9 places to volunteer time & talent online

It's been eighteen months since the start of the pandemic, and most of us are still working from a home office. While some are returning to company HQ, a hybrid work environment is likely here to stay, which means we'll continue to miss out on opportunities to genuinely create connections with our colleagues (outside of Zoom meetings). Many of you may be thinking about creative ways to engage teams in a digital setting. Virtual volunteering could be the answer you're looking for.

Easily accessible from home, virtual volunteering gives employees the chance to develop career and life skills through community service. From fun volunteering projects to programs that encourage learning and growth, this list offers a variety of ways to engage with a social cause via the internet.

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🌎  Translators Without Borders

Fluent in two or more languages? Looking to practice communication skills and help others at the same time? Look no further than Translators Without Borders. Founded in 1993 by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas, Translators Without Borders provides translation services to vetted nonprofit organizations dedicated to health and education abroad. They have successfully brought together more than 60,000 translators to positively impact the lives of those facing a language barrier.

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👓  Be My Eyes

‍Be My Eyes, an organization created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg in 2015 helps the vision-impaired with everyday tasks. Be My Eyes uses a free mobile application to allow sighted volunteers to aid the vision-impaired with everyday activities such as reading labels and signs through the platform of voice calls and/or video calls. Be My Eyes brings together a community of sighted and vision-impaired spanning across over 180 languages in a convenient and easy-to-use application. The organization has received many awards including Google Play Best Apps of 2017 in the categories; “Most Innovative”, “Best Daily Helper” and “Best Hidden Gem”, and the Google Play Award 2018 for “Best Accessibility Award”.

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🇺🇸  Hire Heroes USA

‍Hire Heroes USA is a nonprofit organization that helps military veterans and spouses obtain jobs post-transition to civilian life. Founded by John Bardis Justin Callahan, a veteran himself, Hire Heroes USA addresses the common issues with the transition from military to civilian employment. Their 1,300 volunteers have helped over 52,000 veterans and their spouses achieve employment, and your team could too. Volunteers teach and practice skills like participating in mock interviews, career counseling, guiding federal sector applicants, and fundraising.

💌   Writing Wonders

Writing Wonders is a student-led organization that brings a smile to the faces of youth, the elderly, and those in the healthcare profession. Volunteers have the option to write letters or create artwork that says thank you, or just spreads some love throughout the community. This is a fun and creative program that anyone can participate in from the comfort and safety of their home.

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📜  Smithsonian Digital Volunteers

Passionate about history? Smithsonian Digital Volunteers is an organization inside the Smithsonian Foundation dedicated to preserving history through documents and archives. Volunteers transcribe important documents like field notes and diaries. Invite employees to join the Smithsonian Digital Volunteers group to produce historically significant work that protects and honors the past.

🗺️  Missing Maps

Interested in geography? Missing Maps is an organization dedicated to finding and creating cartographic information for areas mainly undocumented. These areas are often inhabited by people in crisis or involved in a natural disaster. Volunteers of Missing Maps use satellite images to construct maps which are used by humanitarian organizations to help provide supplies and aid to the affected people.

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🤝  MicroMentor

MicroMentor connects entrepreneurs with mentors spanning across the globe. Depending on the type of business help needed by the entrepreneur, a group of volunteer mentors like your team is suggested and chosen by the entrepreneur. From there, they work together and the entrepreneur learns under the wing of the mentor to succeed in their business.

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💼  Career Village

Career Village gives young individuals in business the opportunity to ask questions and gain knowledge about topics that are fundamental to success. Join a team of over 80,000 volunteers to consult and offer advice to youth who don't have access to resources they need to succeed in their career field. As experienced veterans of business, your team members could positively influence the futures of many young people.

🎓  Oakwood Education Foundation

Passionate about education? Oakwood Education Foundation’s mission is to promote learning and quality education to underprivileged students. Volunteers tutor students and teach them useful skills such as math and language. Oakwood's volunteers provide students access to education regardless of their social or economic status.

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The need for volunteering is so strong in this socially disconnected time. Whether it be creating maps for life-saving humanitarian services, or writing letters to nurses to say thanks, your team members can make a difference for nonprofit organizations all around the world (even while working from home).