5 ways to donate your time through the power of technology
Volunteering is one of my favorite activities—I love the feeling it evokes, the relationships I form, and the thought that my free time is being spent making an impact on others in my community. However, I’ve experienced first-hand the frustrations that come along with volunteering: the lengthy application and training process, required time commitments, and volunteer opportunities that don’t fit my schedule no matter how hard I try to make it work.
As I’ve entered into the working world with a stricter schedule and less time to devote to volunteering, I’ve started looking for alternatives to traditional in-person volunteering. Thankfully, the world is filled with people far more technologically capable than I am, and many of those people have created online volunteer opportunities for individuals just like me, who can’t always make it to an in-person volunteering event. These opportunities allow you to volunteer from anywhere, anytime, directly through your computer or smartphone.
I’ve rounded up five of my favorite online volunteer opportunities—they range from mentoring a high school student one-on-one to transcribing historical documents, in hopes that one of these opportunities will be the platform you need to give your valuable time and effort to others.
Mentor a high school student through Strive for College. Guide a high school student through the college application process one-on-one through this easy to navigate, safe to use platform. Share the knowledge you’ve gained since high school with students in need of support and guidance on a platform that makes doing so as simple as texting a friend. Developing a mentoring relationship has never been easier or more accessible for volunteers and students alike.
Answer students’ career and college questions. Unable to commit to an ongoing mentoring relationship with a student? Have no fear, CareerVillage developed the online volunteer opportunity for you. Answer one-off career and college questions from students, ranging from questions on graduate school options to “What is it like to be a insert profession here?” There’s no commitment involved in signing up to answer questions as a professional and CareerVillage will email you questions that align with your expertise on a daily basis.
Lend your sight to a blind or low-vision individual. If you ever reckon with the fact that you can see and others cannot, Be My Eyes may be the volunteer platform for you. Through the platform, blind or low-vision individuals can be connected with a sighted volunteer through the tap of a button to request visual assistance for an everyday task. Common ways people use Be My Eyes, according to their website, are to find a lost or dropped item, like an earring back on the bathroom floor, matching colors when picking out an outfit, or reading the bus schedule. This is hands-down the coolest volunteering opportunity I’ve ever heard of.
Transcribe historical documents with the Smithsonian. Not ready to interact directly with those you’re hoping to serve yet? No worries—the Smithsonian has volunteer opportunities for you. Through their Smithsonian Digital Volunteers program, you can help transcribe a few paragraphs or dozens of pages of historical documents all from behind your computer screen. Their mission? Provide the public the opportunity to “explore materials held within the Smithsonian and play a part in making those collections more accessible,” according to their website.
Explore hundreds of opportunities from the United Nations. If you’re still looking for further online volunteering gigs, look no further than the United Nations’ online volunteering portal. Currently, there are over 150 different volunteer opportunities available on the portal, ranging from illustrating portraits of advocates against gender-based violence to teaching online English classes to children in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, and India. Opportunities featured on the portal range in time commitment, required skillset, and interest area. They also change every few days, so this website is worth bookmarking if you haven’t found the right volunteering opportunity or organization to work with yet.
With plentiful online volunteering opportunities, you can find one right for you
Whether you’re gearing yourself up for your first-ever volunteer opportunity or you’re a community service veteran and can’t seem to find an in-person opportunity that works in your schedule, I’d encourage you to check out the resources above and give online volunteering a try!
If I haven’t yet sold you on the idea that online volunteering can be as impactful as in-person community service, I’ll leave you with a quote from Brian, a blind user of Be My Eyes from the organization’s “getting started” page.
“Dearest Friends, Yes, I have made one call. I cried afterward and was quite emotional. It isn’t because of my blindness—I’ve been blind too long for that to be of any issue to me… I’m quite moved by the generosity of the volunteers and the brilliance behind the concept and app.”