Studies and Research Regarding
Online Volunteering / Virtual Volunteering
There are lots of studies regarding volunteerism, but rarely within these
studies are any questions asked about the Internet, to determine how
volunteers are using the Internet to provide some or all of their service,
or how organizations are using the Internet to support, train and/or engage
with volunteers. And while there is a plethora of general articles,
commentaries and information about online volunteering, there has been
relatively little research published regarding the subject, even
though the practice of online volunteering has
been around for more than 30 years.
In an effort to encourage more research and to share what is available,
as well as to show how various research has helped with the development of
resources to support online volunteering, here are three lists:
- A
compilation of publicly-available research and evaluation reports
regarding online volunteering / virtual volunteering, including studies
on the various different activities that are a part of online
volunteering such as online activism, online civic engagement, online
mentoring, microvolunteering, or crowd-sourcing, etc. (not PR pieces
but, rather, reviews and research that more than mention these
subjects). Note: this list is not on the web page you are
reading now, but has been moved to the
Virtual Volunteering wiki.
- A list of various research
documents and articles relating to telecommuting, virtual teams and
Internet culture that were used to produce resources at The
Virtual Volunteering Project or that could be highly relevant to
the practice of online volunteering. Note: this list is
not on the web page you are reading now, but has been moved to the
Virtual Volunteering wiki.
- A list of possible angles for researching online volunteering,
primarily to benefit practitioners (those involving online volunteers,
or want to).
Also see this list of resources relating to telecommuting
and virtual teams.
In addition, if you are the author of a study, research project or
evaluation report regarding using the Internet to support, train or
involve volunteers, consider posting information to the Wikimedia
entry for online volunteering / virtual volunteering.
If you are a university-based researcher and are in need of information
regarding online volunteering / virtual volunteering, online activists,
online civic engagement, online mentoring, microvolunteering, or
crowd-sourcing, please contact me, and I
will do all that I can to help you, free of charge. 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"--
studying these topics isn't going to change anything for
organizations expected or wanting to use the Internet to support and
involve volunteers, IMO. 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
- if there are differences in preference 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
Most of the academic articles that have cited my work regarding virtual
volunteering are listed at my
Google Scholar account.
Return to my volunteer-related resources
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by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to another
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