How can new technologies be used in volunteering?

According to a public opinion poll on the functioning of the telecommunications services market [https://www.uke.gov.pl/akt/badanie-konsumenckie–2020-klienci-indywidualni,374.html], during the pandemic, the average daily time spent on the network increased by 1.5 hours. In 2020, 90.4% of households had access to the Internet, and at least once a week 81.4% of people aged 16-74 used the network GUS, Information Society in Poland in 2020 [https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/nauka-i- -technology-information-society/information-society/information-society-in-poland-in-2020-year,2,10.html]). Increasingly, NGOs are also reaching for new technologies. Already a few years ago, every third NGO was looking for volunteers via the Internet (Stow. Klon/Jawor, Kondycja organizacji NGO 2018 [https://api.ngo.pl/ media/get/108900]). At the same time, for as many as 57% of NGOs, the pandemic has become an impulse to transfer activities to the network (A year in the pandemic. NGO Research Report 2020/2021 [https://api.ngo.pl/media/ get/160530]).

According to research, the involvement in volunteering in Poland has been increasing in recent years. In 2020, as many as 43% of respondents declared their activity in civic organizations (CBOS, Research Communication No. 37/2020, Activity of Poles in civic organizations [https:// www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2020/K_037_20.PDF]).

However, the pandemic has caused significant changes.  According to the report by Stow. Klon/Jawor, as many as 36% of non-governmental organizations have lost volunteers after a year of the pandemic. At the same time, pandemic restrictions have moved many volunteer activities to the online sphere. So how to „combine” trends in the use of technology with social enthusiasm in these conditions? E-volunteering comes to the rescue!

It is a form of volunteering – free, voluntary, organized commitment to people and institutions outside the circle of family and friends. They are distinguished by the use of modern technologies at all stages of implementation: from recruitment and training of e-volunteers, through task performance and communication, to evaluation. Practice shows that many entities implement indirect forms, i.e. hybrid volunteering,

combining online help with „live” collaboration.

In addition to responding to the pandemic, e-volunteering is a great complement to traditional volunteering.

Research confirms that e-volunteering:

  • provides exceptional flexibility and accessibility, including, for example, persons with disabilities;
  • gives opportunities for competence development;
  • enables large-scale social activities;
  • it can be a remedy for inequality;
  • it can promote the protection of the environment, inter alia, by reducing exhaust emissions;
  • reduces emotional pressure (e.g. discomfort of introverts);
  • allows you to create new relationships and reduce the feeling of isolation.

Source: https://odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/E-wolontariat_i_narzedzia_cyfrowe_PUBL-linki.pdf

Region Gdański NSZZ „Solidarność”

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.

[dkpdf-button]
Strona korzysta
z plików Cookies.
Korzystając ze strony wyrażasz zgodę na ich używanie. Dowiedz się więcej