At the present time VolunteerMatch is probably one of the best resources for finding someone to help you with your technical needs. To register as an organization eligible to list volunteer opportunities, you must be a non-profit organization with a federal tax ID number. It's a good idea to list two or three different areas where you need volunteers (i.e. webmaster, computer networking, software training for staff) to increase the chances that you'll get a match. VolunteerMatch can be used to find local volunteers as well a "Virtual Volunteers" who do most of their work for you online. A great resource on managing virtual volunteers is located here.
A second excellent resource is TechSoup. TechSoup is a new project of CompuMentor, a national organization with a decade of experience placing technically oriented volunteers in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are lucky, you can sign up and be assigned a "mentor" who will help you address your organization's technology needs.
Techsoup also has published several excellent articles on using volunteers:
Working with Technical Volunteers
Structuring a Successful Volunteer Project
Volunteer Management Mistakes to Avoid
Other ideas on finding a volunteer:
1) try to find out if there are any programs in your city which do volunteer matching. (New York and Seattle are two cities with such programs.)
2) find an employee who works at a local high-tech company and ask them to post a notice on a bulletin board.
3) contact engineering organizations at area campuses or High Schools, including Eta Kappa Nu, the National Honor Society, the Society of Women Engineers, and Black or Hispanic Engineering groups, and ask them to announce your need for volunteers at one of their meetings.
4) look on the Internet for meetings of local computer societies or clubs. Contact these groups by e-mail to ask them for advice on finding a volunteer from within their ranks.
If you have other suggestions please contact us at techtip @ organizenow.net.
Last Updated August 22, 2002