Our volunteers make a huge difference! While we’re leveraging microphilanthropy for education, beneath it all, we’re pioneering microvolunteering to sustain our work! As a 100% volunteer-driven organization, everything we do is the product of the love and nurture of our team and supporters. In saving tens of thousands of dollars on salary costs, we’re plowing back everything into supporting grassroots education projects and student scholarships.

“Is this sustainable?” you may ask. Well, our organization operates in a rather unconventional manner – we coordinate and aggregate lots of volunteer hours and efforts to make a substantial difference. For example, we have a substantial amount of translation work, as you can imagine – with over 26 partners from 16 countries! Yet, we finish everything in a timely basis by engaging a wide base of students and young professionals from all over the globe. That way, we can keep our administrative costs as low as possible!

Summer 2010 is now the second year we’re running our intern program. To date, I’ve been so impressed by the dedication, passion, and impact of our interns! For example, we had a tremendous intern this year who managed our $50 campaign for the Peace School, an intern who drove forward our letters initiative, an intern who is revitalizing our Facebook as she leads her chapter forward, and the list goes on! Internship applications are still open so if you find yourself idling and wanting to make an impact, join our Givology team!

Internships, volunteer, fellowships, starting a chapter, or simply spending some time getting people to register…all are ways to make a difference. No contribution is too small – just simply inviting friends to register on Givology is a critical first step!

I’d like to feature a blog post from one of our volunteers – Karen Kilberg who writes a fantastic blog highlighting key issues and concerns in development. I highly recommend that you check it out.

We’re approaching our two-year anniversary! As always, drop me a line through the messaging function on Givology if you have feedback, comments, questions, or want to get involved!