innovations in volunteering

Innovations in Volunteering

Shauna Carey, The Extraordinaries | www.sparked.com

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Shauna CareySparked

The Extraordinaries, Inc. | 594 Howard Street, Suite 202 | San Francisco, CA 94105 | 415-816-4880 | [email protected]

Shauna Carey (that’s me!)

• Background in nonprofit communications

• Manager of Nonprofit Outreach, Sparked.com

• Microvolunteering evangelist

Sparked/The ExtraordinariesThe term microvolunteering was initially pioneered by Ben Rigby and Jacob

Colker, co-founders of The Extraordinaries and Sparked.com, in 2008. Ben

and Jacob sought to remove some of the barriers of traditional volunteering,

combining the best practices from the sector with cutting-edge technology.

mailto:[email protected]


Why innovate? A few truths…



Traditional volunteer recruitment and

management are arduous for nonprofits.



We live our lives on the Internet.



74% of Americans do not volunteer.



The free time we do have comes in

small increments.

388 million hours24 million hours2 billion videos



With the time we spend on Facebook alone, we

could build 55 Empire State Buildings. Every day.

Empire State Building

7,000,000 hours/540 days

…but it can really add up.



Solution: Microvolunteerism



Microvolunteering is…convenient.

bite-sized.

crowd-sourced.

network-managed.



Micro vs. Virtual: What’s the difference?

Telecommuting vs. crowd-sourcing: the manner of volunteer engagement,

management requirements, and length of volunteer engagement are all vastly

different. One common thread – convenience.



Where does micro fit in?Traditional Volunteering: Nonprofits create an account, and

post ads for individual on-site and virtual volunteer

opportunities. Those opportunities are searchable to

volunteers, and matched 1:1 with the interested skilled or non-

skilled volunteers.

Pro bono contractors: Nonprofits apply for and receive grants

entitling them to the labor of skilled volunteers to work on or

orchestrate a large-scale campaign or ongoing project. The

volunteer and nonprofit are matched through single

assignment.

Microvolunteering: Nonprofits create an account, and post

small projects at will. Those projects are then routed to the

volunteers with the relevant professional skill set or expertise,

and an interest in the cause. Tasks may be completed by

multiple volunteers, collaboratively.



Posting Projects



Examples



Business card design.Surfrider Foundation – Portland Chapter



Arabic translation.Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati



Step-by-step instruction for getting rid

of a persistent hack.Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest



Blog naming brainstorm.Goodwill Industries International



Website feedback.Cancer Council Australia


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innovations in volunteering

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length of volunteer

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non skilled volunteers