Whether from a cyber café in Bangladesh, San Diego, Toronto, or Hong Kong, volunteers have made a significant contribution towards the enhancement of Macdonald Youth Services' (MYS) programs and services.

MYS, a treatment and support agency based in Winnipeg, Canada, has been building better tomorrows for children, youth and families for 73 years. I began developing our virtual volunteer program in 1998. Just prior to this time, I was developing and maintaining a web site for a national non-profit organization based in Vermont. I was using the Internet to easily transfer files and communicate
via email with an administration I had never met. Why, I thought, couldn't
I do the same with volunteers?

I also knew that it was becoming ever more challenging to recruit onsite volunteers - especially highly-skilled volunteers, such as graphic designers. This role, among others, I reasoned could be easily performed via the Internet.

Hence around September 1998, I began implementing a client-based virtual volunteer opportunity. I was able to screen the potential volunteer face-to-face before assigning the volunteer to tutor one of our children placed in our treatment foster program. From this cautious beginning, I soon moved to implement policies, procedures and processes to manage both online client-based and technically-based virtual volunteers from around the world.

These early times were a challenge, but there always seemed to be a workaround. One of these initial virtual volunteers didn't use Microsoft Word, so I emailed her the online volunteer application as a text file. She completed the file and emailed it back to me. Well, matching up the responses with some of the questions was a bit difficult but it didn't stop the process from continuing. As a side note, this volunteer, after hundreds of hours and four years later, is still volunteering with us. Over this time period, we have established a proven, trusting relationship. This trust has allowed our human resource department to assign her the task of maintaining our job opportunities board.

Now, after almost five years, I (along with talented virtual volunteers) have been able to create a very efficient web-based approach that enables most of the volunteer management process to be completed via interactive CGI driven forms, some involving password-protected directories. I also use an FTP site so that large files can be easily made available to volunteers (and vice versa).

Why should a non-profit or charity embrace virtual volunteerism? There are definite advantages.

"It has been great so far working with you and your organization. I am looking forward to working more with you and MYS in the new year." -Tu Loan Vuong, MYS Virtual Volunteer

Our agency, over the last few years, has experienced tremendous growth (we have approximately 220 full time employees and about 300 part time employees). Finding office space has become more difficult with this growth. Recruiting virtual volunteers has opened up a host of virtual offices for us. Moreover, these volunteers are not limited by our Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 schedule or any difficulty that may be experienced physically getting to our agency. Nor are we limited to the software (or hardware) that we possess as a charity. For example, the last two years our Annual Report has been designed by a virtual volunteer in Vancouver (B.C.) using a high-end layout program called QuarkXpress. At $1500 we (among most charities I would safely say) do not own this layout program. But the virtual volunteer was able to easily convert the Quark file to a PDF, and email it to us for revision before uploading it to our FTP site, wherein the commercial printer downloaded it to print directly to plate.

A most notable advantage to virtual volunteerism is the huge resource pool that I can efficiently and effectively access. Even living in a relatively large city (Winnipeg has a population of around 700,000 people), I found it very difficult to recruit certain types of volunteers - such as a computer programmer or a voice narrator. But virtual volunteerism, an inclusive concept that aims to eliminate barriers and borders, allows me to have access to most of the globe. Because the medium for recruiting is the Internet, I have also connected with volunteers who usually wouldn't have an interest in our agency's mission, but their motivations bring them to the virtual opportunity we offer.

A last advantage is the creativity that this new concept allows. Technology in the hands of highly skilled virtual volunteers has allowed us to experience results that wouldn't have been possible with our onsite volunteer program alone. Voice narration, video editing, screen recording, computer programming, Flash design and online tutoring are just some of the varied roles that virtual volunteers have successfully performed with our agency.

Communicating with virtual volunteers requires some different skills and observations, but using these skills facilitates relationship building. Even observing how promptly the virtual volunteer replies (coupled with other indicators) may assist in better structuring an assignment. And at times, for clarification and efficiency, I e-mail a voice or video file attachment to different virtual volunteers.

Overall, if the volunteer management process is used, beginning with identifying what needs to be done and then fully articulating this need in a position description (which will assist you in knowing where to recruit to arrive at the best fit), the chances of recruiting, selecting and retaining quality volunteers (whether virtual or onsite) will significantly increase.

If an organization has a well-developed onsite program (including policies, procedures, and processes in place), the transition to involving virtual volunteers does not have to be that big of a leap. On the other hand, an organization without a well-established onsite program will need to consider and develop a recognized volunteer management process (that aims to manage risk for all concerned while concurrently aiming to meet the needs of all involved). With this said, any organization can then begin with a scaled down program if one sees various levels of virtual volunteer program development.

I conceptualize virtual volunteer program development on a continuum, from strictly email based to a full blown interactive web site (with one's organizational domain name) complete with interactive forms and documents. Hence, either the organization working to involve volunteers in creative ways or an organization challenged to find highly skilled volunteers could turn to the Internet for help.

"I just received an award certificate in the mail for service to the Macdonald Youth Services. It was totally unexpected and I would like to express my thanks." -MYS Virtual Volunteer

I suggest starting with one or two virtual volunteers, or there may even be an opportunity for a current onsite volunteer to complete their assignment on their home computer. Beginning at this level, any organization could easily implement such a program with a basic computer, using a dial-up Internet connection with an office suite (some of which are available for download free of cost). An organization can then use the technology of tech-savvy virtual volunteers to increase organizational capacity.

At the other end of this continuum I envision a lot of planned and implemented efficiencies, made possible with a combination of hardware, software, Web site technologies and skills developed over a number of years, the level of the MYS virtual volunteer program today.

To move to this level, I would suggest more advanced hardware be considered and used (this may include, for example, a scanner, CD burner, web camera, audio speakers, larger hard drive, additional ram, enhanced video card and faster processor) and additional software (such as Adobe Acrobat, Camtasia Studio, Cool Edit Pro, Direct FTP, Auto Play Media Studio and Eudora), a broadband connection (such as DSL, cable or satellite), an FTP site (for storing and transferring large files with volunteers) and an interactive, easily managed web site (where staff can request volunteers, volunteers can complete an application or view a list of volunteer opportunities, where references can submit a form, volunteers can attend an orientation and also submit their monthly time and tasks contribution). The opportunities to be creative are endless.

At the forefront of virtual volunteer program development in Canada, I have had the opportunity to deliver both provincial and national conference presentations from Toronto to Calgary. In the many non-profits that have been involved, I have seen an excitement with the Internet as a phenomenon. I have seen interest in developing or enhancing an organizational web site. And I have observed increased use of the Internet by non-profits for purposes such as email and research. However, I get a sense some other areas, such as virtual volunteerism, may be slower catching on. But I also believe that with education (and possibly due to necessity), non-profits will see virtual volunteerism as one creative way to meet their needs for help, in
order to fulfill their mission in today's competitive operating environment.

To place this in real world operating terms, consider a recent Canadian study that showed a significant decline in volunteerism. This Statistics Canada study (released August, 2001) revealed about a million fewer volunteers were involved (in comparison to the previous study), with lack of time being cited as the most frequent barrier for either not volunteering, or not volunteering more. Virtual volunteerism is thus a (proven) approach that will help sustain volunteerism. Today, a voluntary organization's board and management would do well to ask this reflective question: Is there a better way to attract and retain highly-skilled volunteers than by providing opportunities to volunteer from the comfort and convenience of their home?

"I graduated this Spring with a BFA in Graphic Design and I have been having a hard time finding a permanent position. I think that having an experience like this will enhance my resume." -MYS Virtual Volunteer

To get a sense of the growing importance of the Internet to MYS, look back to 1996 when we were one of the first youth treatment agencies in Manitoba to launch a site. At that time, we had a single computer, using Windows 3.1, which was connected to the Internet via a dial-up connection. And only our senior management had mail accounts, all on the same computer. And our Internet services, including our Web site hosting, were all donated.

Now, we have a Novell network connecting many workstations, with a broadband connection linking more than 60 employee mail accounts. This internal structure is complemented by a virtually hosted interactive Web site containing 100s of html pages, some which are driven by about 20 different CGI scripts (which by the way represent more than 500 hours of programming by a virtual volunteer from Victoria, BC).

Looking ahead, I envision further exploration of videoconferencing, online fund development and virtual volunteerism. With a recent donation of computer equipment and software (including some high-end multimedia applications), we are set to venture into new creative areas to enable virtual volunteers to further assist our charitable organization (and the children we serve).

I never cease to be amazed at the high level of work that volunteers will produce for an organization that they may never see, or even know where it is located. Our virtual volunteers: we probably will never see them, but we do see the fruits of their service at MYS.




Contributed by Randy Tyler, Webmaster and Volunteer Coordinator for Macdonald Youth Services, a charitable treatment and support agency based in Winnipeg, Canada, and a frequent conference presenter on Virtual Volunteer Programs. Reprinted with permission from OnPhilanthropy.com, a division of Changing Our World, Inc.

To read another Global Envision article about virtual volunteering see Become a Mentor -- Online.

To learn more through Global Envision about volunteering see Opportunities.