This is an archived version of the Virtual Volunteering Project web site from January 2001.
The materials on the web site were written or compiled by Jayne Cravens.
The Virtual Volunteering Project has been discontinued.
The Virtual Volunteering Project web site IS NO LONGER UPDATED.
Email addresses associated with the Virtual Volunteering Project are no longer valid.
For any URL that no longer works, type the URL into archive.org.
For new materials regarding online volunteering, see
Jayne Cravens' web site (the section on volunteerism-related resources).
 
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Keeping Track
From How the Virtual Volunteering Project Involves Online Volunteers
by Jayne Cravens, Project Manager

 
For me, this is currently the most difficult part of managing online volunteers -- keeping track of what they are up to.

I have two folders in my e-mail program for correspondance from volunteers, to help me separate those who have expressed interest in volunteering but have not completed an assignment from those who have actually completed an assignment (until a volunteer has completed an online assignment for me, they are still "virtual", so to speak).

All submitted volunteer applications are put into one folder. I sort this folder by date on the first of the month and count how many people submitted completed applications. I also track how many people went through the online orientation, were given an online assignment, and completed an assignment. At the end of each year, I provide a volunteer management summary to my project advisors.

The second folder is for correspondance from and to volunteers who have completed an assignment.

As is noted in the online orientation, all volunteers who receive an assignment are required to send an email to me each Friday or Monday (whichever they prefer), and upon completion of the assignment, that notes:

I chose not to use a Web-based reporting system (e-mail seems much easier, quicker and more natural for the volunteers to use), but there are many organizations that do use such reporting systems for online volunteers; see Managing Volunteers via the Internet for examples.

At the beginning of each month, I review the contents of these two folders, sorting them by date and then again by name, to see (and to record):

Other than the folders in my email program, I do not have a computerized database to track volunteers and assignments; as time passes and the number of online volunteers I have worked with grows, however, it will be necessary to develop such a database program.

 
Other parts of this essay:

 

 
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Copyright © 1999 - 2000 The University of Texas at Austin

 
This is an archived version of the Virtual Volunteering Project web site from January 2001.
The materials on the web site were written or compiled by Jayne Cravens.
The Virtual Volunteering Project has been discontinued.
The Virtual Volunteering Project web site IS NO LONGER UPDATED.
Email addresses associated with the Virtual Volunteering Project are no longer valid.
For any URL that no longer works, type the URL into archive.org.
 

If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.

about Jayne Cravens | contact Jayne Cravens