With his first address to Congress, President Obama called for “a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations.” Across the country his remarks were met with rousing applause.
Since then, Congress passed a bill that is likely to have the largest effect on volunteerism since JFK called for the creation of a national service corps in 1963. In addition to motivating individuals and providing educational incentives, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act will provide tax credits to employers who offer their employees paid leave to volunteer. It will add 125,000 new AmeriCorps volunteers and social entrepreneurs will be engaged so that their good work will help the common good.
As a result of the economic crisis, as well as this national call to service, all around the country there is increased awareness and interest in volunteering and giving back—but for many, they don’t know where or how to get started.
At the same time, social networking is changing the way the average person connects and communicates with friends, colleagues, groups with common interests, and family. And nonprofits have also gotten sophisticated and created Facebook pages or other networking sites as a way to keep people informed about what they are doing, invite them to attend events, and recruit volunteers or donors. Because of their speed and efficiency in delivering communications to large numbers of users, social networks have become vital tools for community efforts—to reach out to people and help get them involved.
So, what if we took a “Facebook” approach, using their social networking’s usual suspects: profiles, friends, messaging, groups, personal blogs, and then added a designated section called “Volunteerbook,” which would provide a place for those already involved to share all the good work they’re doing, connect with other like-minded people around social change that they feel passionate about, and call out to hundreds of friends and contacts to enlist help for specific community projects or initiatives. Research shows that the #1 reason people get involved is because they are asked—so let’s use social networks to do the asking. Through this effort we could mobilize millions of new and committed volunteers, eager to be part of a “social change” movement, using “social networking.”
Great idea. You should figure out how to do it! It might also push the conversation around volunteering so that people can focus on social problems and solutions, as well as how to really help and interact with the service recipients, rather than just showing up somewhere and feeling good that the organizaton received some free labor. People need to think differently about how they help and why, and see how volunteering can cause social change. Maybe social networking sites can provide that “safe space” to learn (and lead) by example.
Kelly,
Great minds think alike.
After delivering the keynote address to the MD Statewide Higher Education Service Learning and Civic Engagement Conference on Saturday at the University of Baltimore, I challenged the students and professors in attendance to send their social action and service ideas and stories to a new site we’ve created on LiveJournal.com. Go to socialactionnow.livejournal.com, and log in today.
Our goal is to strategically assemble a variety of colleges to develop a tidal wave of service throughout Maryland. College students would facilitate meaningful service-learning to youth, middle through high school, around the region. SSC has been doing this for years, but would like to take it to the next level.
Great vision.
Peace,
Linda
Executive Director
Students Sharing Coalition, Inc.
Maybe of interest – Facebook apps w/a volunteer focus – http://is.gd/r8Ns
This is a timely post … we just recently launched upbear.org, which is a Baltimore-based website containing education-related volunteer and job opportunities. It’s free to post and search opportunities, and there is no advertising on the site. I have also created a page on Facebook for the website, and the page contains a feed for all opportunities listed.
Upbear is in its infancy, and we are looking for schools and organizations to post any educational opportunities that they may have. We are expecting to roll out a number of enhancements in the coming months, including a Facebook app.
Feel free to check out the site and become a fan on Facebook!