Microvolunteerism Defined

Until recently, there was no clear definition of micro-volunteering. We decided to take a stab and included it into our About page. And, while we’ve we’ve had some people attempt to define it, this has just muddied the waters. Quite often, the activities are indeed small, but restricted to Twitter, mobile phones, or some other medium. We feel that this is best described as virtual volunteering.

Virtual volunteering has been around for thirty years, but first became popular when Impact Online sprang to life in 1996. It struggled for years and has since been renamed Volunteermatch . Wikipedia gives a great definition, but the gist is that virtual volunteering occurs remotely using technology as a medium. It is to volunteering what telecommuting is to working. My grudge against it, and why I don’t want it confused with micro-volunteering, is that it strips bare the social engagement aspect that is essential for community building.

A look back at Wikipedia and we see three major benefits to volunteering listed: economic, social, and individual career benefits. Putting aside that any labour, paid or otherwise, contributes to GDP, volunteering benefits both society and the individual. What separates volunteering from an internship then is the societal benefits - building more cohesive communities, fostering greater trust between citizens and developing norms of solidarity and reciprocity that are essential to stable communities. This cannot be done through virtual volunteering.

Micro-volunteering is now listed in Wikipedia with reference to our definition and to an article written by Joanne Fritz of About.com. It’s my hope that this entry will bring clarity. A 2004 Ipsos-Reid study labeled 24% of British Columbians as “ready-made recruits”: ones who would volunteer if only the opportunity were more personal and convenient. This confirms what we’ve found: that there is space between regular volunteering, with its associated long-term commitments, and
disengagement. We call what happens in this space micro-volunteering.

Volunteering is a leap of faith, especially with a new organization, new people, or in a new city. It’s also a necessary leap if we want to build a trusting, caring and stable community.

Urbantastic’s primary goal is to make it easier to get involved.

-Benjamin