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How to Find the Perfect Volunteer Opportunities

volunteer_opportunities
Here are five sites to help you find the perfect volunteer opportunities:

1. Createthegood.org
A product of AARP, Create the Good works to connect willing volunteers to opportunities with flexible time commitments and varying degrees of need. One unique feature of this site is the “Do-It-Yourself Project Guidelines” page, which empowers individuals to create changes in their own communities through articles like “Easy Ways to Help Others Go Green” or “How to Hold A Used Book Sale.” Search for volunteer opportunities by keyword, zip code or distance from your home.

2. Volunteermatch.org
With nearly 10 million volunteer connections since their beginnings in 1998, VolunteerMatch has a great system for pairing you with a cause that you care about, with operations in most major cities in the United States. They also host webinars for both nonprofits and volunteers eager to learn more about the world of volunteering and community engagement.

3. Volunteennation.org
Geared specifically towards teenagers looking to do some good in their communities, this site is a great resource for 12- to 18-year-olds to engage in service. Volunteen Nation believes “volunteering can cultivate the empathy necessary to address social injustices and heal divisions within communities.”

4. HandsOnNetwork.org
A product of Points of Light and Hands On Network, this database serves to help individuals, groups and corporations find meaningful and mutually beneficial volunteer opportunities. HandsonNetwork Affiliate Action Centers serve particularly when natural disasters strike to help mobilize individuals in effective ways.

5. Idealist.org
Idealist.org is a great resource for finding volunteer opportunities as well as internships, jobs and events. Search by keyword, city or passion in this easy-to-use interface. Idealist “helps people move from intention to action” all over the world, with both national and global opportunities.

– Liz Vestal

Sources: Create the Good, Volunteer Match, Volunteennation, Hands On Network, Idealist
Photo: Create the Good

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Volunteer from Home

Volunteer_from_Home
In our technologically advanced, post-modern society where humanitarian efforts are currently quite the hip thing to do, there is a lot to be done in terms of healing this world right from behind your very own computer screen.

 

View The Borgen Project’s Volunteer from Home Openings.

 

One notable website in this particular field is Volunteer Match, a page dedicated to helping you find your ultimate volunteering position. By detecting your location and prompting you for what issues you are for or against, divided into several categories (Advocacy & Human Rights, Animals, Art & Culture, Board Development), this handy page will connect you with your perfect organization. Thousands of positions are listed with the site, and by visiting the site, you are sure to find something that appeals to you.

A quick way to volunteer from home is to donate money to non-profit organizations. Yes, you’ve heard this one before; the importance of supporting your organizations each month cannot be stressed enough and definitely deserves some repeating. Most of the larger organizations, such as WWF and PETA, provide the option of donating a fixed amount of money each week; it is these donors that actively support respective causes.

Other opportunities for volunteering straight from home lie in the ability for communication. By buzzing a certain topic in your social circles, you raise awareness. Wish to have a more direct position in helping others? Why not volunteer for a crisis hotline focused on pressing issues?

An app exists for Apple users which allows smaller organizations to quickly and conveniently post new and ongoing projects for anybody who’s curious to keep up and participate. Increasing media presence and helping build a strong community among app users is currently the crucial focus of this app, called Sparked.

If you speak more than one language, you may consider translating some major organizations’ missions and progress reports into your language. Volunteering from home isn’t only convenient; it reaches many across the world and empowers those with access to a computer to truly make a difference. E-volunteering is truly a step toward the future, because as we know, nobody can do everything, yet everybody can do something. To apply this principle to the general public and derive an increase in involvement is exactly what is needed for absolving global issues.

– Natalia Isaeva
Sources: Volunteer Match, Idealist, Sparked
Photo: SES

 

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