Online Volunteering Research Articles

Public Good Superstars: a Lab-in-the-Field Study of Wikipedia

Abstract Many field public goods are provided by a small number of contributors: the ‘superstars’ of their respective communities. This paper focuses on Wikipedia, one of the largest online volunteering platforms. Over 9 consecutive years, we study the relationship between social preferences – reciprocity, altruism, and social image – and field cooperation. Wikipedia editors are quite prosocial on average, and superstars even more so. But while reciprocal and social image preferences strongly relate to contribution quantity among casual editors, only social image concerns continue to predict differences in contribution levels between superstars. In addition, we find that social image driven editors – both casual and superstars – contribute lower quality content on average. Evidence points to a perverse social incentive effect, as quantity is more readily observable than quality on Wikipedia.

Online volunteering and subjective well-being in China

This study aims to examine the relationship between online volunteering and subjective well-being (SWB) and to explore the mediation effect of online bridging networks. The data used in this study came from the 2019 Chinese General Social Survey (CSS). In this study, individuals who responded to survey questions about their participation in online volunteering activities and their subjective well-being(SWB) were included for analysis (N = 5556). The results showed a positive relationship between online volunteering and online bridging networks and indicated that online volunteering affects subjective well-being through the mediating role of online bridging networks. The implications of this study are relevant to policy-makers in public health and social service organizations. Based on the findings, policy-makers and nonprofit organizations are called on to support this type of volunteering which is an important means of improving public health. Nonprofit organizations can establish online social networks for potential volunteers. In addition, nonprofit organizations need to invest more resources to enhance the digital literacy of employees and volunteers, in order to enhance the quality of online volunteering services.

Building capacity and promoting health through online volunteering

Purpose Significant changes to in-person volunteering were necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) responded to the pandemic by developing an online education platform and pivoting to online volunteering. This qualitative study explores the dynamics of online volunteering and provides visibility to this novel trend in the training of health professionals in resource-scarce countries. Methodology/approach Barriers and facilitators, actual and potential outcomes, and recommendations for online volunteering were addressed through a comparative case study approach focusing on three HVO global projects: physical therapy in Rwanda and Ghana, oral health in Nepal, and anesthesiology—a multi-country collaboration between Bhutan, Cambodia, and Laos. Findings A total of 15 participants, including project directors, host country representatives, and teaching volunteers, were interviewed online. Three themes emerged through the online interviews with HVO volunteers, project directors, and host country directors: Creating Space, the Future is Hybrid, and Geographical Expansion. Research implications Online volunteering provides a new opportunity for volunteers to expand their networks, learn new skills, and meet the needs of the host country participants. There is also an opportunity to expand projects beyond national boundaries, but logistical, cultural, and linguistic challenges must be considered. Practical implications Online volunteering is a feasible approach for building teaching and research capacity globally, and volunteer agencies should consider a hybrid model combining online volunteering with in-person volunteering. Originality Online volunteering provides support to meet the needs of both volunteers and in-country program participants. Limitations This study focused on the volunteer, project director, and host coordinator experience and not on the learner. More research is needed to investigate how online and in-person dynamics coalesce.

Green self-image boosts online volunteering for environmental causes: Experimental evidence

We investigate the effect of salient green self-image on the willingness to participate in online volunteering for an environmental cause. Our experimental study shows that when the information about participants’ own perceived consciousness and responsibility is made salient, the likelihood of volunteering increases by 11.85 percentage points. Our study contributes to the literature by showing a causal relationship between self-image and pro-environmental volunteering. Our findings have implications for the promotion of online volunteering.

Digital volunteering through a volunteering crowdsourcing platform: lessons from TuDu.org.pl

There has been an unprecedented global increase in digital volunteering since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, in many countries, including Central and Eastern Europe, online volunteering is under-researched and large-scale tools, such as volunteering crowdsourcing platforms, are only beginning to emerge in response to crises. This article presents practical lessons for engaging and retaining online volunteers, drawn from an evaluation of the only Polish crowdsourcing platform dedicated to e-volunteering: TuDu.org.pl.

EXPLORING MOTIVATIONS FOR ONLINE VOLUNTEERING IN EMERGING ADULTS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

The widespread use of the internet has led to a new activity involving individuals in spreading goodness through voluntary social engagement. This activity is known as online volunteering. The flexible nature of online volunteering has increased interest and enthusiasm, particularly among emerging adults, motivating them to participate in such activities. However, research on this phenomenon, especially among emerging adults, is still limited. This study aims to explore the various forms of motivation among emerging adults to participate in online volunteering. A total of 205 emerging adult participants who have previously or are currently engaged in online volunteering activities are recruited to complete the Volunteer Functions Inventory adaptation scale. Descriptive analysis indicates that out of the six proposed motivation forms, Motivations related to understanding, values, and enhancement play a crucial role in motivating emerging adults to engage in online volunteering. These three motivational factors serve as the primary incentives for emerging adults to develop themselves and achieve their goals. Additionally, the study finds that emerging adults who engage in online volunteering activities for 6 months to 1 year and those who participate in environmental online volunteering exhibit higher motivation compared to those engaged in volunteering for longer durations and in other volunteer fields. Overall, this research identifies a high level of motivation among emerging adults participating in online volunteering activities, categorizing it as a significant driving factor.

WAYS OF PRESERVING THE NATIONAL IDENTITY OF THE UKRAINIAN DIASPORA IN TURKEY (a Case Study of the City of Bursa, Republic of Turkey)

This article examines possible strategies for preserving the national identity of Ukrainians living outside of Ukraine, specifically in the Republic of Turkey for many years, as well as those who were forced to leave Ukrainian territory due to Russia's open military aggression against Ukraine in 2022. The research material is based on the achievements of the Ukrainian community in the Turkish city of Bursa, which is one of the largest cities in the Republic of Turkey. The close proximity of Bursa to Istanbul, and therefore to Turkey's major transportation hub, led Ukrainians to choose this city for temporary residence outside of Ukraine as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Despite the fact that the Turkish government does not extensively cover the events currently taking place in Ukraine in the majority of media outlets, has not imposed sanctions against Russia and the increasing number of Russians in Turkey, the Ukrainian community is making significant efforts to preserve, promote, and manifest the Ukrainian language, culture, and unity. The study focuses on the means and methods that have contributed to the exploration of these paths. It analyzes the achievements of Ukrainians in the fields of education, politics, religion, and culture. The article also highlights certain volunteer initiatives, including online volunteering, by Ukrainians, particularly those who were forced to leave Ukraine due to the full-scale war, in the city of Bursa.

Predicting Volunteers’ Decisions to Stay in or Quit an NGO Using Neural Networks

This paper uses non-traditional approaches to predict why volunteers remain in or quit a non-governmental organisation position. A questionnaire featuring 55 predictors was conducted via an online survey mechanism from March to May 2021. A total of 250 responses were received. The subsequent data analysis compared logistic regression and artificial neural network results, using machine-learning interpreters to explain the features which determined decisions. The results indicate greater accuracy for neural networks. According to the logistic regression results, intrinsic motivation, volunteering through an NGO and the age of volunteers influenced the intention to remain. Moreover, NGOs that offered online volunteering opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic had higher rates of intention to remain. However, the neural network analysis, performed using the Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) method, indicated the need to consider different predictors to those identified by the logistic regression. The LIME method also enables the individualisation of the explanations of predictions, indicating the importance of considering the role of volunteers’ feelings in both quit and remain decisions, which is something that is not provided by traditional methods such as logistic regression. Furthermore, the LIME approach demonstrates that NGOs must address both volunteer management and experience to retain volunteers. Nonetheless, volunteer management is more critical to stop volunteers quitting, suggesting that volunteer integration is crucial.

‘SUKARELAWAN SECARA DALAM TALIAN’ (VIRTUAL VOLUNTEERING) DALAM KALANGAN PERTUBUHAN SUKARELA KEBAJIKAN (PSK) DI SABAH

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a major change in the implementation of volunteer activities. Obstacles to implement volunteer activities face to face had to be overcome by NGOs in their delivery of services. However, this situation has not prevented NGOs from continuing to deliver their services to the target group. NGOs are aware of the importance of delivering services to target groups, especially the elderly, children, people with disabilities, women and society in general. This situation has caused NGOs to have to adapt ‘online volunteering’ or known as Virtual Volunteering (VV) which has now been widely implemented throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the state of Sabah, the difficulty of internet access in the rural areas has not caused any obstacles for NGOs to continue their service in the emergency relief process. The Sabah Community Service Council is one of the bodies that coordinates and encourages Welfare Voluntary Organizations in Sabah to use VV in delivering services. A survey was conducted on the organizations registered with Sabah Community Service Council on their views in using VV during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection was conducted by using Google Form, involving a total of twenty-two (22) organizations. The findings of the survey have shown that five (5) organizations have successfully adapted ‘online volunteering’ or VV in helping the children and women, the elderly, the disabled and communities who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The role of volunteer experience on performance on online volunteering platforms

Online volunteering platforms allow humanitarian organizations (HOs) to recruit volunteers to work remotely on projects of varying urgency. While removing time and space constraints enables HOs to scale up their volunteer force, HOs must manage greater heterogeneity in volunteers' experience. We investigate empirically how volunteers' experience impacts two performance metrics on online volunteering platforms: project completion rate and volunteer retention. In addition, we examine the conditions under which experience becomes more relevant to project completion rate and retention. We collected a novel panel data set from the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Tasking Manager. Our data set includes 5,162 online volunteering projects with 2,169,683 contributions by 96,450 volunteers. Results from a panel regression model show that a project's completion rate improves in diminishing increments with the experience of the contributing volunteers. We further find that the effect of experience on project completion rate is contingent on the urgency of the project. Regarding retention, results from a parametric hazard model indicate that volunteers are incentivized to return to an online volunteering platform more quickly when they are closer to attaining a new experience‐based rank. However, we find that this effect weakens as volunteers gain experience. Overall, our study sheds light on volunteer management in an online context and offers operational insights on the recruitment and allocation of volunteers for HOs as well as online volunteering platforms.

간호대학생의 비대면 전공연계 요양원 봉사활동이 치매에 대한 태도에 미치는 효과

The purposes of this study were to introduce a case of online major-related nursing home volunteering during the COVID-19 Pandemic because face-to-face volunteer work was difficult, and also to identify the effects on improving attitudes toward dementia among nursing students.
 This study adopted a single group pre and post-test, a quasi-experimental design. The participants, third-year nursing students, had the Dementia Partner online education and were given orientation on the cognitive enhancement activities program. The participants planned a cognitive enhancement activities program for the elderly in nursing homes. Also they made a video clip to let the elderly know how to conduct the programs. The elderly in nursing home participated in the cognitive enhancement program together with the caregiver while watching the video clip made by nursing students. To identify the effect of the online major-related nursing home volunteering, attitudes toward dementia of students were measured before, and a month after the volunteering.
 The mean scores of attitudes toward dementia measured after the online major-related nursing home volunteering were significantly improved compared to the baseline. By subcategory, it was identified that the score of ‘social comfort’ related to behaviors and feelings of comfort around people with dementia increased significantly. However, there was no significant change in ‘dementia knowledge’.
 This study introduced specifically the case of online major-related nursing home volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic and confirmed there was effects on improving attitudes toward dementia of nursing students even though online volunteering. The education and experience of dementia could make professionals who will care for dementia patients in the future have a positive attitude toward dementia. As a result, it could play an important role in providing quality and safe services to people with dementia. The results of this study could provide a fundamental and practical strategy for online volunteering to contribute to solving social problems in the situation when online volunteering increases in quantity.

Developing as health professionals through community volunteering: exploring the value of a partnership between medical students and primary schools online compared to in-person

IntroductionImperial College Teddy Bear Hospital (ICSM-TBH) is a student-led volunteering group, which uses interactive, play-based teaching to educate school pupils aged 5–7 years about healthy lifestyles and healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteering sessions shifted online. The aim of this study was to compare the value of online and in-person ICSM-TBH volunteering for volunteers and school pupils.MethodsUndergraduate university students at Imperial College London (medicine can be taken as a first degree in the UK) who volunteered with ICSM-TBH between 2019 and 22 were invited to complete an anonymous online questionnaire evaluating their experiences of volunteering online and in-person through Likert-scale questions. Those who completed the questionnaire were also invited to an interview. Teachers who hosted online ICSM-TBH sessions were also invited to an in-person interview, exploring their view of their pupils’ experiences with these sessions. Questionnaire results were analysed through descriptive statistics. Interviews were analysed through inductive thematic analysis.ResultsThirty-two university students completed the questionnaire. Of these, 9 experienced both in-person and online volunteering, all of whom preferred in-person volunteering. For those who only volunteered in-person, 92% reported that ICSM-TBH sessions were a positive experience, compared to 100% who volunteered online; 92% in person volunteers agreed or strongly agreed that ICSM-TBH volunteering in person improved their mood, compared to 89% online; and 100% agreed or strongly agreed that ICSM-TBH volunteering in person helped them feel part of a community, compared to 84% online. A total of 12 volunteers and 4 teachers were interviewed, from whom five themes emerged: interaction and engagement (interaction and engagement between pupils and volunteers was more readily achieved in-person); personal and professional development (both online and in-person sessions enabled volunteers to gain valuable skills); community and social (greater sense of community was established in-person); emotional wellbeing and enjoyment (both modalities were enjoyed by volunteers and pupils); and workload (online sessions were more convenient for volunteers but with risk of screen fatigue).ConclusionOverall, both in-person and online volunteering were of substantial benefit to volunteers and school pupils. However, most teachers and volunteers preferred in-person volunteering.

Where experts and amateurs meet: the ideological hobby of medical volunteering on Wikipedia

The following paper advances our understanding of online volunteering in the medical context, through the study of Wikipedia volunteers who edit medical topics. It employs the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) model to study volunteers' motivations through a survey carried out in 2021 (N=74). It highlights the importance of the non-traditional VFI dimensions of "fun" and "ideology" which have not been adequately discussed in the context of medical volunteering. The findings also show that Wikipedia volunteers who edit medical topics are older, more gender-balanced, and better educated than typical Wikipedia volunteers from a decade ago. Many are medical professionals, and their significant involvement helps to explain the above-average quality of Wikipedia medical topics. Conversely, the study reveals the need for more experts to engage with Wikipedia. Lack of volunteers, in particular, experts, and inadequate support from professional institutions, are identified as main reasons for problems in Wikipedia's quality.

A Conceptual Model of Online Volunteering Attaining Work-Family Balance

A virtual health community in which doctors established various forms of information and communication technologies (ICT) facilitated platforms has created new opportunities for doctors' engagement. Doctors are increasingly using the Internet to volunteer as an alternative to traditional face-to-face volunteering since it allows work to be done in a variety of settings and arrangements. The debate over this form of virtual work, on the other hand, has inspired a slew of studies that look into issues such as the blurring of work-life boundaries. The aim of this study is to assess the experience of doctors who utilized ICT to perform online volunteering by examining the strategies that helps them to negotiate the border around their work and family life to attain a sense equilibrium. This study used case study research design and methodology. This paper presents a conceptual model for assessing online volunteer work-family balance. The model underpins the Clark's work-family Border theory and the potential to incorporate the cyber domain into a framework that highlights the gaps in existing literature on work-family and ICT. Researchers can use this model to further their understanding of virtual borders, which is crucial for integrating ICT into the work and home environment in order to achieve a better work-family balance, especially among those who engaged on online platforms.

An analytical View from the Perspective of Method Community Organization of the Reality of Women's Volunteer Work in the Emirate of Ajman in the U.A.E

The study aims to identify the reality of women's volunteer work in the Emirate of Ajman in the UAE from the perspective of the way the society is organized by identifying the characteristics of volunteers, the nature of volunteer services, the reasons that drive Emirati women to volunteer, conditions, forms of volunteering, and the obstacles for women to practice volunteer and exit with recommendations that contribute to raising the level of a female volunteer in the Emirate of Ajman. The study used the descriptive survey method using the case study for 90 volunteers in charitable societies in the Emirate of Ajman. The important results of the study are that the largest age group of volunteers was between the ages of 30-40, and they obtained Highly qualified and most of their volunteer services were in the local area, and the most motivating reasons for their volunteer was their high confidence in their abilities to help, and the most important conditions for their volunteering is the availability of sufficient time with a measure of good health to do the required effort, and the most their favorite forms of volunteer are online volunteering. The important difficulty from their point of view is the lack of awareness of the importance of volunteering for a large number of girls of the current generation. The important recommendations of the study are the need to work on establishing a center for voluntary rehabilitation. It specializes in raizing their level of performance to solve the problems their societies

Making Space for Garbage Cans: How emergent groups organize social media spaces to orchestrate widescale helping in a crisis

During the Covid-19 pandemic, citizens self-organized at an unprecedented scale to support vulnerable people in neighbourhoods, towns and cities. Drawing on an in-depth study of an online volunteering group that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic and helped thousands of people in a city in the United Kingdom, we unpack how citizens co-construct social media spaces to orchestrate helping activity during a crisis. Conceptualizing a novel synthesis of classical garbage can theory and virtual space, we reveal how emergent groups use ‘spatial partitioning’ and ‘spatial mapping’ to create a multi-layered spatial architecture that distributes decision-making and invites impromptu choice occasions: spontaneous matchmaking, proximal chance connects and speculative attraction. Our insights extend the study of emergent organizing and decision-making in crises. Furthermore, we advance a new line of theorizing which exploits garbage can theory, beyond its existing application in classical decision sciences, to posit a spatial view of organizing that paves the way for its novel applications in organization studies.

Standby Ties that Mobilize: Social Media Platforms and Civic Engagement.

Nonprofit organizations and groups depend on donations and volunteers for their survival. Digital media can help by offering a platform for making online donations and facilitating online volunteering, but also by identifying and connecting with people who are sympathetic to an organization's mission. This article employs four-country (USA, UK, France, and Canada) representative survey data (n = 6291) to examine the use of social media for establishing connections between citizens and organizations as well as the relationship of these connections to online and offline volunteering and donating. Across all social media platforms considered (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), I find significant positive correlations of following nonprofits with online and offline volunteering and donating. However, Facebook has a slightly larger role, which may be attributed to its overall popularity, which can incentivize organizations' more intense use of this platform.

How Volunteer Commitment Differs in Online and Offline Environments

The contemporary media environment transforms the organization-volunteer relationship by attenuating the formation of organizational belonging, often thought to be the result of direct interactions and face-to-face meetings. We examine and compare factors that influence offline and online volunteering. We investigate the ties for communicating about volunteering that bind individuals to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and the ways that multiple levels of identification influence volunteer commitment to these NPOs. Using structural equation modeling, the results from an online survey of 816 volunteers suggest that online volunteers, unlike offline volunteers, are not motivated to volunteer more by exclusive relationships with organizational members or their volunteer identity. Their volunteering is related to their communication ties with both members and nonmembers and their identification with both the organization and the social issue. We discuss implications regarding how the changed dynamics in online volunteering complicates the traditional organization-volunteer relationship.

DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS IN THE CONDITION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE COMMUNITIES, NEIGHBORING TO THE AREA OF THE JOINT FORCED OPERATION IN THE EAST OF UKRAINE

Volunteering is popular among young people in Ukraine. This is especially important for the communities, neighboring the area of the Joint Forces Operation in the East of Ukraine. However, one of the current challenges for the volunteer program development has been quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main goal of the article is to analyze the participation of young people in volunteer programs during the quarantine restrictions related to COVID-19, in the communities neighboring the area of the Joint Forces Operation in the East of Ukraine. The authors of the study used the "rapid appraisal" technique. Thus, in May 2020, the authors interviewed 22 representatives of state and non-government organizations of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine which implemented youth volunteer projects. The study revealed challenges caused by quarantine restrictive measures which have been grouped by authors into two groups: organizational and methodological. The answers of the respondents provided the basis to identify the positive outcomes caused by the change of the usual format of youth volunteer programs and its development: mastering of distant forms of communication by employees; development of qualitatively new ideas and introducing training programs for volunteers; increasing the ability to use the Internet to promote volunteer programs; practicing online volunteering.

Volunteering online – today’s challenges

The article examines the issue of online volunteering in Ukraine and the world as a whole. The concepts of volunteering and e-volunteering are defined. Current data is presented on the state of volunteering in Ukraine amidst the pandemic according to the survey «Volunteering during quarantine», which took place in August 2020. 4148 respondents from all over Ukraine took part in the survey. The study was conducted by U-Report - an international youth project of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The focus is on available online resources for potential volunteers in response to the challenges of volunteering activities that have arisen on quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following online opportunities are described: Ukrainian Volunteer Service, Ukraїner, National Holodomor Museum with the initiative to digitize the history of eyewitnesses to the events of that time, the #FINDWAY project.
 One type of remote volunteering is considered to be hotlines; the My Telephone Friend project, the Children's National Hotline of the La Strada-Ukraine International Women's Human Rights Center, the free Legal Aid Hotline, and others.
 The «Fundamentals of Volunteering» course of the all-Ukrainian Public Center «Volunteer» is analyzed, which has online lectures in the format of picture-links: volunteering, who a volunteer is, the skills and abilities of a volunteer, volunteer opportunities.
 The English-language book The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook by D. Kravens and S. J. Ellis is examined, which addresses how to successfully lead online volunteers and develop virtual volunteer assignments, from microvolunteering to long-term projects.
 The content of the report «Are technologies capable of opening access to volunteering instead of creating new barriers?», which was considered during the Global Technical Meeting 2020 on Voluntary Activities, is analyzed.