The need for tech volunteering in the social development sector

[Ajil_T_U]

I would like to help. Feel free to reach out.

[lohith]

Interested to volunteer.

[Kailash]

Interested

[Donald_Lobo]

A few comments and thoughts based on my experience:

1. Would be good for someone @ FossUnited to coordinate the various projects and keep track of whats being done where.
2. The above helps us deploy similar solutions for similar needs and maintain some consistency across the initiative
3. Ensure that we are building and reusing on open source and already existing solutions. Deploying a custom solution for common needs does more harm than good in the mid-long term
4. Documentation, testing, training and handover are also super important aspects for NGOs. If we have someone managing the whole thing, the NGO can always come back to this group when they need help or something is broken
5. Understand what the NGO is doing, empathize with it, and try to see the bigger picture. Many a times their immediate need is not the most important need

Happy to assist and help with this

lobo

[Karanjot_Singh]

I am interested to volunteer!

[Vaishnavi]

Sounds like a great idea. I would love to volunteer!

[faraaz]

I sometimes accompany my dad to volunteer at Robin Hood Army. We often discuss how certain workflows can be improved with tech. The check-in platform is a great addition. Would love to volunteer!

[KIRAN_PK]

i’m interested

[Allen_Francis]

Sign me up sounds like a great idea

[Shaheem_PP]

@knadh

Metabase

Sounds cool, sign me up😃

[Anandhakrishnan_V_S]

I’m In

[Shinas]

Happy to work,

[Sufyan_Azam]

I am interested!

[Rafey_Ahmad]

I’d love to volunteer

[knadh]

Thanks everyone who’s shown interest! There’s no structure to this, so we’ll have to experiment and see how it goes. Won’t be a quick start with instant gratification either.

We’ve created a Telegram group (yep, yet another group!): Please join Telegram: Contact @foss4ngo

We can start sharing leads and inviting interested NGOs and social development orgs there to start conversations on the group.

Thanks for the pointers @Donald_Lobo .

@Donald_Lobo

Would be good for someone @ FossUnited to coordinate the various projects and keep track of whats being done where.

Very difficult right now, unfortunately. However, depending on how the program takes shape, I’m positive that we’ll be able to evolve some project management capacity.

@Donald_Lobo

Ensure that we are building and reusing on open source and already existing solutions. Deploying a custom solution for common needs does more harm than good in the mid-long term

100%. A common forum / group helps where we can keep sharing the work we’re doing.

@Donald_Lobo

Documentation, testing, training and handover are also super important aspects for NGOs. If we have someone managing the whole thing, the NGO can always come back to this group when they need help or something is broken

Yep. With the Samaaja system, we are helping ReapBenefit write the documentation + user manual for other orgs to use the system instead of writing it ourselves. This helps them think from an end user perspective and also formalize their own understanding of the system. We can keep trying this model and make it an integral part of the process. Guiding orgs to document.

@Donald_Lobo

Understand what the NGO is doing, empathize with it, and try to see the bigger picture. Many a times their immediate need is not the most important need

Yep. The idea here is to start a number of “tech volunteers for NGO” conversations to see how it goes. This requires a lot of patience indeed Things move slowly, but when they do, the value is immense.

[Krutika_Thakkannavar]

Hi folks!

I’m a UI/UX designer. I have been volunteering with a few organisations like Robinhood Army, Reap Benefit, Indic Digital Archive, etc helping them with design. I’d like to share my experience of volunteering here in the hope that it’ll motivate more folks like you to spare some of your time for the social good

1. Volunteer hours - This is not set in stone. It differs from project to project and the time dedicated by everyone on the team. Sometimes a project might demand more hours than anticipated. A project like designing brand identity takes a couple of days approximately. Here, you only need to design and hand it over. While a project like designing a website is a much slower and longer process. This requires some coordination, a couple excel sheets and weekly/fortnightly calls to track progress with every volunteer on the team. You’ll stay associated with the project for as long as the site goes live and sometimes even after that. I’m guessing the timelines will look similar for developers as well. The key here is to be flexible with the number of hours you think you’ll dedicate for a project. Always keep some buffer.
2. Finding projects to volunteer and volunteers for projects - In my little experience, what has helped getting more volunteers on board or to find projects is just talking about being open to taking up social or FOSS projects. Now when I meet new people and when I’m asked what do I do, I tell them I’m a designer at Zerodha and that I also volunteer at FU, RHA, RB etc. That immediately strikes a conversation and in a few minutes I know if someone’s interested to volunteer or has a project that’s seeking volunteers. This might work if you’re into socialising. If you’re living a hermit life, endorsing that you’re open to take up FOSS-for-NGO projects on you git profiles or personal websites should help you. And like @knadh rightly put it - FOSS-for-NGO is a loose, largely casual match making program that’s literally driven by conversations.
3. Volunteering is like a backpacking trip - Sometimes you meet people you totally vibe with and have the best travel experience. Sometimes the experience can be sour. But you’re on the journey none the less and with each trip you take, you experience and learn something new
4. The joy of giving back to the society - This is what’s been driving me to volunteer my time to these social projects. It is indeed rewarding. Being associated with the people and the NGOs that are instrumental in bringing changes in the society at whatever scale has a great sense of accomplishment. While I’m doing some good for the society, I’m also bettering my skills and broadening my knowledge. It’s a win-win

I hope this helps, especially if you’re new to this and do not know where to start. If you’re a seasoned volunteer, please share your experience too. Would love to learn

[Aman_Syed]

Our College Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai is hosting a hackathon called Hackanova on the 20th & 21st January, 2023.
The theme of our hackathon is “Technology for the Social Good”.
We also believe that technology and open source can create a great impact for the social bodies and help them achieve their goals quickly.
It will be our pleasure to partner with any social bodies or non profit organisations.
You can provide us with a problem statement in tech which your organisation is currently facing and provide an opportunity to young tech enthusiasts to come up with a solution to your problem.

For more information you can reach out to us at - tcet.hackanova@gmail.com
Here is the link to Hackanova

[shubham_singh]

Interested

[Om_Sarraf]

Interested

[shri]

I have volunteered with NGOs such as Robinhood Army, Claylab, and Santushta. As @Krutika_Thakkannavar said, volunteer hours differ from project to project; I spent only a few hours on these projects, but they had a huge impact on the organization. I would also like to give a big round of applause to Frappe, which made it easy for us to build tools.