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Ask HN: Best ways to volunteer?

170 points| cachecrab | 6 years ago | reply

What are some of the best ways to volunteer as someone working in tech? Many of us have valuable skills that we can put to use such as software engineering, data analysis, product management, project management, etc.

What are some of the best ways to use those skills to help out those in need?

Ideas that come to mind: * Contributing to civic tech projects * Contributing to open source projects * Helping out non-profits * Donating money made by using the aforementioned skills

Which methods of volunteering or giving back do you think are most effective?

94 comments

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[+] 52-6F-62|6 years ago|reply
I've worked with the United Nations Online Volunteer program before.

They basically have a "job" board for different categories of tasks that can be done remotely online including design, web site building, other tasks, etc.

It's not the easiest†, as many orgs might be overseas so working asynchronously is almost a given. Budgets for them are often next-to-none, but their service demands are usually relatively low.

I highly recommend giving them a look. There are a lot of great, small, un[der]funded organizations trying to help people in despair, impoverished children get a leg up, children in troubled homes meet new potential—all kinds—and they need the help because they can rarely afford to pay for it, but the ability to manage something like a website and blog that gives them increased exposure and ease of contact is a huge boon.

They also need online English teachers, researchers, project managers, writers, the list goes on.

https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en

Tech options: https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/opportunities?f[0]=fie...

† edit: To clarify, many of the technical needs are relatively simple—though there seem to be some more challenging options appearing as well. The harder part may be effective communication and understanding—though the people I've worked with have always been great and understanding and just want to deliver the most because they're doing what they do precisely because they care. They're not getting rich.

[+] yjhoney|6 years ago|reply
Just started a coding bootcamp at a public library to teach ppl how to code: https://www.meetup.com/San-Jose-C0D3

Librarians love it when tech people come in to help. They don't have technical skills and most techies don't seem to think about volunteering at the library.

My goal: To help local libraries provide a free coding bootcamp to anybody who wants to learn.

Libraries are a beautiful place. They don't discriminate against anyone regardless of social status, race, gender, etc.

[+] omosubi|6 years ago|reply
They're one of the only public places remaining where you aren't expected to spend money.

Thanks for the great idea

[+] kendallpark|6 years ago|reply
This is a really awesome idea. I love how it leverages a public space that is already culturally oriented towards making knowledge accessible to everyone.
[+] fraXis|6 years ago|reply
>>Libraries are a beautiful place. They don't discriminate against anyone regardless of social status, race, gender, etc.

This is a great idea! Thanks for doing this. Have you had your first session yet? How did it go?

Do you use the library computers for your coding bootcamp?

[+] xwowsersx|6 years ago|reply
Love this. How did you gather interest and get this going?
[+] kendallpark|6 years ago|reply
On the contrary, I use volunteer work as a time to take a break from tech. In the past I've volunteered as elementary school classroom help, tutored students of various ages, and coached line for a local high school football team.

Yes, as tech workers, we have the ability to use our valuable skills pro bono. But I think it can also be beneficial to step out of the tech bubble and integrate with the rest of non-tech society on non-tech terms. Most of my volunteer work has been with students--when the topic comes up, I get to tell them all about why they should consider pursuing programming as a career.

Most of my volunteer work has been obtained just by walking up to the people involved and asking if they need a volunteer. I don't think you need to look for a formal volunteer program.

[+] jptoor|6 years ago|reply
I also agree. One-on-one mentoring is fulfilling in a different way than project oriented volunteering. I recommend doing a longer term commitment as well. Most are 2-4 hours a week, ideally for at least a year. I was at a large near-IPO startup, and it was super supportive of me hopping out for 3 hours every Wednesday for a year to volunteer at underresourced schools. I brought my classes in to meet people at my company and many kids became more interested in design & programming careers as a result.

I worked with build.org in NYC - it's entrepreneurship oriented programs. The students are wonderful. BUILD is large and has a strong presence in SF, DC & Boston as well.

In SF, I worked with Reach & Rise through the YMCA, which is similar to the Boys & Girls Club Big Brother/Big Sister program. I'd highly recommend that as well.

[+] reureu|6 years ago|reply
I agree! I think my volunteer experiences doing non-technical work have made me a better communicator and more well-rounded developer. It’s also let me find a community and friendships outside of work (those all-too-rare post-30 new friends). I would hypothesize that volunteering in a capacity orthogonal to your work would have stronger mental health benefits than just doing your job but without being paid.
[+] altendo|6 years ago|reply
I volunteer at a crisis center in a number of roles. My sysadmin job gives me the security and freedom to engage with people outside of that realm in my spare time. It has been refreshing and meaningful to focus on something _other than_ tech in that capacity.

There's so much going on in the world that doesn't revolve around computers that has a need for people.

[+] clairity|6 years ago|reply
it may seem counterintuitive since you're aiming "to help", but i've had success choosing volunteer opportunities based on things i wanted to learn outside my expertise. this strategy also helps keep your own ego in check (for those of us prone to expert syndrome).

so for example, when i wanted to learn how to do home improvements, i volunteered at habitat for humanity to help build houses for other people. for my 5 townhome build, i helped with everything from the framing to the cabinetry (also gratifying was meeting and working with the eventual homeowners).

when my cat passed away and i wanted to rescue another cat, i volunteered at a kitten nursery. i mostly cleaned kennels and fed kittens, but i also got to socialize them and (eventually) pick the one i wanted to adopt.

[+] NoNotTheDuo|6 years ago|reply
I have dedicated untold hours of my life to the FIRST Robotics Competition [0]. I participated in high school and have been volunteering for the past 15 years after I graduated. I can't count how many high school aged students I've interacted with, but I do know that my time makes a difference. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, email in profile.

[0]: https://www.firstinspires.org/ways-to-help/volunteer

[+] overcast|6 years ago|reply
Thanks for doing this! Fond memories of participating in FIRST 20+ years ago.
[+] mattboulos|6 years ago|reply
As the founder of a tech-driven charity and with some volunteering experience, I want to suggest another approach.

The skills that let you deploy your technical abilities are often sorely needed in this sector, particularly when an organization depends on volunteer labour.

As an example, my father is an experienced civil engineer who leads the development and refurbishment of major hydro generation facilities in his day work.

One of his primary volunteer activities, however, is hustling casseroles for a significant homeless shelter and kitchen in a large city. He is frighteningly effective because of all the skills that also make him good at his job — organization, process, people, etc. There’s often a deficit of this in volunteer efforts.

On the flip side, if you do want to use your technical chops, consider how you can do so in a sustainable way so you don’t create dependencies that put important processes at risk. I found it better to fundraise and pay professionals for important functions.

[+] Matticus_Rex|6 years ago|reply
Donating money is almost always more valuable than donating time, especially if you're not going to donate a lot of time. The time may feel better (or it may not -- I've had volunteer gigs where I didn't feel I could accomplish much, and that sucks), but the money is more useful.
[+] ben509|6 years ago|reply
The economic consideration comes down to the real value of the labor, and that depends heavily on the economic benefits of specialization.

A day of you doling out soup to people or picking up trash won't be worth any more than what someone who does it for a living is paid. And it will probably be substantially less because you're not practiced at it.

A day of you building houses (assuming you have no training) could very well be negative if someone has to come along and fix your work later.

A day of a non-profit employee's work should be worth at least what their salary suggests. (They're chronically underpaid because of the conventional wisdom that high wages are a red flag. This is patently insane and unfair.)

A day of you working closely to your profession is probably worth something similarly close to your salary.

Now, if no one is picking up trash and you want it picked up, then by all means go pick it up.

But otherwise, if in other contexts it'd be a waste of your time, it's still a waste of your time when donating, so consider donating money.

That raises the question: why do so many non-profits have all these worthless volunteer activities?

First, they do tend to focus on young people whose labor isn't worth much to begin with, so they're not losing as much.

And many volunteer efforts simply need a lot of warm bodies. There's no way to canvass for votes, for instance, without having a horde of people knocking on doors.

And I suspect many volunteer activities are also a great way to raise publicity and connect with donors.

[+] pfranz|6 years ago|reply
I wanted to add to your comment. When I've looked to volunteer in the past I've seen places that ask for a 6+ month commitment because bringing someone up to speed sucks up resources (not unlike training a new employee). Other times I've shown up early and you see how much wrangling is needed to organize volunteers.

Volunteer labor can often be a resource suck whereas money is money.

[+] jspotanski|6 years ago|reply
Donating technical skills with a market rate of a couple hundred bucks an hour can add up much more quickly than donating cash in many cases. And it doesn't have to be a massive investment - in a few hours you can make a much more manageable and better looking website for a lot of organizations that can't afford to pay for one.
[+] MegaDeKay|6 years ago|reply
I read all of the comments to this post and I don't your's stands up. Donating time can be very valuable. On the other side of the coin, there are a lot of charities and other causes that have substantial overhead costs. It is possible that only a fraction of your donation might be a direct benefit to the intended recipient.
[+] seanmarcia|6 years ago|reply
If you are a Ruby or Javascript developer I'd recommend checking out Ruby for Good. We build projects for non-profits who really need folks with our skill sets but would never be able to afford us -- places like diaper banks, women's shelters, animal rescues, and other great meaningful organizations. Our projects are on github at https://github.com/rubyforgood and you can join our slack to get more information here https://rubyforgood.herokuapp.com/. The important thing to note is that these projects get used! Our diaper project is being used by about 100 diaper banks around the country and is helping over a million children per year! While we do work on our projects all year round, we do have events! Our next event is in the SF area in April that everyone should definitely come out to because they are a TON of fun! They are all inclusive (lodging and food are covered,) they are absolutely NOT hackathons (which are toxic events that burn folks out!) We have a hard stop everyday at dinner time so we can spend our evenings socializing, playing board games, singing karaoke, and having lots of fun! The website for the April event is here: https://rubybythebay.org
[+] flipp|6 years ago|reply
I started Pathi, a volunteer-run app/hotline for people who really need someone to talk to. Right now we have 12 volunteer listeners taking about that many calls every day.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pathi/id1466338610

We need volunteer listeners, someone to help us bring the app to android, and some design assistance.

If you’re interested in helping, please reach out! (email in profile)

[+] sohamsankaran|6 years ago|reply
Run for office and swell the (paltry) ranks of technically literate legislators.
[+] hprotagonist|6 years ago|reply
My advisor (PhD EE MIT etc etc) was a town selectman for 30 years.

He didn't exactly enjoy it; he merely saw his skills as bringing an obligation to service along with them, and acted accordingly.

Never forgot that...

[+] kevin_nisbet|6 years ago|reply
There are also tons of lower level office that have a huge impact on individuals. I for example am on my condo board.
[+] erikig|6 years ago|reply
I can't underscore how important this is, not just in the US and in developed countries but across the world. There are so many policy makers that are woefully under-informed or that operate under assumptions that are decades-old and a new crop of talent is required.
[+] mayormcmatt|6 years ago|reply
Not sure where you live, but I was able to volunteer two years with the Code Nation organization, helping underserved students learn the basics of web development. https://codenation.org/

Some of the students were first-generation children of immigrants or came from neighborhoods with chronic poverty who never owned a computer and are now earning scholarships and pursuing CS degrees, so I felt we were making an direct impact.

[+] comboy|6 years ago|reply
It seems unlikely to me that you will make use of much of your skillset this way. Doesn't it make more sense then to use as much of it for your day job and then using that money to contribute to charities? They can hire somebody that can focus on the task full-time so the value received for your time spent should be higher that way (if you are a skilled coder) than contributing time directly.
[+] ska|6 years ago|reply 

  >It seems unlikely to me that you will make use of much of your skillset this way.
I really don't see why that would generally hold. Particularly small charities often don't have anything like the budget to hire full time for things like this, even if they knew what to look for (and many don't). Many may not even have a good idea of what is possible.

I guess if you're only focused on the "we need a website update" sort of problems, that's less true.

[+] realbarack|6 years ago|reply
I volunteer as a tutor for an organization that provides academic help to students experiencing homelessness. It's not restricted to people working in tech but my anecdotal impression is that there are relatively few tutors who have strong technical backgrounds and a genuine love for math/science-type subjects

If you have such a background and enjoy working with kids you can be quite helpful by (1.) helping students keep from falling so far behind in school that they're unable to pass their classes (2.) providing an example of what it looks like for an adult to be passionate about math and science topics (I think many of these students don't have many such examples).

I'm not sure it's the highest-impact thing I could be doing (i.e. maybe I could have a greater positive impact by donating the hourly value of my time to some charity) but if you're interested in boots-on-the-ground volunteer work that involves in-person work I'd highly recommend it.

[+] jczhang|6 years ago|reply
What org?
[+] closeparen|6 years ago|reply
Consider “backdoor volunteering.” I find that specialized/technical work isn’t really available on a volunteer basis. Staff have an expectation of working with other pros and may feel threatened by undercutting. So I take some weekend work at nominal wage and donate it back anonymously. It’s not tax efficient, but it works for both of us.
[+] starpilot|6 years ago|reply
Work as hard as you can at your current job to maximize your income, then donate the money to GiveDirectly.