Microvolunteering: How You Can Help From Your Smartphone

So what exactly is microvolunteering?

Microvolunteering is a way of helping others by volunteering your time in short, convenient chunks, which can be done anywhere, anytime. There’s no training needed and it doesn’t require any ongoing commitment.

One of the biggest reasons people don’t volunteer is a lack of spare time, and although microvolunteering can’t replace traditional methods it’s a useful way to make an impact and change somebody’s life for the better.

What does it involve?

The vast majority of microvoluteering takes place online – estimated to be around 80% – but can also involve visiting a lonely neighbour, helping to weed your local community centre garden or making toys for rescue cats.

The two main types of online microvolunteering tend to be skilled, one-off tasks and unskilled repeatable tasks. These bite-sized activities take from one to 30 minutes, and there are hundreds to choose from – think signing online petitions, retweeting messages, writing blog posts and creating Pinterest boards.

How can you do it?

For online microvolunteering options, Crowdcrafting has a large selection of simple tasks you can do from the comfort of your sofa. While those looking to put their professional skills to good use should check out Skills for Change. 

Be My Eyes is an innovative platform allowing volunteers around the globe to help visually impaired people with things like reading expiry dates on food via live video chats. Elbi is a digital volunteering app co-founded by supermodel Natalia Vodianova, allowing users to discover and support inspiring charities. And Zooniverse enables everyone to take part in cutting-edge research and contribute to real discoveries across the sciences and humanities.

Age UK’s Call in Time service – providing free friendship calls for the over-60s – is easy to sign up to and makes a real difference. All you need is 30 minutes a week to spend chatting to an older person on the phone, and you’ll be matched to someone with similar interests and hobbies.

As for microvolunteering outside of your home, CauseCorps lists meet-up events in major cities. Like to run, walk or cycle? Charity Miles is the app turning all those activities into charitable donations. Choose from over 30 of the world’s top charities and start logging miles – each time you run, you’ll earn money for your chosen organisation courtesy of the app’s corporate sponsors.

For more information, visit MicroVolunteeringDay.com