Online Volunteering

While on the job hunt, I wanted to make some new connections, work for a good cause and keep my skills sharp. So I sought out an online volunteer opportunity on a platform that shall not be named. I was able to meet with a founder and take on a request right away. Their request was for a review of their current website, and the designs for a new sister website targeted at a different audience and providing a sister service. I dove in, prepping a Figma board of ideas, reviewing their website, and mocking up a new design. I reached out for initial feedback on what I’d created and did not hear anything for some time. I reached out again within the platform. Crickets. Despite multiple follow-ups, it became clear that I was ghosted.

This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced this with online platforms, and I felt I’d wasted my time on something that the recipient perhaps didn’t need or find important. So, I shifted gears, focusing on local projects and paid opportunities where I can see the real impact firsthand and where I can go to a location to interface with the people if they try to disappear.

This experience taught me that while online volunteering is appealing and the onboarding time can be greatly reduced, things that come easy often go away easily and if there’s not much skin in the game, the other party can easily flake.