Tech-Related Volunteer Gigs

jeffomatic writes "Here's a question for Service Day: what kind of volunteer opportunities are available out there for the technologically-inclined? I'm a software developer and I'm wondering if there's anyone in the field engaged in pro-bono work, like IT or teaching or web design or whatnot. I'm not at all above rolling my sleeves up and working at shelters or the local park, but it occurs to me that my professional skills might be usefully applied in the service context as well. I'd like to hear about what other people are doing, in terms of projects, time commitments, organizations, etc." Or just commit a patch to your favorite project.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[flaming error]

That's a great idea, and it's also true for many charities. Pick your favorite, call them up, and talk to them. I volunteered to do database stuff for the local Habitat for Humanity.

non profits

[lucifuge31337]

All small non profits (women's shelters, food banks, volunteer fire departments, etc) always need someone who can do basic PC maintenance, install software, generally help them USE their computers with a little bit of training, and fix things. I used to do the service work on the PCs, network, and copier at a local woman's shelter when I was in the repair business. It was one of my freebies that I did simply because I was asked.

Try Craiglist:

[toby]

Volunteer dev in Toronto [craigslist.ca]

tech related, but not necessarily software related

[tloh]

Perhaps not directly relevent to your career background, but amateur radio operators (HAMs) have played a time honored role in coordinating communication for marathons and other very spread out public events. If you happen to have some back ground in anything related to communication technology, I'm sure the local HAM club would be glad to have you, regardless of your morse coding speed (or lack thereof).

The traditional thing for nerds to do...

[DavidTC]

...is to volunteer to do tech for local theatres and music venues.

But if you want to actually do computer work, all your local non-profits could stand to have someone come in and work on their computers. Seriously. Half their security software will be expired, their systems will be loaded with spyware, it's a mess, even worse than a random individual computer's. They have no IT, they do not train their workers, and they have a large amount of people using each computer. It's a recipe for disaster.

They almost always already have someone doing their website, which is usually a local webdesign firm doing it for free for PR and it's always somewhat half-assed because the non-profit isn't a 'real' customer. So it's hard to convince them to use you instead.

As for teaching, contact your local library. They hold classes on basic computer usage, although only do this if you're incredibly patient. These are essentially people with no computer skills at all who want to know how to do 'email'.

Commetment?

[DoofusOfDeath]

I had a similar urge some years back, so I volunteered at the local Habitat for Humanity office. They had some need for simple IT work, and I probably could have done just fine.

But... then I got busy with other stuff. And I found my passion for helping people wasn't consistent. Before long I handed back my office key. They probably put more effort into getting me up to speed than they ever recouped from my help.

I think this makes it hard to do good volunteer IT work. Much IT work benefits greatly from low turnover, as opposed to picking up garbage in a park, where turnover rate probably is irrelevant.

So I guess my advice is to avoid talking up your usefulness to the people you're trying to help, until you're sure you'll have the interest and free time to really stick with it. On the other hand, even IT people can still pick up garbage in the park.

Re:A few things come to mind

[DavidTC]

You could volunteer and show a few elderly individuals how to use a computer.

If you want to do this, the place to get in contact with is your local library. They'll either do the classes themselves, or know who to contact at the local school system's 'continuing education', which is the other place that might be doing it.

Re:School

[mhall119]

As an aside, anybody with experience customizing Ubuntu Live/Install CDs, we can use your help. Contact email is on the website.

Culture Shock

[Punk CPA]

You don't even need to deploy the most advanced technology. A medical student I know created an Access database for a clinic in Zambia that brought huge efficiencies and may have saved lives. The staff there learned to use it because he modeled the input screens on the paper forms they were used to.

Also, think about installing (and maintaining!) QuickBooks or some other accounting package. The key to helping them is to always keep in mind that you are not dealing with computer specialists. Keep it simple. Make yourself available to set up new machines, install software, and answer questions. How about volunteering for their board of trustees?

Just be aware that the not-for-profit world is significantly different from one where there is the intention and hope of making money. Things happen slowly and progress takes unanticipated routes. War stories available upon request.

Computers for classrooms

[Raconteur]

My community operates a Computers For Classrooms program, a recycling effort driven by an all-volunteer force. They're partnered with the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program and others, including the IRS (for tax-exempt status). It is a very successful program, providing not only the hardware to schools but it also serves as a revenue stream for the school district by providing a recycling outlet for tech parts. http://www.computersforclassrooms.org/Whatdo.htm [computersf...srooms.org] I work there a few hours a week, as do many of my peers. I think it is a great model for other communities.

In UK...

[CaptainOfSpray]

I'm volunteering (in between contracts) at my local Citizens Advice Bureau. Mixed Win 2003/SUSE servers, Win XP desktops, 8-10 permanent staff, 50+ volunteers. I recently achieved Linux Professional certification and wanted somewhere to gain rela-life experience. This is working out fine for me - fun, some challenges, and satisfying.

Re:Commetment?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perfectly stated. I was in that same position, but I was able to convince my "real job" to let me work hours that allowed me to dedicate 2 hours a day to volunteer or charity work. Some days I work on personal software projects, some days I just go home early... but if anyone at my charity needs me, I have a couple of hours each day set aside to help them out.

Your local animal shelter is a good spot

[stokessd]

I helped the local Humane Society get their records modernized using Animal Shelter Manager (http://sheltermanager.sourceforge.net/home.php). The sysadmin there was feeling a bit out of his depth with setting up the SQL database and such. It was easy work, and made a real tangible difference. I love these sort of freebies too, where there is a task with a clear end.

1) I installed the software.
2) Installed and configured the mySQL on their little server.
3) Got the tables setup
4) Trained the sysadmin on what I'd done and how to maintain/backup the system
5) Got the software installed on the desktops with his help
6) Backed out of the picture
7) No Profit

Sheldon

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program

[MountainLogic]

On a broader level consider http://www.unv.org/ [unv.org] the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program.

Vietnam Opportunities Exist Right Now

[whataburger]

I am helping lead an initiative for a non-profit to install computer labs in 60 schools in Vietnam starting this year. This will impact about 10,000 kids and 1,200 teachers.

As of two weeks ago, Vietnam has announced that they will be going 100% open source by next year. I am looking for anybody who has interest and experience in Linux/BSD/FOSS who can build machines, train, help develop curricula, build infrastructure (Web, Mail, DNS, VPN, file sharing (NFS, Samba), etc.) and even do some software development for student management.

I also need hardware. We have not been able to get any funds yet for the equipment save the one guy who has donated an entire lab (10 PCs, network printer and server). Anyone who is willing to donate equipment or money for equipment would be a big help.

The sky's the limit. We are hoping to take our first trip out around May or June to install the prototype lab. We have the complete cooperation of the Vietnamese government, and they are waiting for us to do something.

If you are interested in helping, send mail to [e-mail].

Re:Vietnam Opportunities Exist Right Now

[Atheose]

I have a lot of older P4 machines that aren't special but they run fine. I'm located in Virginia; would you pay for shipping? If you're located within a reasonable distance I wouldn't mind driving them to you.

Re:There are many choices

[GlL]

One of the choices here in Portland is FreeGeek. They build PCs for folks and offer classes in open source usage.

http://www.freegeek.org/ [freegeek.org]

Re:Oblig Joker Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

So not true.

http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/taxes/deductions.shtml#q2

Local Volunteer Fire Department

[firetech47]

I have volunteered my time with a local volunteer fire department for about 12 years now. I work full time as a systems administrator for a large network and donate my time to them for because their service is very valuable to my community. Fire departments all over the country are required to submit reports to their state and the federal government to be eligible for grants, etc. There is a lot of data collected for that and has to be submitted electronically in most places. If the your local department does not have the IT and database expertise in-house, they could be missing out on a lot of opportunities for funding from the federal government that could save the local taxpayers a lot of money.

Re:A few things come to mind

[rickb928]

Uh, no.

My wife's mom is 89 years old. She is working with her eeePC just fine, thank you despite having only these resources:

- A neighbor who had one - her neighbor is not a tech-savvy geek, but someone who's 55 herself and happens to live upstairs. And taught herself how to use the eee... Scary, but she did.

- Never, repeat NEVER used a keyboard before. Voicemail on her cellphone scared her somewhat.

- Never even *saw* the Internet unless one of her daughters brought their notebook over to show her pictures of the great-grandkids.

Since her apt complex put in WiFi, several other residents have gotten various machines. How she manages with the eee is beyond me, but she pecks away at it, and I get emails from her. She even gets the whole video thing. We may have started something....

No one is too old. That's beyond bogus. Stupid knows no age.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[PaintyThePirate]

Very true. I help run a student organization [cmustoc.org] that helps non-profits with their technology needs. Literally every non-profit we talk to has some kind of technology problem or need, from designing a new website to simple things like figuring out how to network a printer. Call up a few local ones and see where they need help.

You might also want to check places like TechSoup [techsoup.org], where non-profits would look for tech help.

I Hack Charities

[cypherwise]

You may want to check out the I Hack Charities [ihackcharities.org] project. It was started by Johnny Long (the No Tech Hacking talk/book). Money was raised for an organization in Kenya and the Columbia Area Linux Users Group is looking to help out by donating some servers and getting some donated rack space/bandwidth to help out.

Re:Or

[spinkham]

You laugh, but there is a Hackers for Charity [hackersforcharity.org], and it's an awesome organization.

Portable apps are handy here

[Krishnoid]

If you do find yourself in a position to work on or repair unfamiliar Windows installations, you might want to consider putting together a toolkit of portable applications on a flash drive or a usb pocket drive. This would allow you to spend more of your time debugging and repairing windows systems and less time installing support software or struggling with their generic counterparts.

Some useful sites I've found are:

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx [microsoft.com]
• http://www.nirsoft.net/ [nirsoft.net]
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/31/portable-wscc-simplifies-access-to-sysinternals-nirsoft-utiliti/ [downloadsquad.com]
• http://portableapps.com/ [portableapps.com]
• http://portablefreeware.com/ [portablefreeware.com]
• http://www.getusb.info/55-portable-apps-for-making-a-usb-super-stick/ [getusb.info]
• http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/ [makeuseof.com]
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/02/24-killer-portable-apps-for-your-usb-flash-drive/2 [downloadsquad.com]
• http://www.emergingtechs.com/posts/35-portable-applications-every-tech-needs/ [emergingtechs.com]
• http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/21/15-portable-apps-to-help-troubleshoot-pcs/ [simplehelp.net]

Using mostly these sites, I've come up with a very useful collection of apps and utilities totalling under 2Gb, which easily fits on a flash drive with room to spare for data. One example is winaudit [pxserver.com], which will generate an extensive report when run on a pc. You can save the reports on various pcs to your flash drive in various formats (pdf, html, text, csv), bring them home, and go over them in more detail to see what needs to be fixed or updated on the various pcs you encountered.

Re:non profits

[ozarkcanoer]

For the past 10 years I have been doing computer support volunteer work for a state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization which has chapters in all states. I order, install, maintain software and hardware, train staff (about 30 people) throughout the state. Most states have a full time or at least part time person doing this work and at certain times of the year when big software updates have to be done could use volunteer assistance. Look up your state's locations at nature.org/ and give them a call.