The Pros And Cons Of Virtual Volunteering

In 2014, it is estimated that nearly 62.6 million Americans volunteered. That same study, conducted by the Corporation for National & Community Service, also showed that all those volunteers’ hours equaled roughly 173 billion dollars in service. That staggering amount is evidence that the volunteers’ efforts are achieving more than originally thought. Volunteers are often depicted as people in hard hats building houses and walking dogs at a local shelter. However, with the demand for quality volunteers, is there another option for organizations? Could the answer be people sitting behind computer screens and web cameras? As the new generation quickly approaches, the trend of virtual, or on-line, volunteers is becoming a popular and viable option. Tools, such as social media, can be used to link the cause with the work force. While there are challenges and …show more content…
However, the complexity and technicality may cause some issues. The first obvious challenge is internet access. In rural America, this can be a scarce resource. However, once that need is met, other issues still exist. Those issues stems back to the organization itself and that is the fear to start an on-line presence or program. On major problem to address is assigning a manger to monitoring, developing and updating the media pages. Also, making your program capable of hosting virtual volunteers, along with providing them meaningful tasks, can be a challenge for the volunteer program manager. This area needs to be clearly outlined in the strategy and in-depth job descriptions should be assigned. The use of off-site volunteers can potentially create an expansion in volunteer requests, as well as create an influx of work for the managers and staff. A stated earlier, all groups considering this route need to exhaust all resources to ensure the organization is ready for the new