April 20, 2009
Editor's Note: This manual was originally drafted in February 2002 but was recently updated by TechSoup.org staff to include more current advice, worksheets, and technical specifications. This document is intended to be a starting point and guide for nonprofits who aim to recruit technical volunteers. We invite you to take it and use what you like, add to it, and make it your own. If there are resources you'd like to see added to the manual on our site, please contact us at lendahand@techsoup.org.
Many nonprofits, libraries, and schools don't have the time, money, or funding to use technology in all the ways they would like. Technical volunteers can fill the gap by tackling the projects that in-house staff cannot handle, and that do not require paid consultants.
Yet even groups that have successfully involved volunteers in their other work have run into problems when asking volunteers to work on technology issues. Recruiting and managing technical volunteers can be intimidating, especially when staff members do not fully understand the work that techies do. Additionally, organizations must balance the benefits of technical volunteers' help with the need to establish sustainable, consistent computer support.
TechSoup
has developed an effective methodology for recruiting, matching, and
managing technical volunteers. You can use the downloadable guide below
to assess your technical needs and identify areas where volunteers can
help; recruit technical volunteers and assess their skills; manage
technical volunteers; document their work; and find resources that will
help your volunteers throughout the process.
We hope this information will help your organization create successful volunteer relationships to improve your technology and better achieve your mission.
Copyright © 2009 CompuMentor. This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
PDF version fixed
PDF version incomplete
The document is now attached
Where can I download this?
Thanks.