By Cathy Stevens

Are you looking for a way to be a volunteer? Or maybe you work for a nonprofit that needs to get the word out about volunteer opportunities? If so, visit the VolunteerMatch Web site, designed to link nonprofits with those who want to help out.

VolunteerMatch is a service of Impact Online, a nonprofit organization that focuses on using technology to connect nonprofits with resources and individuals, says Pamela Hawley, chief operations officer.

Just how does it work?

First, VolunteerMatch assists nonprofits in finding volunteers.

"Any nonprofit, church, school, university or government organization can post information," Hawley says. The information goes into a database accessible through the Internet.

Second, the site enables potential volunteers to access opportunities posted from their area by entering their local zip code. Searches can be performed according to the distance one wants to travel, how often one wants to volunteer and one's special interests.

And are people using these free services?

"It has been incredible," says Hawley. Since its introduction in 1997, 4,500 nonprofit organizations have posted more than 12,000 opportunities, and VolunteerMatch has made 40,000 matches in 18 months, she says.

"We strongly believe in measuring our results," says Hawley. Because of this, VolunteerMatch provides a free tracking report to all organizations that post and allows them to communicate directly with their volunteers through e-mail provided by the site, she says.

"Not only are we revolutionizing recruitment but also management for nonprofits," says Hawley. VolunteerMatch President Jay Backstrand says that 25 to 50 nonprofits post every day. "The nonprofits are starting to realize the benefits of using the Internet."

Backstrand says his idea for VolunteerMatch came from a need he saw to make volunteering extremely easy for people. The service was launched after Backstrand became president of Impact Online in July 1997.

On the nonprofit side, Backstrand says that nonprofits don't need to be spending their money recruiting volunteers when VolunteerMatch can provide them for free.

"We honestly believe we're delivering them tons and tons of money," says Backstrand.

By offering ways for nonprofits to track, recruit and communicate with volunteers, Backstrand says VolunteerMatch can save nonprofits a lot when it comes to technology.

"We create the Web site on their behalf," he says.

VolunteerMatch's newest service is called Virtual Volunteering and lets people volunteer via the Internet instead of being on sight, says Hawley. People can choose from many opportunities, including consulting, tutoring, advising and being an e-mail buddy.

To publicize its services, VolunteerMatch has portals on several search engines and has partnered with United Way and the Points of Light Foundation, she says.

"We market the site as much as we possibly can," says Backstrand.

Silicon Valley philanthropists originally funded VolunteerMatch, says Hawley, but now it has foundation funding. Both the David and Lucile Packard and W. K. Kellogg foundations sponsor the site.

Hawley says that today's technology, used to build sites like VolunteerMatch, is changing volunteerism.

"Never before could we aggregate all volunteers," she says. "We're really trying to create a movement of people."

Cathy Stevens can be reached at
Cathy.Stevens@furman.edu