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2016–2017

E-Connect: Cuso International’s E-Volunteering Guide

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Table of Contents

About This Guide ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Why E-Volunteering? .................................................................................................................................... 4

Benefits and Advantages of E-Volunteering ............................................................................................. 4

E-Volunteering Opportunities ....................................................................................................................... 5

Peer to Peer & E-Mentoring ..................................................................................................................... 5

Task-Based E-Volunteering ....................................................................................................................... 6

Overcoming Challenges – “Thinking Outside of the Box” ......................................................................... 7

What You Need to Know About Becoming an E-Volunteer .......................................................................... 8

E-Volunteer Documents ................................................................................................................................ 9

Successful E-Volunteering Stories ............................................................................................................. 9

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About This Guide

This guide outlines the key benefits and advantages of e-volunteering, types of e-volunteer placements,

policies, and procedures. The E-Volunteer Documents section at the end of this guide makes key e-

volunteer resources available for download and provides an overview of how and when these

documents are to be used to aid you in your e-volunteer work. As the e-volunteer program expands,

new documents will be added so check back from time to time to see what’s new. The current E-

volunteer documents included at the end of this guide are:

E-Placement Description Template Scope of Work Template Tips for a Successful E-Placement Information for Potential E-Volunteers

Please feel free to contact the E-Volunteering Program Coordinator at

e.volunteering@cusointernational.org at any time with your feedback, questions, or training requests.

We wish you all the very best in your e-volunteer placement.

©Cuso International 2016

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Why E-Volunteering?

E-Volunteering, also known as virtual, online, distance, or remote volunteering, has become an

emerging theme in volunteering in the past few years as the availability of innovative, web-based

technologies expand. E-volunteering involves collaborating, mentoring and/or the completion of tasks

off-site from the organization for which you are volunteering, in an online capacity. You can become an

e-volunteer from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. In a recent survey, it was found

that approximately 60% of the Cuso International volunteers who return from their in-country

placements have continued to support their in-country program partners through various online

activities. In fact, e-volunteering would seem to be a natural extension to the in-country volunteer

program as many volunteers and program partners want to retain their relationship and continue to

exchange ideas. Therefore, the E-Connect program is an opportunity to formalize and enhance this

activity that is occurring already and lend further work experience credibility to the distance support

provided by the volunteers.

Benefits and Advantages of E-Volunteering E-Volunteering offers many of the benefits gained from in-the-field volunteering, such as contributing

and giving back to a community, gaining new skills, and making new connections. The following are

some of the added benefits and advantages that e-volunteering allows:

Flexible schedule– Many people want to contribute to the mission of the organization but are unable to venture internationally due to work and family commitments. Some have very limited schedules and may not be able to volunteer in person as they do not have multiple days or consecutive, multiple hours to give. As e-volunteering can be performed anytime, anywhere, it can be undertaken by a wider range of people wanting to help out in some way.

Blended service options – Some people may be able to spend a couple of months away from home but cannot commit to longer periods of time. With blended volunteer service options, volunteers can spend part of their time working internationally with a partner organization followed by a pre-established amount of time post-placement working from a distance.

Wider range of expertise – Through e-volunteering, program partners will benefit from a wider range of expertise generated from being able to tap into a larger volunteer base.

Creative project opportunities – Through the use of technology there are numerous ways that volunteers can contribute their expertise to a project. Contributions can be peer to peer or e-mentoring-based, or task-based. Volunteers are encouraged to be creative in their approach in supporting their program partner.

Opportunity to engage more people in our work – E-Volunteering provides an opportunity to engage a greater and more diverse population who are not able to commit to an international placement. Alumni, youth, corporate and institutional volunteers, work with partners where security situations prohibit the placement of on-site volunteers. Persons with disabilities may also be more willing to e-volunteer.

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E-Volunteering Opportunities

There are numerous ways that you can contribute to Cuso International and our partners’ work. Cuso

International has identified the following three types of placements that a volunteer can perform online:

1. Peer to Peer. Mutual professional growth through sharing and consultations (ideas exchanges, discussion forums).

2. E-Mentoring. Knowledge exchange between a skilled and experienced mentor and a less-skilled mentee.

3. Task-Based Technical Assistance. Specific tasks which produce tangible results (website development, research, fundraising proposal review).

All three types of placements help aid the program partner in capacity building; strengthening skills and

competencies to help them achieve sustainable results. Some of the task-based placements depending

on their scope, may be considered service-based placements whereby you will perform a necessary

service that the organization does not have the required staff skills to perform, such as developing a

web site or conducting research.

When thinking about ways to help your partner organization, based on your assessment of their key

priority areas of need and the essential issues, important aspects to consider would be how can your e-

volunteer work have the greatest impact, what are the types of products you can create that will be of

the most value, and whether these products will be sustainable. Having these points in mind will help

you to develop a placement that is both high quality and viable.

As you read through, note that these are just some samples and you are welcome and encouraged to

take a creative approach in coming up with other ideas. If you think of additional examples of online

work opportunities that you would like to share with us, please feel free to contact the E-Volunteering

Program Coordinator at e.volunteering@cusointernational.org.

Peer to Peer & E-Mentoring

Knowledge sharing between the volunteer and various members of the program partner

can be conducted online using various free, web-based tools or if available, using more

formal collaborative software tools.

Some of the easiest ways to conduct peer-to-peer support include email or Skype. If you

have the available resources, you may be able to build discussion forums or Wikis.

For both peer-to-peer and e-mentoring opportunities, the e-volunteer are encouraged to build and

facilitate an online community of learners. For more information about building positive online working

environments, see the supplement document: Tips for a Successful E-Placement.

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Task-Based E-Volunteering

For international volunteers seeking to develop an e-placement to support their work or planning to

continue supporting their partner after ending their international placement, the following table

provides some task-based support ideas to help you get started in thinking about opportunities you can

complete from a distance.

Business Development Communications

Accounting (financial review, best-practice advice) Blogging

Audit and financial statement preparation Editing, proofreading support

Brand development (mission statement, image) Magazine articles, freelance writing

Business plan development Photography

Data analysis and mining Presentation design, editing

Documenting success stories, testimonials Policy and guidelines

Excel template design Proposal or report development

Google web analytics, metrics, reporting Research

Human resources forms, checklists Social media strategy and management

Marketing strategies (e-commerce website, company brand and messaging)

Template design

Monitoring and evaluation (impact indicators, revising reports)

Translation services

Project management, planning, scoping Webinar, webcast management

Wiki developer, editor

Design Fundraising

Animation or Flash design Online fundraising campaign

Artwork or illustrations Creating a donors list

Audio design Grant writing

Brand and logo design Concept notes

Podcasts Newsletter design and development

Video production

IT Support Education

Develop new web templates Curriculum design

Google web analytics support and reporting Online course development, training modules

Mobile app development Online teaching, tutoring

Moodle learning platform design Teaching ESL online

Web site design (WordPress, Wix, Weebly) Webinar development, presentations

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During the in-country placement, volunteers are able to identify key areas in which the work of the e-

volunteer would be most beneficial to the partner organization and would make for the greatest impact.

Keep these priority areas in mind when thinking about ways to help remotely. For example, building a

website for an organization that does not have one may sound like a good idea at first, but if the

organization does not have the capacity to update it, or even a dedicated Internet connection for which

to access it, the development of a website may not be the best activity for this organization.

Overcoming Challenges – “Thinking Outside of the Box”

A Cuso International volunteer recently encountered an e-volunteering challenge in being able to complete any of these types of support. The e-volunteer’s program partners were located in a very remote location of their country where Internet access did not exist, most had not even used computers, and the nearest computer location with Internet access was located a long distance away which was too costly to travel regularly. How would this e-volunteer then be able to support her partner program remotely? Scenarios such as this are indeed a challenge, and possibly quite common to e-volunteering, but not one which cannot be overcome through some creative and out-of-the-box thinking. Here are some suggestions given to this e-volunteer.

Individual Task-Based Projects

It may not be entirely necessary that your program partners require regular Internet access to benefit from your work. Some additional, standalone task-based e-volunteering projects may include an online fundraising campaign, a crowdsourcing project which may get locals and non-locals active in helping in some way. You could also create videos or some training materials using your own online resources and then mail them the results. Although projects such as these do not involve ongoing peer to peer engagement or mentoring, you are sharing valuable knowledge through tangible products.

Indirect E-Volunteer Projects

If it is not at all possible to connect with your international colleagues after your return, you can think of ways that your e-volunteer work can impact them indirectly, such as working on projects for one of the country partner organizations or funding organizations.

Train the Trainer Mentoring

This idea is a possibility if at least one of your colleagues could get Internet access at least once a week. Through a train-the-trainer type of mentoring system, you could keep in contact with this individual by email or Skype. After their sessions with you, they could then communicate their learning with the remainder of program partner colleagues. It will be a slow process if a communication session is only established once a week, if not every second week but you could combine this with another task-based project to fulfill your e-volunteer time commitment. Overall, you need to be creative in your approach. If you have first-hand knowledge of the needs and priorities of the program partner you will have a better idea of how to develop an e-volunteering strategy that is most beneficial to all.

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What You Need to Know About Becoming an E-Volunteer

The following are the general expectations and requirements for an e-volunteer placement.

E-Placement Descriptions (for blended service)

For volunteers undertaking a blended service option (an in-country placement followed by an e-

placement), begin to identify additional task(s) that an e-volunteer can perform for the program partner

from a distance at least 1 or 2 months before the end of your placement. While in-country, you will want

to collaborate with your program partner to determine the objective, expected outcomes, and timeline

for your e-placement.

Reporting

Volunteers complete a Scope of Work document for each placement at the beginning of the

assignment. This document outlines the overall project goals, planned tasks, and deliverables associated

with the volunteer assignment. Both the volunteer and the program partner must agree to the tasks

described in the Scope of Work before signing off on this and the E-Volunteering Terms and Conditions.

The Scope of Work is also a living document and the e-volunteer is expected to update it with the actual

tasks performed, outcomes, and results as the placements progresses. At the end of the placement, the

final results, impact, and conclusions must be clearly documented.

Volunteers must also keep a log of the hours spent on their e-placement, which is to be submitted at the

end of their placement. E-volunteers may also be invited to complete a post-placement report and/or

will be asked to participate in a debriefing session via Skype.

Note: All final and complete documents are due no later than one month after the end date of their e-

volunteering placement.

Quality of Work

The number of hours dedicated to the e-placement each week must correspond to the quality and

substance of the task. Also, the creation of a proposal template may be one of a series of projects

completed for the partner organization but it shouldn’t be the only task. The e-placement is meant to

achieve measurable and sustainable impact in the agreed timeline.

E-Placement Deadlines and Management

The e-placement will be on average three to six (3-6) months in duration with an option to extend and

volunteers will spend an average of two to seven (2-7) hours per week supporting the project. The

estimated duration and amount of time per week for the project will be agreed upon between the e-

volunteer and the program partner before the work commences. It will be documented in the E-

Volunteer Placement Description and Scope of Work documents.

Note: For volunteers completing a blended service option, their e-placements should begin within one

month after the date of their return home.

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E-Volunteer Documents

E-Volunteers complete different reporting documents at varying times during their e-placement to

measure their project’s impact on their program partner over time as well as to monitor their own

experience throughout their journey. The following table provides an overview of the timing of the

volunteer-based monitoring and evaluation process.

Period of Volunteer Placement

Time Lapse (Months)

Name of Document Used Who Needs to Complete Document

Beginning of In-Country Placement

0 E-Placement Description Only Blended1 Placement Volunteers

Beginning of E-Placement

0.5 Scope of Work Blended and E-Placement

Mid-way through E-Placement

3 Scope of Work –Monitoring Section

Blended and E-Placement

End of E-Placement 6 Scope of Work – Evaluation Section

Blended and E-Placement

End of E-Placement (optional)

6 End of E-Placement Report Blended and E-Placement

Additional documents:

Tips for a Successful E-Placement

Information for Potential E-Volunteers

Successful E-Volunteering Stories

E-volunteering: virtual teams making a real difference Creating online support teams to support emerging social entrepreneurs

E-Mentoring: International development one email at a time

Direct e-mentoring - mobilizing Canadian interns, supported by seasoned e-mentors

Online crowd sourcing: Good Globalization Mobilising classrooms to produce valuable market research data - Cuso alumnus leads students at one BC college in helping rice farmers in Laos

1 Volunteers undertaking a blended service option spend part of their time overseas working with a program

partner followed by a pre-established amount of time post-placement working from a distance. Those volunteers

undertaking an e-placement service option work with the program partner remotely.