The role of iT4Communities:
• 3rd Sector • IT Sector • WCIT • BCS • Intellect • Accenture • Fujitsu • Nominet • Ford • Appichar • Salesforce • Microsoft • Girl Geeks • Community groups • Charities • Social enterprises • Working with: •Homelessness •Youth projects •Environment issuesWhy are IT volunteers needed?
Charities, community groups and social
enterprises need and use IT to be efficient and effective
• But …
– Lack of resources – equipment, money, time and skills
– Specialist skills but not IT
– Volunteer run, part time workers – Digital divide
“the nonprofit sector is
increasingly central to
the health and
well-being of society”
iT4Communities in facts and figures:
• 5,500 registered volunteers
• Over 2,500 UK charities, community groups and voluntary organisations have received, or are receiving, our services.
• We deliver value to the voluntary sector at the rate of over £750,000 per year
• We are very cost effective - for every £1 spent £4 of support is given to charities.
Every month on average we have:
• 55 new volunteer opportunities published on the website
• 70 new volunteers registering • 126 hours of volunteer work
Who are iT4C’s Volunteers?
Our volunteers are all IT Professionals
We ask that they have:
• One year's IT experience with relevant IT qualifications OR
• Three years' IT experience without relevant qualifications
• We have 5,500 Volunteers on our database
• All have different skills and different reasons for sharing their time and talent
The faces of iT4Communities:
Where are iT4C’s Volunteers?
Our volunteers come from all over the UK
• They are concentrated in urban areas
• There are over 5,000 volunteers
• There are 2,200 Charities registered
• Virtual Volunteering means geography is irrelevant
iT4Communities Volunteers help with:
• IT Strategy • Websites
• Servers & Networks • IT Buying Advice
• Database Development • Telephone Systems • Training
Opportunities by skill type
Advice Consultancy Creative Design Database Strategy Technical Support Website
• PD posted online and RSS for volunteers to see
• Project Completed then
turned into a case study and
press release – well done!
Charity Registers online
• iT4C Project Definer contacts charity
and creates unique Project Definition (PD)
• Volunteer expresses
their interest and contacts charity
• Both Charity & Volunteer
agree to work together
How it Works:
How are we funded?
• Administration charge to charities - £85 per annum
• Company employee volunteer programmes administration fee
• Sponsorship (financial and in kind) – WCIT, Appichar, AJGallaghers, BCS • Donations
• Pro bono support and support in kind • Intellect Ball
Our history and our relationship with the BCS:
• iT4Communities is a programme of the Information Technologists’ Company – the 100th City of London Livery Company
• iT4Communities Awards Feb 19th 2009
Why it Works So Well
Benefits to Charities
• Better end-IT resource thanks to help from an IT Professional
• More time & money to dedicate to front line support
• iT4C removes the scary ‘techie’ barrier
• No worries as iT4C team are always on hand for support & guidance
Benefits to Volunteers
Learning Through Action
& Ian Cooper
• Learning Through Action is a charity
addressing personal issues with children & young people
• They came to iT4C as they needed a new, engaging and fully accessible website
• Volunteer Ian Cooper enjoyed working with LTA so much that he became their long-term webmaster
• Website launched in just 5 months
• Ian now volunteers as a Director-Trustee and continues to add new features to the website
Depression Alliance London
& Ian Rumford
• DA is the UK’s lead depression information & support charity
• They were in a funding predicament and came to iT4C to help get them back on their feet through training in Fundraising software
• Volunteer Ian Rumford completed a full IT audit and trained staff in the new software
• Both the charity and its server are back from the brink of collapse
How to join in:
• Join the volunteers
• Tell anyone you think would be interested • Talk to your company about us
• Introduce us to sponsors
• Join us on LinkedIn & Facebook • Help raise donations
• Help us choose a new name?
