity in Ghana (Africa) working towards nutrition of expecting mothers from lower-income groups.

2. Growth of Online Platforms connecting NGOs to Volunteers — The Internet has opened up enhanced channels of communication for NGOs and volunteers to connect! We have dedicated online platforms that solely focus on connecting skilled volunteers to NGOs through websites. ConnectFor is one such online platform in India which matches pro bono volunteers to its 400+ NGO partners.

3. Rise of New forms of Volunteering — Micro-Volunteering — Have you heard about micro-volunteering? It is a form of volunteering where volunteers who are hard-pressed for time can take up smaller projects. These projects would take less time for completion. For instance, spending 15 minutes editing a thank you email that an NGO wants to send to its donor base.

4. Community Engagement through Social Media platforms — Social media platforms have enabled NGOs to engage their community of supporters regularly. Recently, NGOs and Volunteer groups have been organizing online donation drives of old laptops and smartphones to support underprivileged children to access online learning in the COVID times.

5. Community Fund-raising — The Internet has given the power to the NGOs to raise funds from a wider community of supporters. In the last six months, the Volunteers have raised monetary resources to support the COVID relief work run by NGOs and volunteer groups. ConnectFor has also recently raised funds through their online campaign to buy laptops/smartphones for their partner NGO and support deprived children to continue their online learning.

The Internet has opened up endless possibilities for Volunteers like Renu to support NGOs in their development work. Let us not lose out on this noble experience of giving back to society through volunteering.

Do you want to start volunteering? Here’s what you can do: You can browse through the volunteering opportunities available on our ConnectFor website; choose a volunteering project based on your interests and skills; then use the power of the Internet to Volunteer!

Thank you, Internet for bringing more power to the spirit of volunteering! Happy Volunteering!

— Blog by Padmapriya N, Volunteer, ConnectFor.