Basics: Recruiting and Involving an Online Volunteer through our UNV Online Volunteering Service

After your organization has registered as a member of our service, then registered as a Group, and, finally, made sure the staff is ready to host Online Volunteers, you can begin the process of recruiting Online Volunteers.

Online Volunteers undertake a variety of assignments for organizations through our service: translations, research, web design, data analysis, database construction, proposal writing, editing articles, online mentoring, publication design, moderating an online discussion group, or any other services that can be done through computer networks.

Here's how to get started:

1. Customize your automated messages
Our member organizations can, through their group, customize automated messages that are sent to those individuals who apply for an assignment, and are subsequently accepted or rejected as Online Volunteers for that assignment. These automated messages cut down on the amount of time you have to spend responding to new candidates directly.

You can customize these messages as you like and as you need. For instance, your message to pending Online Volunteering candidates can:

• thank them for their interest;
• tell them what the next step is in volunteering online with your organization (visiting your organization's web site to learn more about what you do, for instance);
• ask them for additional information, such as why they chose your organization and this assignment in particular, what they hope the result will be of their service with your organization, etc. This helps you further screen candidates to make sure they are appropriate for your organization); or
• ask them to reply to you via email within a set period – for instance, within 14 days. You can keep track of replies and reject all candidates who do not reply within the set period (this also helps you further screen candidates to make sure they are appropriate for your organization).

There are automated messages for accepted volunteers, rejected volunteers, volunteers who complete assignments and more. What your group's automated messages are to Online Volunteers is up to you!

The page to view and edit automated messages is within your group's administrative area. If you are not yet logged in, please do so and then go to "My OV," then to your group main page, click on "Volunteering" at the top of the page, and then click on "Edit Messages."

[NOTE: if you are not yet a member, if your organization has not yet created its group, or, if the person who created your group has not granted you administrative privileges, you cannot access the page to change automated messages].

2. Create Assignments
Write your assignment descriptions offline, in whatever word-processing software you use, so that you can spell-check the wording and put plenty of thought into what each assignment should ask for. Do not prepare just one sentence for the "description" field; this field is where you should highlight all of the reasons this assignment is worthwhile for your organization and an Online Volunteer! Explain the assignment in some detail, note why it will benefit your organization and those you serve, and note why it would be a great opportunity for an Online Volunteer (for more information on how write assignments, see the Detailed Tips section in the right-hand column of this page).

3. Submit Assignments

When you have written task descriptions for each assignment you need Online Volunteers for, complete the Add Assignment form for each. HOWEVER, if you are not yet a member, if your organization has not yet created its group, and if the person who created your group has not granted you administrative privileges, you cannot access the form to upload an assignment for that group.

The Add Assignment form is linked from our home page, and is also within your group administrative area. The person who created your group, and any registered user that has been granted administrative privileges by this group owner, may post Online Volunteering assignments to our service.

Online Volunteering assignments are stored in our database until the post is filled or three months have elapsed since the assignment was first inputted or last renewed. You will receive an email asking if you want to renew any Online Volunteering post that is about to elapse.

4. Receiving applications from volunteers
From Search Assignments, potential Online Volunteers search for assignments that interest them, based on various criteria (the focus of the task, the focus of the organization, or the geographic area served by the organization). Any Online Volunteer who is interested in your assignment will complete an online Application Form, which is submitted directly to you, via email. We strongly suggest you create a folder within your email program to save all applications from potential candidates; though the information will be available via our web site, saving the information on your computer will allow you to view it when you are not online.

5. Choosing your online volunteers
Screening and choosing Online Volunteers is entirely up to you! Each applicant, as soon as he or she submits an application, becomes "pending", and will receive an automated message via our service that will actually be from YOUR organization (see step 1 for more details). Either this pending message, or the first email you send directly to Online Volunteering candidates, should:

• thank them for their interest;
• tell them what the next step is in volunteering with your organization (visiting your organization's web site to learn more about what you do, for instance);
• ask them for additional information, such as why they chose your organization and this assignment in particular, what they hope the result will be of their working with your organization, etc.;
• ask them to reply within a set period – for instance, within 14 days. You can keep track of replies and reject all candidates who do not reply within the set period (this helps you further screen candidates to make sure they are appropriate for your organization).

When the volunteer adequately replies to the steps you have outlined in your pending message, or in the first message you have sent to this volunteer directly, mark he or she as "accepted." The person will then get another automated message from your organization, confirming that he or she has been accepted to start volunteering online in support of your organization. Respond to the volunteer promptly with any details he or she will need to get started.

Once you have enough Online Volunteers for an assignment, mark the assignment as "filled" in the administrative area, so it will be removed from the public web site. Also, mark ALL candidates as either accepted or rejected within a reasonable period.

6. Managing your Online Volunteers
No two organizations manage Online Volunteers exactly the same way. Styles and methods vary, depending on the organization culture, the nature of assignments, and the organization's experience in managing volunteers. No one system will work for all organizations. That said, we offer basic, detailed guidelines that can help organizations using our service to maintain good relationships with Online Volunteers and support them in completing assignments. This section on managing Online Volunteers will continue to grow, based on the feedback of our users about their experiences with Online Volunteering.

Also, inform yourself about the Privacy and Safety issues that apply to you and your Online Volunteers. There are fixed regulations about handling personal data, anti-virus software, etc., that both you and your Online Volunteer have to agree upon.

7. Check and update your group page frequently!
Your group page allows you to review Online Volunteering assignments you have posted, review the status of everyone who has applied to help you, and so forth. In your group section, you will also find a short report form that will allow you to give us feedback about each assignment and Online Volunteer. Volunteers are asked to fill out a report as well.

You can also publish stories and information about your Online Volunteers and what they are doing for your organization on your group's page, and we may choose the stories you publish in your own area for broader distribution to all our visitors. We are always looking for organizations to spotlight on our site.

Our organization uses the data that you input in your group pages to determine how active Online Volunteers are, what Online Volunteers are accomplishing, which Online Volunteering assignments are working and which may need some extra assistance. We has made this page as automated as possible, however, it is up to YOU, the hosting organization, to make sure this information is updated frequently!