Volunteer Opportunities Abound!

Since this blog is all about ways to make a difference in the world today, this morning I decided to find some basic resources to share with readers. Here are some websites you can use to get started looking through and learning about a wide variety of volunteer opportunities in your own area or in a different part of the world:

www.dosomething.org/volunteer
www.volunteer.gov/Gov
www.volunteermatch.org
www.idealist.org/if/as/vol
www,volunteerabroad.com
www.rileyguide.com/intern.html
www.worldvolunteers.org/worldeng.html

There are thousands of websites offering ways to volunteer no matter where you are. Many of them specialize in just one area of helping such as the environment, education, or health. Others offer multiple opportunities instead of just focusing on one area.

You can also do a search for you favorite charitable organization to see what opportunities are available. Whether it be your church denomination, the YMCA, Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Peace Corps, World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, or some other organization, these days almost all have a website online with a page listing their current opportunities as well as a way to donate money.

Looking through some of these sites were possibilities for volunteering that I hadn't thought of. Teaching languages, doing an internship which could eventually lead to a paying job,
counting birds or fireflies or specific animals in an area, being a voluntary librarian, helping out in an orphanage, nursing injured animals, assisting researchers with scientific studies in fields such as astronomy or archeology or economics or medicine, diving along the Great Barrier Reef to help AIDS research and threatened coral, and more.

Although some opportunities would require expertise or experience, most do not. There are numerous tasks that the average person could do. Many organizations offer training in any specific skills needed for the work you'd be helping in. This means you would not only be able to help others or make a difference in some way, but you would also receive knowledge and skills that help you in your personal growth and could increase your resume and income potential at the same time!

Whether you are interested in a project of a certain length, are looking for something you could help with weekly, or just would like to do something to help out as your way of giving back and as a different way to spend your vacation, you'll be able to find something on one of these sites or by doing your own internet search that is a great fit for you.

There are even ways to help organizations on the internet! Many sites for charities can use your talents if you are internet savvy. Technical or writing skills, knowing search engine optimization, graphic design, and many more would be appreciated by organizations on limited budgets. That way, they can spend the donations they receive to help others instead of paying for websites and related work. Free web-hosting, video creation, and promoting the organization on social media are just a few more possibilities.

Make sure of course to discuss the needs of the particular organization you want to help. They need to give you approval before you begin.

Have you come across any internet sites that list opportunities? If so, please share in the comments below. Also share your story with us if you have personal done some interesting, rewarding, or unusual volunteer work at any time in your life. We all enjoy inspiration, and it could just be the thing that gets someone to begin volunteering for the first time or re-committed to doing more. That's another way for you to make a difference!