Like the title says, I'd like to virtually volunteer at an offical non-profit org that will give offical volunteer hours/give certificates of letters of rec :D

I want to volunteer online in a known international volunteering organization that works on environmental issues, science-related / scientific research, or a good charitable cause helping people, especially the disabled, the elderly, and children. I am a 22-year-old from Egypt, fluent in English, and a native Arabic speaker, learning German and Indonesian. I am interested in environmental issues and really want to contribute to addressing them. I had some experience in coordination, translation, and charity work in my hometown to help families suffering from financial issues. I majored in biotechnology and genetics, and have experience in scientific research and literature review. I enjoy cultural exchanges as well. Can anyone recommend any popular good well-organized active ones that make me feel like a part of a community and maybe also have some kind of perks for me? Not micro-volunteering and not just online short tasks I do independently. Preferably with a link to their LinkedIn or Facebook page.

New report highlights digital barriers for disabled volunteers

Creating an inclusive society means ensuring that people of all backgrounds and abilities can engage in all aspects of life.

As life becomes more reliant on technology, having internet access and digital skills is increasingly important. Unfortunately, many disabled adults are digitally excluded, limiting their ability to engage in paid and voluntary work.

But by removing barriers and enhancing accessibility, we can foster environments where everyone feels welcome and empowered to contribute.

The Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and Opportunities for Disabled Adults in Volunteering report, supported by the HEAR Equality and Human Rights Network, uses data from NCVO's Time Well Spent survey to explore these issues. It shares recommendations for both government and the voluntary sector, which is summarized here:

https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/report-highlights-digital-barriers-for-disabled-volunteers/

Challenges for Formal Organizations Engaging Volunteers During Regular and Crisis Times According to Polish and Italian Volunteer Coordinators

The recent crises in Europe impacted the volunteering patterns within formal organizations that provide support in regular and crisis times. In our paper, we investigated how volunteer coordinators from formal entities (public/governmental and non-governmental) perceive (1) the patterns of volunteering engagement (long-term versus episodic) in regular and crisis times, (2) the processes of retaining volunteers during crises; (3) the trust of the community toward various types of organizations during social crises; (4) the role of informal support groups in relation to the tasks of their organization. Between June and October 2023, we performed an online-based study (total N = 55)—in Poland (N = 28) and Italy (N = 27). The survey had multiple-choice and open-ended questions, and the results were analyzed qualitatively using the thematic analysis framework. The findings indicated that volunteer coordinators reckon that long-term and episodic volunteers play crucial and complementary roles in helping organizations achieve their objectives. This implies that organizations should recognize the value of both types of volunteers and consider them essential resources for pursuing organizational goals. The results also suggest that the volunteer retention strategies are worth outlining or revisiting within organizations, and attention should be paid to psychological support. According to coordinators, trust in non-governmental organizations is perceived as crucial in the beneficiaries' decisions about where to seek help. Collaboration with informal groups is advised, given that the goals can be achieved together, mutually using the resources provided by both types of helping entities.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Challenges-for-Formal-Organizations-Engaging-During-Nowakowska-Duda/46d7c1138fe549444bb57548a69ff23fbbec39ab?email_index=0-0-0

Many volunteer firefighters across regional Australia suffer in silence from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for years because of things they encounter while volunteering. Full-time and career firefighters, police, and ambulance officers in Western Australia were extended PTSD insurance coverage last year. At the time, legislation stopped short of extending that presumptive coverage to volunteers.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-08/emergency-volunteers-struggle-ptsd-support-regional-areas/104562212

Hi! We have about four open volunteer positions at the LeClair Foundation For Technology, for helping nonprofits and small businesses with their social media. We provide the tools you need like Metricool, Canva, Adobe, etc..

This is part of the Community Technology Services Grant and we have had a massive uptick in support requests, so we are attempting to fill those needs up. Usually we ask for a month or two commitment, and its of course entry level. We also provide you with a company email, all of the google & microsoft tools along with some other things if needed.

The entire staff here is volunteer all the way up to the executive director, so you'll 100% feel welcomed and part of the team. You can message me or reach out on our website

I feel like I'm stuck in my bubble and I want to volunteer with people who aren't like me. I think I could do a lot of good in causing people to realize "Oh, gay people aren't evil, they're just like us." Are there any organizations that specifically set up meetings to help deradicalize people or to expose people to those who aren't like them?

I’m looking for a volunteer organization that will give you lots of service hours like extra for volunteering with them in the Miami Fl area. Pls lmk if anyone knows a place!

I have had a rough life mental health wise. I worked through some major issues that took a lifetime to understand the way I needed to get it. I’ve helped lots of friends and family, but I want to pass it on to the community at large. That currently being LA/ Pasadena. I don’t want to work a crisis hotline because honestly it would be to heartbreaking for me personally to handle. And I don’t want to get another degree. Honestly I can’t afford it right now.

I would like to volunteer to help people ages 5-50 consistently by being a regular and safe person to talk to somewhere where they start their mental health journeys. I want to point them in right directions. I.e. “Here’s tips and apps to help you make friends as an adult.” “Here are programs to help people with low incomes find therapists” “Here’s a group meeting for people struggling with (insert difficult disorder here)” Or just be someone they can talk to at some bigger mental health center. Any of these individually, something similar, I’d be down for a lot. Every time I try and look up “volunteering to help people with depression” I just get results that volunteering helps with depression. Which, good to know but not what I mean. Depression can really hold you back from life, I want to help people get their lives back. Okay I hope this wasn’t too picky. Thank you to anyone who answers!

Virtual: Help a Woman Reach her Financial Goals - Be a Volunteer Coach!

Women's Money Matters (womensmoneymatters.org) builds the financial literacy, confidence, and security of women and girls living on low incomes, through a unique program that combines instructional workshops and personal, one-to-one coaching. Volunteer coaches serve as personal mentors. You don't have to be a finance expert to be a coach. All you need is the desire to help a woman in your community make the most of the money she has.

Virtual/Online Volunteer Opportunity: Program is 12 weeks - you will be matched with one participant in the program (a woman living on low income who has a desire to work on her financial challenges and work towards her goals). You will serve as her accountability partner, attending online workshops with her each week. Workshops are 90 minutes, one workshop per week. Then, you connect once per week in between workshops to help apply what you have learned in the workshop into her life and to help focus on her goals.

New volunteer training is provided. A Program Leader is there to support you and answer any questions you have during this process. We want to see you both succeed. There are many different program schedules to choose from. Evening programs, day programs, and Saturday morning programs. Each program is 12 weeks with 1 workshop per week (same day/time each week). Both English and Spanish programs available

This is also a great way to network with other like minded women. Check out the website to learn more and view upcoming opportunities. https://womensmoneymatters.org/volunteer-opportunities/

From a Volunteer: "The program allows me to empower women while also cultivating my own skills. I am a better coach, friend, and woman because of the journey I take alongside other vulnerable women."

"I volunteer because building your own financial security is so important for us as women, and I want to be a part of building that. I have been inspired by each participant and their commitment to family, their faith, and their ambitions!"

501c3 established 2012 Tax ID: 90-0688545
2024 Top-Rated Great Nonprofits, Four Star Charity - Charity Navigator, Platinum Transparency 2024 - Candid
Women Business Enterprise (WBE)
Board of Directors, Annual Report, and more: https://womensmoneymatters.org/governance/

I’m a CPA and have built a successful wealth management and CPA firm. I’m at a point in my career where I’m looking to what’s next.

I’m interested in joining on a board to focus on strengthening donor relationships and providing tax guidance (for free of course). The idea is I’d run a tax projection for donors to help them give more impactfully and efficiently. Not only would it help with donor retention but can increase funding for critical programs.

If you’re part of a nonprofit and think this may help you, please reach out. I’d be interested in hearing more about your nonprofit. In particular, I’m interested in environmental conservation, climate, and wildlife preservation but I’m willing to look beyond these causes.

If you have any ideas on how I can join a board and contribute, please let me know. Volunteer.

So I’ll have a few months break between jobs and applied to a couple volunteer opportunities to keep me busy during that time. The Humane Society called me back today and told me that, before they can consider me for a volunteer opportunity and have me fill out a volunteer packet, I have to pay a MONTHLY membership fee. I already felt like it was kind of exploitative to make someone pay you to do free labor for you, but then I looked up what they do with the money. Even on the HS website, it says 71% goes towards “protection programs” for animals (the rest is admin) and described lobbying in detail without expressly using the word “lobbying.” So my money isn’t feeding the animals, it’s lining congressmen’s pockets.

In order to do the right thing and be a good person, I have to pay a MONTHLY fee to convince congressmen to do the right thing and be good people? That’s what voting is for. This feels so scammy. I will donate dog food and toys (and would gladly have given months of labor as a dog walker, cage cleaner, or business admin), but I probably will never give them my money again.

Edit: After mulling this over for a while, I called back the local shelter and they explained that local Humane Society shelters that care for the animals are separate from the Humane Society of the United States, which specifically works on laws. The local shelter only asks for a yearly fee that goes directly towards the animals.

But you still have to pay a fee to volunteer🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

As a USO Volunteer, you will provide hospitality, care, and kindness towards military service members and their families at a USO location or special event near you. This may include welcoming guests, serving snacks and beverages, ensuring a tidy, clean and relaxing environment, or by simply providing a listening ear.

USO volunteers strengthen the well-being of the people serving in America’s military by welcoming service members and their families to our USO locations, providing hospitality, and assisting with delivering our unique programs and activities in USO locations across the globe.

All volunteers 18 years and older must submit to a security or background check. Depending on the location, background or security checks may be conducted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a USO-approved vendor, or Department of Defense military installation.

There are more than 250 USO locations throughout the United States, Africa, Europe, Indo Pacific, and the Middle East, where volunteers can dedicate their time and efforts. Find your nearest USO center by searching the map. 

We will have our volunteer appreciation luncheon in February and I'd like to start thinking on good gifts. What has been the best gift you've received as a volunteer? Of course, cost is a factor. I'd like to keep it around $30 per gift.

I am saying this with hopes of no judgement because I want genuine advice.

I want to volunteer at a city that has been terribly affected with flooding but I am afraid that it will worsen my depression. I am in the sustainable development field and so these climate disasters are close to my heart.

The problem is that I've been severely struggling with depression partly because I know these disasters will only get more frequent and devastating and feel hopeless that nothing can be done to change it. This and the continuation of genocides and war leave me in a place where I don't see the point of moving forward and trying to make a change.

That said, I see how helping with disaster relief can be the way I do make a difference. I'll litterally be helping people and contributing to making a difference in the area. But I'm scared that if I genuinely see how devastating the damage is, I will be immensely affected and won't be able to bring myself back to being normal again. Even hearing about it in the news has brought my mood down.

I understand this whole post comes off as very selfish and privileged but Ive just stabilized my mental health again and and torn between if its better to help out or sit it out given the triggers of my depression. I know that I'm lucky to not be affected by tragedy and that should be enough to make me stop having depressive thoughts/behavior, that's it disrespectful to even consider these things when I'm safe and healthy, badly sadly my brain and subconsciousness don't agree.

So my question is, do you think it'll be beneficial for me to go volunteer and help with the flood affected city or will it take a toll on my mental health? How have you handled seeing and working with devastating situations mentally?

People who are struggling to find a job they can live off and/or struggling with their mental health are often advised to volunteer, and I totally understand why. I don't have much paid work experience due to my disabilities, and volunteering has given me experience in work-like environments. This has improved my CV and given me stuff to talk about on applications. But the mental health benefits bit is definitely more complicated. The volunteering I do (mostly in soup kitchen environments) can be hard work. I often feel judged by other volunteers for not working hard enough, struggling to follow instructions, for being visibly poor (a lot of volunteers where I live are affluent people who retired early and want to get out of the house) etc etc. Sometimes I feel like a burden and like others would prefer I wasn't there. I have never made friends volunteering, so I don't think anyone should go in expecting that. Also, volunteering drains energy that I could be using towards applying for jobs. I still do it because it gives me a sense of purpose, and volunteering can even be used towards securing affordable housing in my area (!!!!!). But I do think volunteering in part because you need to (e.g. for employment) results in a different experience to volunteering purely because you want to, and I worry about people in this position being taken advantage of...

I have been trying to land roles as a volunteer trustee/treasurer for a while but I don’t have the skills for it.

Can anyone recommend what I can do to land these roles?

I have been actively volunteering with different organisations since 2020. This includes education, social action and civic services and health.

I have been part of feedback groups, giving my opinion on how to improve the organisation etc.

But I’m kind of lost on what to do. I have been part of committees but not leading it. I have a bachelor degree.

I do not recommend this trip. I signed up to spend time teachig in Sri Lanka and a week on the conservation with elephnats project. I arrived in October 2024 to find i was the only volunteer. For the first week i was told i would be staying in a house by myself as there were no other volunteers. They said they had no links to schools so i could volunteer in a place for disabled children and adults. The week at the elephant conservation project was awful. I was staying with a family (I had paid extra to sleep in a single room otherwise i would have been in a room with the whole family including grandparents). Basically they had a pet elephant that they charged tourists to have photos with and i was there with the other tourists to bath the pet elephant in the river. It was disgusting, no conservation was involved at all. I left the project and organised my own teaching volunteer and volunteering at a proper elephant conservation project. Only stayed 2 nights with IVHQ but they have refused to refund any money at all

I’m applying to some ESC volunteer positions but I’m a little confused about sending organisations. Does anyone know if you need one or how to find one? I had a look at the list, but there are none in my area. So not really sure if that’s an issue.

Also how long do you recommend waiting to hear back?

Thanks in advance 😊

Does anyone have an experience in signing off on a project? I agreed to an offer for a European Solidarity Corps project starting at the beginning of next year.

But, I am also expecting to receive an answer for a job opportunity very soon, in the case that it is positive, what would the consequences be if I decide to opt out of the ESC volunteer project?

I only agreed to the volunteer project offer via email, I did not receive a document to sign yet.

Facilitation and gathering expert Priya Parker inspired a blog post after her recent webinar. In it, she asserted that we can craft gatherings that make people feel "of use" rather than "feeling used". It was so relevant for volunteer engagement!

The short blog offers an exercise that you can facilitate with a team to identify the features of volunteering that make us feel of use or used. It ends with a bit of poetry.

❔ What makes you feel of use when volunteering?

❔ What leaves you feeling used?

❔ What do you do to help volunteers feel of use?

https://www.volunteercommons.com/2024/10/25/to-feel-of-use-instead-of-feeling-used-in-volunteerism/

Finding volunteering opportunities on or around Thanksgiving, on or around Christmas, or any time between these holidays, is much harder than most people imagine. Why is it so hard?

• So many, many people want to volunteer during the holidays that organizations that involve volunteers during these days book their volunteer openings quickly, often months in advance (some food pantries and soup kitchens are booked with volunteers for Thanksgiving and Christmas a YEAR in advance!).
• Most economically or socially-disadvantaged people find family to be with during the holidays. Even most people staying in homeless shelters go to a family member's home on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. That means that many shelters and soup kitchens don't serve many people on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
• It is very hard for a nonprofit organization to develop a one-time, just-show-up and volunteer activity that is worth all the expense (staff time to supervise the volunteers and supervise them, particularly since the volunteer may never volunteer again); often, it's cheaper and easier to simply let the staff do the work themselves. In addition, group volunteering activities are also quite difficult to develop, for similar reasons.
• Staff at nonprofits often suspend all training of new volunteers the week of Christmas, through January 1. This is to allow staff some time off to be with their own families for the holidays.

The easiest way to find volunteering during the holidays is to already have a relationship through previous volunteering with a nonprofit. But if you don't have that...

• Contact your local office of Meals on Wheels. They will prefer that you volunteer several times before the holidays, to prove yourself as a reliable volunteer, before signing you up for any days during the holidays.
• Call, email or visit the nearest ReStore - the thrift store that operates for the benefit of Habitat for Humanity in your area. You could help organize books or albums or DVDs (if they sell such) - they often need this help every week. You could help organize any area of the store: games and puzzles, luggage, electronics, holiday-related items for sale, etc. You could help move furniture from the warehouse to the showroom. You could take photos for online sales. You could help people take large items to their car. Every ReStore is different in how it involves volunteers. Some require volunteers to volunteer for a minimum hours a week. Some allow volunteers to help just one day, one time. 
• Look for holiday farmer's markets or city markets. Many towns and cities ended their outdoor weekly farmer's markets this month, but will have a special in-door event in December. Same for nightly markets, artist markets, etc. Just find the nonprofit or government agency that does your town's weekly or monthly farmer's market, artist market, outdoor market, etc. and see if they have an event in December, and contact them about volunteering.
• Helping at any community event. Does your town have a holiday parade? Is there a music performance happening at your city auditorium or another venue? Is the community theater doing a Christmas-themed production? Contact the organizers and ask if you can help with ushering, directing parking, whatever. 
• Call the Salvation Army to see if they will be delivering meals or serving meals during the holidays and if you could volunteer to help with either activity. Call at least four months in advance.
• Call your local USO, VFW, VA hospital and other veterans organizations and ask them if they will be doing any activities during the holidays that you could volunteer for.
• Practice singing 5 - 10 short songs with families or friends, then call your local hospital or senior home and see if you could perform there during lunch or supper for patients or residents during the holidays.
• Look for nonprofits in your area that serve refugees. They may be having holiday-themed activities and need assistance with giving rides to families to and from the event and with serving food.

If you have volunteered over the holidays, share your experience in the comments.

hi! I volunteered for the first time for West Side Campaign Against Hunger (under New York Cares) yesterday and I had a good time. it’s very organized & most of the people in charge are very sweet & welcoming. I’m planning to volunteer again for them soon.

but does anybody here have suggestions for other orgs to participate in? somewhere around Manhattan or Queens would be ideal (since I frequent the commutes there) but I’m down to check out more places.

I’d love to volunteer together, too, if anyone’s interested in taking me under their wing hahaha. Anyway, I’m a 26 year old afab non-binary fyi.

I was looking at some volunteer positions from the UN and CUSO. One position that struck me as something I was qualified and interested in doing in the future was a 1 year position at a school to assist in education in a Canadian indigenous community (I live in Canada). Many other positions were similarly long in length, which I understand is quite standard.

However my question is, what kind of people are actually able to participate in these volunteering positions? You obviously can’t have a job while volunteering away from home, and although these positions do pay you enough for living expenses while you’re there, but when you go home you are just unemployed? Are the volunteers just super rich or is there some financial strategy/lifestyle I’m not aware of?