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.

Comments

Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[gandhi_2]

...i bet could really use some simple PHP+xSQL database for scheduling and stuff.

Most small non-profits keep records in a smattering of paper and undocumented excel sheets, they could really use your IT expertise.

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.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[rtconner]

Well I'd say websites in general. There are many non-profits who I'm sure could use a good website and/or hosting and maintenance. That is probably the number one way us nerds can donate our skills.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[MoonBuggy]

It's definitely a nice idea, and I don't want to be discouraging, but keep continuing support in mind - both generally (can you commit to keeping it patched and secure for the next x amount of time?) and in emergencies (they're relying on the system, it goes down, how much of a problem is that going to cause them and how are they going to get it fixed?).

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[bigsexyjoe]

It sounds good, but it doesn't leverage any IT skills. I think the poster would like to manage a database that controls the schedule of when people suck your cock, for example.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[mobby_6kl]

I've heard of this website that would surely welcome volunteers who are good with perl and SQL. Have a look at this, I'm confident someone here would be able to contribute something useful. They have a development-related blog here

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[PaintyThePirate]

Very true. I help run a student organization 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, where non-profits would look for tech help.

Re:Your local free/reduced medical clinic..

[sortius_nod]

Agreed, I used to work for 2 different non-profit orgs in Newcastle, NSW, Australia when I lived there... was tough times, hard to find work, so I just gave my expertise to these people. I received about 6 months worth of work fixing computers, replacing equipment for cheaper to run, more efficient equipment, or even just making sure their security was up to scratch (easy to do as they were all running *nix distros of different flavours).

Any org will jump at the chance of a free techie, the reason being that most of the time the parts cost much less than the techie. Case in point: a graphics card dies in a machine, the card costs A$100 (cheap card, rip-off pricing), the tech will cost at minimum A$200-A$250. For most non-profits that's a "dead machine" scenario where they lose a computer, printer, etc, due to the cost of repair.

The other end of the spectrum would be as has been said in databasing, maybe even software development, or even teaching workshops - there are quite a few tech orientated non-profits out there that need people from the industry to run workshops or hold group discussions with youth/out of work people.

A few things come to mind

[Dyinobal]

A few things come to mind. You could volunteer and show a few elderly individuals how to use a computer. That sort of thing can be very frustrating or very rewarding depending on who you teach and how patient you are. You could also work on open source projects that aid the disabled. Then there is things like helping an old lady sell her stuff on ebay instead of say a garage sale. I know a lot of elderly folks have many things just laying around collecting dust and could use the extra income. Just a few ideas, I'm sure others will come up with some more inventive things.

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:A few things come to mind

[vortex2.71]

"You will exert all of this effort to teach an individual who is really past their learning stage a skill that requires a huge amount of infrastructure...I definitely would go for teaching young children, who would benefit (and need it) more and also be more receptive to technology. "

Yes but there is always the chance that the person you teach to use the computer will reward you handsomely in their will. Young kids are much less likely to die before you and to acquire a lot of wealth to leave you if they die before you. Hee hee.

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:A few things come to mind

[WillKemp]

You will exert all of this effort to teach an individual who is really past their learning stage a skill that requires a huge amount of infrastructure. Furthermore, it opens them up to all kinds of online scams.

Nah, that's nonsense. It depends entirely on the individual involved. I guess you must be in your teens or something, and think that everyone over 40 is practically dead!

Helping old people get to grips with computers and the internet is a very good idea. It can make the difference between a lonely old age, without much interaction with other people, and a life that continues to be interesting and rewarding, maybe even after their eyesight has deteriorated so badly they need to use a screen reader.

The most important thing to remember when teaching old people how to use this stuff is to write everything down, in simple steps - on paper - and encourage them to stick it on the wall near their computer or something. They'll be referring to it constantly.

Re:A few things come to mind

[Roblimo]

My wife and I (both 56) are moving into a 55+ mobile home park here in Florida. Before we even bought, my wife helped one of the 80-ish neighbor ladies change a printer ink cartridge. Then she helped another one hook up a new keyboard. Now they're offering to pay her, because they were all paying GeekSquad and similar rip operations $75+ per service call for seriously easy computer tasks. Debbie won't take their money, but I'll tell you... we have some of the nicest home-sewn curtains you ever saw for our new bedroom, and some of these ladies are insanely great bakers.

Without a working computer, how can grandma in Florida carry on webcam conversations with grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Michigan or Indiana? And without a working printer, how can she print out the latest gr-g-kid's drawing and put it on her refrigerator?

Also, a lot of these people are perfectly capable of learning to do most of this on their own if someone is willing to teach them instead of sneering at them for being old.

Just being neighborly, you know?

- Robin

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.

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.

Small Open Source project

[tomtomtom777]

CmdrTaco gave you the answer.

If you want to work pro-bono, why don't you just start working on an open source project, that's not big enough to pay you yet?

Simple question. Simple answer.

There are many choices

[MerlynEmrys67]

Depends. I prefer education so it is volunteering for a regional science fair as a judge and giving classroom presentations for National Engineering and Technitians Month (NET Month)out here.
I actually prefer donating labor to the environment through the local park & rec. department. Gives me a chance to get out in the big blue room and move some dirt around through tree planting, landscape maintenance and other things I don't do on a regular basis but are actually kinda fun for a day project.

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/

Try Craiglist:

[toby]

Volunteer dev in Toronto

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.

tons of opportunities out there

[plopez]

I've posted a number of times on this topic. It's a good way to get tech skills and references if you are in school or just out of school and need experience.

Start googling groups in you community.

No kill animal shelters need people to maintain donor databases and websites. As do public radio stations. Non-profit recycling centers/thrift stores often need people to wipe and reload computers (and make sure they have the right licenses). Low income schools need tech instructors.

I've done the tech instructor gig and the thrift store gig over the years. As far as time goes, volunteers are often given large amounts of flexibility. After all, you are not getting paid.

You should check out the organization carefully, interview them per se. Make sure they are serious and high quality. Don't let them dump all their work on you.

If you are doing it for the resume avoid anything too closely tied with political, religous or controversial topics. As the joke goes, explaining why you did volunteer work for the North American Marlon Brando Look-alikes Association may be embarrassing.

HTH

refurb and donate computers

[suzuri]

My brother used to collect peoples old and rejected computers, make sure they worked, clean of the hard drives, set up an operating system, and then give them to a kind of "after school help kids with their homework" place. Computers get recycled, Kids get tools they need.

Help people with data collection/reporting setups

[spasm]

My local needle exchange (don't start flaming, they're people volunteering their time to improve the health of their fellow citizens, regardless of what you think of drug use or how best to respond to it) has a couple of contracts with City and State health departments that they need to do a lot of data reporting for (how many clients, how many referrals, etc) which they were collecting slowly and tediously using paper records, then wasting even more time on every three months collating the data to send to the funder. I wrote them a simple php frontend to a mysql database to let them enter data as they go, which then automatically generates the quarterly data files they need to submit to funders, freeing them up to concentrate more on service delivery (and giving them a better sense of how their service was running as a nice side effect).

Most non-profits I've seen in the past five years are using woeful data collection methods; almost any of them would be eternally grateful if someone would spend a few days or weeks to set something up and then maintained it on a volunteer basis.

On a shameless plug note, the abovementioned non-profit needs a new home for its 1U server - if you're in the San Francisco bay area and can donate rackspace & connectivity, drop me a line.

Re:School

[mhall119]

Anybody interested in going this route, as I have, can get a Linux distro targeted towards children (3yrs and up) that runs well on donated second hand PCs.

http://www.quinncoincorporated.org/

We are currently helping others across the country setup their own local initiatives.

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.

Re:Or

[JeanBaptiste]

Johnny's village was too poor to afford basic necessities like clean water, food, and medicine. Thanks to h4x0rz without borders, they were able to set up a 10k client botnet which they used to run Nigerian-style scams. Now they have the things they need to live like water, food, medicine, and satellite TV. You can help a village just like Johnny's, join h4x0rz without borders today!

Old People

[Samschnooks]

I have noticed that a lot of old folks are thrilled with the internet because they can keep in touch with their kids and grand kids - they just love it! Some do have an issue with the technology and some are just intimidated by it. Anyway, volunteering at your local senior center and help them set up an email account or set up a video camera. And maybe instructing them on the hazards: both real and phony.

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 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.

Oblig Joker Quote

[Coraon]

"If your good at something never do it for free." Personally I will freely give my time to things like collecting items for a shelter but I would not do programing for free.

Re:Oblig Joker Quote

[Rary]

If your good at something never do it for free.

I can't even begin to comprehend that idea.

Seriously. If I'm good at something, it's likely because I've put a lot of time and effort into perfecting it. If I've put a lot of time and effort into perfecting it, it's likely because I enjoy doing it. If I enjoy doing it, then I will do it every chance I can get.

I'm a software developer because I love doing it. I get paid to do it, but I also do it in some of my spare time for free, and I'll happily do it for others who want me to do it for them.

I also play guitar for free, fly planes for free, and have sex for free.

Re:Oblig Joker Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

And that is why sometimes you shouldn't take advice from comic book villains.

Re:Oblig Joker Quote

[homer_s]

If I enjoy doing it, then I will do it every chance I can get.

In that case, you should do it somewhere you will get paid and then you can donate the money to the charity.
That is much more efficient than donating your skills to a charity. The assumption of course, is that a business can make better use of your skills than a charity - or, in other words, if you are a high priced SAP consultant, you are better off earning $300 for an hours work and donating that money to get some PHP dev to work for the charity.

It is just the principle of 'comparative advantage'.

Re:Oblig Joker Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

So not true.

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

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

Re:MatchIT -- Addendum

[Rary]

Actually, if you're in another country, why not put your time into organizing something similar to MatchIT and IT4Communities.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program

[MountainLogic]

On a broader level consider http://www.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 whataburgermeister@gmail.com.

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:Service Day? WTF?

[megamerican]

You make a very valid point. Forcing people to do "volunteer" work is ridiculous. It has the opposite effect that is desired. It makes people hate to help others because it is forced. It is counter-productive to force high-school kids to do menial tasks and call it volunteer work.

However, when you have a certain skill set, such as programming or fixing computers, etc... and you help out people who genuinely need it it is extremely rewarding.

I found this out when tutoring people in college. Of course I did it for money, but I found out that I genuinely enjoyed helping people and now do it for free.

I find this call by Obama and Rahm Emanuel towards "national service" very troubling. His constant call for "sacrifice" and "serving" gets me worried. Instead of holding the people accountable for creating this financial mess we're just expected to become wards of the state. Was Aldous Huxley right when he said people will love their servitude? I sure hope not.

Re:If you're interested, there are

[Zsub]

You have time to post on /. so get working on the conversion, you lazy clod!

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.

Donate your time.

[MjrWoody]

At my old job (a 12 person IT consulting firm) we closed down the entire shop in order to donate all our time to fixing up a local non-profits computer network. Perhaps a phone call to your favorite local charity group to see if they have any computer issues that could use some fixing.

Robotics mentor

[unkbar]

I work as a volunteer software mentor for the local high school robotics club. It's part of the FIRST robotics program (www.usfirst.org). It inspires kids to careers in science and technology, and makes better use of my 30+ years of software development than, say, picking up litter on the highway or toting 2x4's for Habitat.

Re:Service Day? WTF?

[ceiling9]

I think you are taking this a way too seriously. First, no one is forcing anyone, or even really compelling anyone to volunteer, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to, with no negative effects whatsoever.

I think the goal is just to make a time where it is more socially acceptably and when people are encouraged to do volunteer work. Many people might have a slight interest, or be unsure of how to get involved, so maybe this day will make that easier, and make them realize how to volunteer more often, out of their own free will.

The same goes for requiring some community service in school. In real life no-one can make you volunteer, but they also can't make you write papers or finish assignments. In school, you get grades for learning, and trying out some volunteer work can be educational.

Just commit a patch?

[Gord.ca]

I'm sorry to take exception to a key tennant of open source theory, but I just don't think its so simple to 'just' commit a patch.

I see contributing to a project as involving a significant commitment. In my thinking, high quality patches require the developer to have a fairly high level of understanding of the internals of the project and the local coding conventions. If the contributor doesn't have this, the patch will need significant rework from someone who does, or the codebase will get ugly fast.

If I'm being too much of a perfectionist please tell me.

I'm a software developer who'd love to contribute to some of the major projects, but I see the personal commitment to positive effect ratio as prohibitive.

I Hack Charities

[cypherwise]

You may want to check out the I Hack Charities 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, 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
• http://www.nirsoft.net/
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/31/portable-wscc-simplifies-access-to-sysinternals-nirsoft-utiliti/
• http://portableapps.com/
• http://portablefreeware.com/
• http://www.getusb.info/55-portable-apps-for-making-a-usb-super-stick/
• http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/
• http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/02/24-killer-portable-apps-for-your-usb-flash-drive/2
• http://www.emergingtechs.com/posts/35-portable-applications-every-tech-needs/
• http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/21/15-portable-apps-to-help-troubleshoot-pcs/

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, 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.

Your local Public Library

[Vertig0gitreV]

I am willing to bet that your local Public Library would be most welcoming to the concept of pro-bono tech support for their most likely ageing/not updated/not virus protected public computer terminals as well as some TLC for their network infrastructure. Many Public Libraries have been forced drastically scale back their services to the public. Offering up your time to help them keep their systems running/patched/protected and their network functional would be a huge help to them.

I have, over the past ten years, helped the Public Library in my home town, set up 10 new publically accessible internet/work (office and other productivity programs) terminals (Mix of Dells), a youth computing room (Apple Mac Minis), new staff computers (Dells), as well as help educate them on how to maintain, patch, update, and create regular ghost images of the systems to allow for restores. Not only are they grateful, but the people of my home town are happy because they have one of the most technologically sound libraries in the surrounding area. It didn't take a lot of work, but has been immensely rewarding.

Re:Or

[fluffernutter]

THanks man.. I just assigned my first mod point because this is the first time I've laughed out loud at a slashdot comment.