Volunteering is a key focus for Irish Aid and it believes that every person should have the opportunity to volunteer in the global fight against poverty regardless of circumstance. Online Volunteering is an opportunity for everyone to make a contribution in the global fight against poverty. It is hoped that people who cannot volunteer overseas due to time constraints, family, work commitments, people with a disability or health reasons will be able to contribute their time and skills to the fight against global poverty through the internet.

The number of registered Online Volunteers in Ireland is increasing, and they have engaged in 71 online projects so far. International Service Ireland (ISI) is the only Irish registered organisation on the service so far.

If Online Volunteering is for you then register at www.onlinevolunteering.org

Each Virtual Online Volunteer needs to:
- have access to a computer,
- have access to the internet,
- be interested in global development,
- be able to volunteer 1-5 hours per week.

Background to the UNV Online Volunteering Service

The Online Volunteering Service links skilled volunteers with organisations to work for sustainable development. Organisations register and are linked with registered skilled volunteers over the internet to provide projects with much needed expertise. Online volunteers are usually professionals, students, retirees and expatriates located around the world.

Development organisations are screened and then registered with the Online Service. Then they can post opportunities on the Online Volunteering Service website. Volunteers must also register with the Online Volunteering Service, and then they can search and apply for opportunities that match their skills, experience and interests. The development organisation will then select a suitable candidate for the project. When the project is completed both the development organisation and the volunteer provide feedback about their collaborative work, and finally the development organisation issues a certificate of recognition to the volunteer for work undertaken.

Presently more than 80% of the Online Volunteering Service collaborations rate projects between development organisations and online volunteers as successful or very successful.

Some Examples of Opportunities in Online Volunteering:
- Design and update Social Networking pages- Report and article writing- Website design and content management- Writing project proposals- Identifying sources of funding- Drafting funding applications- Evaluating projects- Advising on organisational strategy- Research- Database inputting- Providing online workshops through webcams, online chat service, Skype etc…- Training staff in computer programmes.

For more information contact Tara Finglas (tara.finglas@dfa.ie) in the Volunteering Unit in the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre.

Read comments from current online volunteers here.

Useful Links:
www.onlinevolunteering.org
www.unv.org