VolunteerMatch Makes It Easier for Nonprofit Organizations to Engage Skilled Volunteers

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) San Francisco, CA - October 3, 2011 - VolunteerMatch, the national nonprofit organization behind the popular web service at www.volunteermatch.org, today announced the release of new features to help organizations more easily recruit volunteers. The upgrade, now available as part of VolunteerMatch’s free public service for nonprofits, includes a Listing Wizard for skills-based recruitment, a photo manager, listing preview, and an updated look and feel for the website.   This latest VolunteerMatch upgrade takes advantage of the growing popularity of skills-based and pro bono service. As individuals look beyond their current jobs for the chance to give back, develop new skills and gain leadership experience, nonprofits are increasingly seeing expert volunteers as a critical way for growing capacity and delivering services.   A central part of the upgrade, the new Listing Wizard prompts volunteer recruiters through the process of identifying various skill requirements in their volunteer opportunities in order to communicate them effectively. Based in part on a standardized taxonomy first developed by Taproot Foundation with support from Microsoft Corporation, the VolunteerMatch deployment is the first large-scale implementation of the standards for nonprofit organizations.   “It’s great to be working with Taproot on this as a leader in the space,” said Greg Baldwin, president of VolunteerMatch. “Now we’re eager to adopt these standards to make them more relevant to the entire sector.”   “Virtually all nonprofits need skilled volunteers, but have difficulty finding them. We believe that VolunteerMatch’s new Listing Wizard and the use of the standards will help to close this gap and further meet the needs of nonprofits,” says Aaron Hurst, CEO, Taproot Foundation.   In addition to the Listing Wizard, the upgrade also includes a free photo manager, the ability to see edits to a listing as they would appear in real time, and a sleek new face for the web’s most popular volunteer resource.     To learn more about VolunteerMatch, visit: http://www.volunteermatch.org/   To learn more about Taproot Foundation’s Volunteer Profile Standards, visit:
http://www.taprootfoundation.org/leadprobono/state/buildaprogram/vol_standards.php   About VolunteerMatch VolunteerMatch is a national nonprofit dedicated to strengthening communities by helping good people and good causes to connect. Its award-winning online service, www.volunteermatch.org, makes it easy to find a way to make a difference by location, expertise, or availability. VolunteerMatch provides many of the nation's most recognized businesses, campuses and organizations with Web-based solutions to facilitate and track volunteer engagement at local and national levels. The VolunteerMatch network regularly welcomes more than 190,000 visitors each week and has become the preferred volunteer recruiting service for tens of thousands of participating nonprofits.   About Taproot Foundation Since 2001, Taproot Foundation has worked to engage the nation’s millions of business professionals in pro bono services both through award-winning programs and by partnering with companies to develop corporate pro bono programs. The Foundation provides service grant programs, advisory services and advocacy efforts to increase access to pro bono services.  For more information, visit taprootfoundation.org.     VOL17347