Blog post by Reed from Washington, DC
One of the places that I find myself going back to time and again to search for volunteer opportunities is VolunteerMatch. While the system is not perfect, it is probably the most comprehensive website with national coverage that you will find. These guys are the match.com of the volunteer universe. Yesterday I wrote about Sparked, the leader in virtual microvolunteering, VolunteerMatch is a much broader platform for discovering face to face and virtual volunteer opportunities of all kinds, including microvolunteering.
The history of this volunteer matching powerhouse goes back to the early nineties when a team of four were sitting around trying to figure out what to do with their MBA degrees. They ended up pulling together a plan in 1994 to launch an online nonprofit that would promote community involvement.
Fast forward nearly twenty years and you have VolunteerMatch which last year welcomed 8.4 million visitors! In a nutshell what they are doing is strengthening communities by making it easier for do-gooders to connect with organizations doing good in order to create greatness.
If you are passionate about volunteering and have not checked out their website, go there NOW and sign up. You plug in your location and a few key words about your interests in volunteering and voilà! You’ve got a list of opportunities to volunteer right in front of you. Choose the one you want and they exchange your information with the organization and your set.
My experience is that I usually get contacted by the organization within 24-48 hours, but if not, you get their contact information as well and can reach out to them.
Although they do have the option to search for virtual volunteer opportunities, my feeling is that Sparked has established itself as best in class in that arena.
You can read about two of my recent volunteer outings that I found on VolunteerMatch: the MS Society and the Arthritis Foundation.
Stop reading this and go sign up!
Year of Giving 
Hey, I signed up, Reed! Already contacted a possibility–giving reiki to hospice patients. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks!
Rose
That is awesome Rose! Let’s get hundreds of people to sign up! -Reed
Robert here from VolunteerMatch. Thanks for sharing this with readers, Reed. I did want to comment on your note about Sparked and VolunteerMatch. Sparked.com is a platform for microvolunteering — which means short, digital, networked and crowdsourced volunteer opportunities that can be accomplished on their Web site. VolunteerMatch.org is a platform for discovering virtual volunteer opportunities of all kinds, including microvolunteering. This is important because many of today’s most satisfying virtual volunteer opportunities aren’t “micro” at all — they require significant long-term commitment. Think Web development, database design, annual report design, grant writing, online bookkeeping etc.
But in the end, together Sparked and VolunteerMatch give prospective volunteers a whole lot of options for volunteer work they can do wherever they are — and that’s great for volunteers AND our community groups.
Keep up the great work!
Robert
VolunteerMatch
(twitter: @VolMatch)
Robert, thanks for checking out the Year of Giving and contributing to the discussion. I appreciate your clarification and have edited my post to hopefully be more accurate. Thanks!
As a champion of volunteerism, and a user of VolunteerMatch, I want you to know that I am a big fan and refer people to your Website almost daily.
I appreciate the shirts! It is funny thought that some have to be asked to be nice to anyone busy working, accomplishing, donating, volunteering.