FAQs Resources for AGENCIES Resources for VOLUNTEERS About the Virtual Volunteering Project Subscribe to VIRTUAL VERVE What's new Site Index Home Page		implementing a virtual volunteering pilot program Let's emphasize this again: our information on virtual volunteering is geared to organizations who already understand how to work with volunteers effectively in traditional, face-to-face settings. Basic knowledge and experience of working with volunteers is critical to your being able to successfully involve volunteers virtually. Once your organization is ready for virtual volunteering and you've set the internal groundwork and engaged in first steps, you are ready to look into implementation of a virtual volunteering program. We suggest you start small, with a virtual volunteering pilot project. Most organizations who involve volunteers virtually started one of two ways: Volunteers worked virtually to assist staff or other volunteers Who on staff already involves volunteers in their work? Who on staff has regular access to the Internet and feels the most at ease communicating via email and surfing the Web? Who on staff is in need of research (such as statistics in support of a program, or research for potential grants?)? Who on staff can identify assignments that could be completed mostly off-site for a volunteer, such as designing a brochure or Web pages? These staff members are good candidates to work with volunteers virtually. Which volunteers are already engaged in projects they might be able to do from home or work computers, such as research or designing a publication? How "wired" are these volunteers? (do they have regular email/Internet access)? Would they be enthusiastic about doing some of their volunteer services in a virtual setting? The Virtual Volunteering Project has gathered and posted information on our Web site from several such organizations regarding how they found technical assistance volunteers, and how they managed them. In addition, we have information to help volunteers work effectively online. Again, make sure you have fully explored their fears and expectations of such a program (see Laying the Groundwork for a Virtual Volunteering Program). Implementation of a virtual volunteering program is a step-by-step process. It may not be necessary to follow all the steps outlined here, and the order of the steps at your organization may vary. But we have used a variety of resources and first-hand experiences to show what exactly implementing such a program can entail. Creating an online component of a phone or face-to-face support group You already have these volunteers, you already screen them and manage them. Providing them an online way for them to communicate, in addition to their phone or face-to-face communications, allows you to institute virtual volunteering by simply letting the volunteers exchange e-mail addresses or participate in an online chat room. However, it's imperative that the staff person in charge of this program support the idea, and add information to the regular evaluation of this program to find out how many participants use this e-mail option. The Virtual Volunteering Project Web site features information on how to faciliate and setup such online discussion groups. We also provide detailed information about how to ensure safety for participants. View Identifying and Creating Assignments for Online Volunteers for more information and other ideas.

• Prepare a written plan
  Develop a mission statement, goals and objectives for your virtual volunteering program. Inventory resources, barriers, expectations, champions, etc. Identify the potential costs and fears voiced by staff members in your meetings with them about virtual volunteering and outline ways to allay those fears. Identify the staff that will participate in the pilot program. Also in this written plan, define the criteria for measuring progress and, ultimately, the success of the program.

  Whatever size your organization is, design a plan which allows flexibility and freedom for individual customization.

• Practice what you preach
  Are you involving at least one online volunteer? You need to obtain firsthand experience about virtual volunteering!

• Give staff the support and training they need
  Address the requirements for supervisors, online volunteers and office-based employees interacting with such volunteers. You may require mandatory attendance to an internal workshop on supervising volunteers virtually. Make sure managers know what support the volunteer manager can give them during this pilot program period, and have access to the Virtual Volunteering Project resources, either via our Web site or printed out for their use.

  In your training, review the practicalities of managing volunteers virtually. It's not vastly different from managing people onsite, and even comes naturally to some. Still, some adjustments in styles and approaches to volunteer management must be made to ensure success.

  Also review orienting and evaluating volunteers for virtual assignments. Online volunteering assignments vary widely: volunteers can simply surf the Internet and gather information for your agency, or they can actively participate in and supervise a chat room for your clients. These assignments require a varying degree of orienting and evaluating of the volunteer, as well as screening.

• Don't force virtual volunteering on anyone
  Participation by staff or volunteers should be voluntary. Explaining the benefits carefully to prospective online volunteers and managers enables them to make an educated choice.

• Develop a system for ongoing feedback
  Take the pulse of volunteers, managers, and co-workers on a regular basis to trouble shoot. Getting feedback from online participants is easy: prepare an online survey and send it to your volunteers. We have a volunteer survey sample and a staff survey sample here on our Web site to help you.

• Fine-tune the pilot program
  Be flexible enough to make changes when and where necessary.

• Provide status reports to staff
  Identify milestones and benchmarks for the program and share these both with staff participants, potential staff participants and executive management. Both general progress and individual participation should be monitored.

• Steward the evaluation efforts
  The success of a program cannot be determined without evaluation. It is critical for everyone participating in the pilot program to participate in the evaluation.

• What did the services of volunteers working virtually contribute to your organization?

• What did volunteers free staff to do? What did the volunteers allow the organization to accomplish?

• In which virtual volunteering assignments did we have the most turnover and why? Which assignments are the most popular with volunteers and why?

• Were all virtual assignments filled by someone? How effective are your recruitment methods for virtual assignments?

• Has virtual volunteering allow us to involve more volunteers? Did it allow us to tap into new demographics?

• Is working with virtual volunteering allowing staff to develop supervisory skills without significant management burdens?

• Review the results with everyone at your organization who works with volunteers. This will be your chance to look for ways to adjust or expand your virtual volunteering program before you make it organization-wide.

You can read more information about this on our index of resources to set up and manage a virtual volunteering program.

Also, once you complete a virtual volunteering pilot project, we encourage you to provide us with feedback about your program using our own online survey.

If you feel your organization is ready to start a virtual volunteering project and you would like our Project Team's direct assistance and advice in your program, review our collaboration guidelines.

If you use this material to help your organization, please let us know!

Portions of the information on this page are based on From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Volunteer Program Success, a book by Susan Ellis, one of the Virtual Volunteering Project advisors.

Some information on this page are also based on:

Robert Moskowitz's "Are You Ready To Telecommute? An Objective Checklist To Determine If Your Company And/Or You Are Ready For Telecommuting", published in MicroTimes magazine.

Successful Management in the Virtual Office, by Bernie Kelly and Bruce McGraw (no longer available online).

Pacific Bell Network Telecommuting Guide. Pacific Bell's telecommuting program was one of the first in the nation.

• Virtual Volunteering Resources
  How to find and involve volunteers working from home or work computers, online resources for volunteer managers, advice for individuals who want to volunteer virtually, etc. These pages are updated and added to each month.

• How Your Agency Can Utilize the Virtual Volunteering Project
  Tips on how to use this Web site, information about our offline services, and how we can help you introduce or expand virtual volunteering in your agency.

• Virtual Volunteering Project home page

 
If you find this or any other Virtual Volunteering Project information helpful, or would like to add information based on your own experience, please contact us.

If you do use Virtual Volunteering Project materials in your own workshop or trainings, or republish materials in your own publications, please let us know, so that we can track how this information is disseminated.  

If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.