22. Sparked.com - Volunteering Made Quick and Easy

A goal that I have set for myself is to start volunteering. I know that many people have this desire, but have never made it a priority. For the last few weeks I've been searching for opportunities to volunteer. However, I have been finding challenges that are unique to my situation, that are probably also relevant to those with busy schedules. The best place to find volunteer opportunities is to look within groups you're already a part of: churches, community centers, schools, and even employers often have volunteer programs set up and need help. Other than that, most of the places I've found want a commitment of a certain amount of time - often a minimum of 3-6 months. My nomadic existence leaves me somewhat outside of the range of these opportunities. Nevertheless... I've found an alternative!

I spend an exorbitant amount of time online. I'd be ashamed of this fact, except that I know most people do the same. As such I've been looking to put that time and the myriad of things I've learned on the internet to good use. Then I found Sparked.com: The MicroVolunteering Network.

In a nutshell, Sparked is a network where different non-profits and causes will post challenges that they need help with. This can range anywhere from asking people to help share a link on Facebook or getting ideas for tweets to asking for assistance building a webpage for an organization that doesn't have the resources to do it.  You, the user, simply answer a few questions (literally 2 or 3) asking what causes you are interested in, and what you're knowledgeable about. Then there is a list of challenges that you can choose from to help fulfill.

The best part of this is the ease and speed that you can do it in. You can truly help a group that is trying to do good in as little as 2 minutes. I think that's pretty cool. While it may be no substitute for the feeling you get from traveling overseas and building homes for orphans, we must remember that it is small things that add up to great ones. Volunteering, even on a small scale, reminds us that we are not the only people in the world, and that we should be doing what we can to help others. What suggestions do you have for volunteering?