Studies and research regarding online volunteering / virtual volunteering

Updated July 11, 2018

A free resource for nonprofit organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other mission-based agencies
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Studies and Research Regarding
Online Volunteering / Virtual Volunteering

The list of studies and research regarding virtual volunteering has moved, along with the entire Virtual Volunteering Wiki that was created to accompany The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook.

You can find the list of compilation of publicly-available research and evaluation reports here.

Are you researching virtual volunteering?

If you are a university-based researcher (student or faculty) and are in need of information regarding online volunteering / virtual volunteering, online activists, online civic engagement, online mentoring, microvolunteering, crowd-sourcing, etc., please review the resources on this wiki page, and then please contact me. I may want to include your resources on the research list, and I will do all that I can to help you, free of charge, regarding your research (within reason). Please include complete details about your research project, and be prepared to provide confirmation from the university of your studies.

Are you a researcher wondering what angle you might take in a study about online volunteering / virtual volunteering, online activists, online civic engagement, online mentoring, microvolunteering, or crowd-sourcing? I have some suggestions. What's not needed or things like "Why do people volunteer online" or "Why do people want to be a microvolunteer." What's needed, at least among organizations expected to involve online volunteers, is academic research exploring:

if there are differences in motivation to engage as a volunteer online among people of different ages, ethnicities, education levels, regions or genders

how to recruit online volunteers successfully from specific demographics that may be under-represented at an organization among its current volunteers and paid staff or among its current online volunteers

what makes an online volunteering experience (or specifically, an online mentoring, microvolunteering or crowd-sourcing experience) successful for both the organization and the volunteer

how an organization's cultural or administrative practices may or may not change when it involves, trains and/or supports volunteers via the Internet

what has to happen to change an organization's staff mindset regarding involving, training and/or supporting volunteers via the Internet from a negative ("We are not going to do this") to a positive ("We are totally going to do this!")?

successes by NGOs and other organizations in developing countries in involving online volunteers (or specifically, in involving volunteers in an online mentoring, microvolunteering or crowd-sourcing experience)

successes by NGOs in one particular country, other than the USA, in using the Internet to support and interact with volunteers (or specifically, in involving volunteers in an online mentoring, microvolunteering or crowd-sourcing experience)

online volunteering and female empowerment in Africa/ Asia/Arab states/CIS states/Latin America

online volunteering and youth involvement in Africa/ Asia/Arab states/CIS states/Latin America

long-term online mentoring relationships, and how the qualities of organizations managing such differ from those organizations unable to cultivate long-term online mentoring relationships

Also see:

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

available for purchase as a paperback & an ebook.

Completely revised and updated, & includes lots more advice about microvolunteering!

Most of the academic articles that have cited my work regarding virtual volunteering are listed at academia.edu (here is my page on the site) and my Google Scholar account.

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