Best ways to volunteer?

I've worked with the United Nations Online Volunteer program before.

They basically have a "job" board for different categories of tasks that can be done remotely online including design, web site building, other tasks, etc.

It's not the easiest†, as many orgs might be overseas so working asynchronously is almost a given. Budgets for them are often next-to-none, but their service demands are usually relatively low.

I highly recommend giving them a look. There are a lot of great, small, un[der]funded organizations trying to help people in despair, impoverished children get a leg up, children in troubled homes meet new potential—all kinds—and they need the help because they can rarely afford to pay for it, but the ability to manage something like a website and blog that gives them increased exposure and ease of contact is a huge boon.

They also need online English teachers, researchers, project managers, writers, the list goes on.

https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en

Tech options: https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/opportunities?f[0]=fie...

† edit: To clarify, many of the technical needs are relatively simple—though there seem to be some more challenging options appearing as well. The harder part may be effective communication and understanding—though the people I've worked with have always been great and understanding and just want to deliver the most because they're doing what they do precisely because they care. They're not getting rich.

Just started a coding bootcamp at a public library to teach ppl how to code: https://www.meetup.com/San-Jose-C0D3

Librarians love it when tech people come in to help. They don't have technical skills and most techies don't seem to think about volunteering at the library.

My goal: To help local libraries provide a free coding bootcamp to anybody who wants to learn.

Libraries are a beautiful place. They don't discriminate against anyone regardless of social status, race, gender, etc.

On the contrary, I use volunteer work as a time to take a break from tech. In the past I've volunteered as elementary school classroom help, tutored students of various ages, and coached line for a local high school football team.

Yes, as tech workers, we have the ability to use our valuable skills pro bono. But I think it can also be beneficial to step out of the tech bubble and integrate with the rest of non-tech society on non-tech terms. Most of my volunteer work has been with students--when the topic comes up, I get to tell them all about why they should consider pursuing programming as a career.

Most of my volunteer work has been obtained just by walking up to the people involved and asking if they need a volunteer. I don't think you need to look for a formal volunteer program.

it may seem counterintuitive since you're aiming "to help", but i've had success choosing volunteer opportunities based on things i wanted to learn outside my expertise. this strategy also helps keep your own ego in check (for those of us prone to expert syndrome).

so for example, when i wanted to learn how to do home improvements, i volunteered at habitat for humanity to help build houses for other people. for my 5 townhome build, i helped with everything from the framing to the cabinetry (also gratifying was meeting and working with the eventual homeowners).

when my cat passed away and i wanted to rescue another cat, i volunteered at a kitten nursery. i mostly cleaned kennels and fed kittens, but i also got to socialize them and (eventually) pick the one i wanted to adopt.

I have dedicated untold hours of my life to the FIRST Robotics Competition [0]. I participated in high school and have been volunteering for the past 15 years after I graduated. I can't count how many high school aged students I've interacted with, but I do know that my time makes a difference. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, email in profile.

[0]: https://www.firstinspires.org/ways-to-help/volunteer

As the founder of a tech-driven charity and with some volunteering experience, I want to suggest another approach.

The skills that let you deploy your technical abilities are often sorely needed in this sector, particularly when an organization depends on volunteer labour.

As an example, my father is an experienced civil engineer who leads the development and refurbishment of major hydro generation facilities in his day work.

One of his primary volunteer activities, however, is hustling casseroles for a significant homeless shelter and kitchen in a large city. He is frighteningly effective because of all the skills that also make him good at his job — organization, process, people, etc. There’s often a deficit of this in volunteer efforts.

On the flip side, if you do want to use your technical chops, consider how you can do so in a sustainable way so you don’t create dependencies that put important processes at risk. I found it better to fundraise and pay professionals for important functions.

Donating money is almost always more valuable than donating time, especially if you're not going to donate a lot of time. The time may feel better (or it may not -- I've had volunteer gigs where I didn't feel I could accomplish much, and that sucks), but the money is more useful.

If you are a Ruby or Javascript developer I'd recommend checking out Ruby for Good. We build projects for non-profits who really need folks with our skill sets but would never be able to afford us -- places like diaper banks, women's shelters, animal rescues, and other great meaningful organizations. Our projects are on github at https://github.com/rubyforgood and you can join our slack to get more information here https://rubyforgood.herokuapp.com/. The important thing to note is that these projects get used! Our diaper project is being used by about 100 diaper banks around the country and is helping over a million children per year! While we do work on our projects all year round, we do have events! Our next event is in the SF area in April that everyone should definitely come out to because they are a TON of fun! They are all inclusive (lodging and food are covered,) they are absolutely NOT hackathons (which are toxic events that burn folks out!) We have a hard stop everyday at dinner time so we can spend our evenings socializing, playing board games, singing karaoke, and having lots of fun! The website for the April event is here: https://rubybythebay.org

I started Pathi, a volunteer-run app/hotline for people who really need someone to talk to. Right now we have 12 volunteer listeners taking about that many calls every day.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pathi/id1466338610

We need volunteer listeners, someone to help us bring the app to android, and some design assistance.

If you’re interested in helping, please reach out! (email in profile)

Run for office and swell the (paltry) ranks of technically literate legislators.

Not sure where you live, but I was able to volunteer two years with the Code Nation organization, helping underserved students learn the basics of web development. https://codenation.org/

Some of the students were first-generation children of immigrants or came from neighborhoods with chronic poverty who never owned a computer and are now earning scholarships and pursuing CS degrees, so I felt we were making an direct impact.

I've heard great things about Ovio https://ovio.org/ - they help coordinate open-source project development for social-impact organizations using volunteers like yourself

It seems unlikely to me that you will make use of much of your skillset this way. Doesn't it make more sense then to use as much of it for your day job and then using that money to contribute to charities? They can hire somebody that can focus on the task full-time so the value received for your time spent should be higher that way (if you are a skilled coder) than contributing time directly.

I volunteer as a tutor for an organization that provides academic help to students experiencing homelessness. It's not restricted to people working in tech but my anecdotal impression is that there are relatively few tutors who have strong technical backgrounds and a genuine love for math/science-type subjects

If you have such a background and enjoy working with kids you can be quite helpful by (1.) helping students keep from falling so far behind in school that they're unable to pass their classes (2.) providing an example of what it looks like for an adult to be passionate about math and science topics (I think many of these students don't have many such examples).

I'm not sure it's the highest-impact thing I could be doing (i.e. maybe I could have a greater positive impact by donating the hourly value of my time to some charity) but if you're interested in boots-on-the-ground volunteer work that involves in-person work I'd highly recommend it.

Consider “backdoor volunteering.” I find that specialized/technical work isn’t really available on a volunteer basis. Staff have an expectation of working with other pros and may feel threatened by undercutting. So I take some weekend work at nominal wage and donate it back anonymously. It’s not tax efficient, but it works for both of us.

Can’t personally vouch for this org but they were active in nyc recently and seem interesting:

https://www.catchafire.org

Work as hard as you can at your current job to maximize your income, then donate the money to GiveDirectly.

Depends on what your goals are. In terms of charities, the one I see most recommended by effective altruist communities is the Against Malaria Foundation[0,1].

[0]: https://www.givewell.org/charities/amf [1]: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/charity/against-malaria-foun...

This might come in handy, I've found it perspective-changing: https://80000hours.org/

coincidentally I just saw this tweet by Katie Moussouris. It fits your requirement of someone working in tech:

> This organization @OSPASafeEscape helps victims of domestic abuse & they are looking for volunteers like @hexplates to help this important mission.

https://twitter.com/k8em0/status/1205519304046739456

I imagine a good place to start would be to directly contact some organizations whose missions you feel strongly about. Likely they have a good idea of what would be useful to them. From there you could branch into applying your skills to things they didn't realize were shortcomings.

There are two things I've tried -

- Choosing a place that is looking for my skills, and incidentally seems like a good cause, vs.

- Choosing a place with a cause I care about, that might or might not particularly need my skills.

I find the second one works better, although it might be possible to have a bad enough fit to try something else. If you have a pre-existing connection to an organization, possibly have made donations, and you show up and ask what you can do, and then you prove that you don't mind doing simple tasks, you will likely graduate into technical stuff if that's what you want.

My impression is a lot of non-profits have a great need for technical help that their usual interns, volunteers and employees can't provide, but if you don't connect with them in the right way, it won't work out.

My personal opinion is that you'll find it most rewarding to locate a non-profit near you that supports a cause that you support and to volunteer to help them with various tech/data projects as a way to improve their service delivery. They don't have to be working with a local beneficiary community -- perhaps they support something overseas. Instead of skipping off of the top of a lot of different projects, it will give you the opportunity to dig deep into the needs of one organization and potentially have very significant impact on the way they conduct their work. Just keep in mind that they're the SMEs with regards to the beneficiaries and that you're there to support their needs, perceived or real.

To my mental health what contributed most is to volunteer at a NON-TECH position. YMMV

I was on a SE-Asia trip when I fell in love with a small town here; my organize trip was so bad I decided to abandon it. Found out there is a half-pruvate English school for kids.

I notified my friends, rebooked my flights and stayed for a month to teach school children English (around 100 of them in 5 classes every weekday).

This was probably the most rewarding experience in my life, although it didn't really help my professional career. However, I learned a hlot about

* cultural differences

* language differences of Asian vs Western languages

* the English language itself

* kids

* ways of living a life

* myself

Effectiveness? Questionable. I saw many of the teenagers to improve their pronounciation drastically during this month. Also helped the local management to rethink methods of teaching etc.

Why have another job that's the same as your current job ? I volunteer at my local botanical garden. I pull weeds, collect seed and botanise. Volunteering can and perhaps should be a world-expanding experience.

I've spent a few years teaching Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) to kids. I've volunteered via the Microsoft's TEALS program (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/teals) and at the video game museum (https://themade.org/). You can also be an open source contributor to code.org.

I don't know where you live, but where I am, housing is expensive. As someone who is paid pretty well, I didn't want to make things worse for those who don't earn as much, so I helped set up a YIMBY group. We've had some modest successes.

TBH, donating is pretty good too, as it lets people who are a bit more specialized in doing the work get on with it, rather than training up someone who 'wants to help'. Depends a lot on the organization though, I think.

FIRST Robotics! Most fun volunteering you'll ever do plus the time to reward is pretty short as you watch the students grow and get excited by engineering and business.

Check to see if your town/region has something like GiveCamp (https://givecamp.org/)!

I help organize my city's spinoff of GiveCamp, called Code for Good (https://codeforgoodwm.org/), and we bring together hundreds of volunteers every year, and help dozens of nonprofits.

Why not join the https://coderdojo.com/ community and help out in getting young kids interested in coding? It's a great way to 'give back' and introduce the future generations in the opportunities that software can give them. CoderDojo is an international organization and they might already be active in your neighbourhood.

I'd probably give https://www.justserve.org/ a look. See what is near you that's listed, if any of the specific organizations interest you hit their websites and look for someone to reach out to locally or at a higher level (if applicable) to see if your specific skills might be used in a volunteer capacity.

Mercy Ships is always looking for technical people. The job list is at https://apply.mercyships.org/CurrentOpportunities.aspx

Mercy Ships do free operations for people in Africa. The ship's crewed entirely by volunteers. If you're willing to give a chunk of time, it's both fun and rewarding.

I spent about 10 years as a key member at AS220’s fab lab. Since I’m an engineer by training I figured I could help enable art by helping Artists on the tech side at the lab. I taught classes, developed curriculum, designed projects, helped with machine maintenance. It was fun and I ended up “making my own art”. Now I make Wordclocks in my basement based on some of the projects I developed for them.

I've found the best way to volunteer is at something complementary to what one does in one's day-to-day, something I'm also interested in but don't get paid for. At the moment, that looks like teaching a free English class to new immigrants. I think working on interests outside of one's professional sphere helps keep the work interesting, and the volunteer engaged.

I'm 35 and work with a church group which visits/helps the poor around our neighboorhood, and my colleagues there are between 55 and 80 year old.

It kinda kills me but they work very well with their systems - paper agendas and folders - so I don't think I'll ever suggest turning their workflows into something digital, or even an Excel file...

The way I help them is by carrying heavy packages...

If you believe in a higher power, look for a thriving local church.

The opportunities to volunteer will be frequent and diverse. You might try digging wells one month, then feeding the hungry the next. You can be part of "A Night to Shine" or help clean up dirty ditches. All sorts of stuff, offered frequently and vetted for quality of projects.

There's an organization where volunteers teach coding to refugees: https://www.hackyourfuture.net/ It started in Amsterdam and has spread to Copenhagen and Toronto now - you could get involved and help open up a chapter in your city too.

There's a Facebook group for Effective Altruism Volunteering which has some ideas: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1392613437498240/

Lots of so-called "non-profits" do not increase social welfare in any meaningful way. Even many IRS-approved "charities" are complete scams.

So just remember to look before you leap.

So many elderly people who have trouble with basic tasks, including but not limited to tech.

I’d like to see a hotline where people can call to ask about virus pop ups, calls from potential scammers.

If you're located in Chicago, I enjoyed volunteering for CodePlatoon as a TA. It's not a huge commitment and it's a lot of fun.

Consistently. My grandma does a lot of volunteer work, and one of her gripes is with students who show up to fulfill a requirement, learn just enough to start being useful, then quit.

One place I work did a volunteer day at a local community center for underprivileged kids. It was fine going and helping kids out, but I felt like shit for the kids who never get to build any sort of relationship with anyone from the rotating cast of techies who show up to assuage their guilt. These kids have enough instability in their lives.

Teach prisoners how to code https://thelastmile.org/

Develop high-quality software and release it under AGPL3+ so that companies cannot make any profit off of it.

See if there is a onebrick.org chapter in your area.

Earning to give (to the top charities) is likely orders of magnitude more effective than most other volunteering options.

Research effective altruism and see GiveWell’s most effective charities list (updated a week ago).

Recommended listening: Sam Harris interviews the founder of effective altruism. https://samharris.org/podcasts/being-good-and-doing-good/

Recommended reading: Doing Good Better by Will Macaskill.

FOSS.

Mentor

> product management, project management

No, thank you. FOSS developers are usually skilled and self-motivated engineers, so corporate-style control is unnecessary or harmful.

Money, quality code, bug fixes, documentation, publicity (there are so many great but little-known FOSS projects), or a simple display of appreciation for the authors' work are all welcome.