Position of the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) on "Volunteering and the New Information and Communication Technologies"

Volunteer Managers

Increasingly, volunteer managers are turning to the new information and communication technologies to help
them stay in touch with current and potential volunteers. With the advent of computer technology, the volunteer managers’ communic ation toolkit has expanded possibilities. Such tools as Internet recruitment (via volunteer opportunities databases), e-mail communication, virtual volunteering and on-line training are all having a major impact on the way we recruit and manage volunteers. At the same time however, it is true that
not everyone agrees on how, when and why they should be used. Some critics argue that not everyone has equal access to this new technology, and even its use can be a barrier itself to those not technically inclined.

The volunteer sector must therefore ask itself some very important questions. How do we move forward and make good use of these new tools, without leaving behind those with no access or desire to use this new technology?

The European Volunteer Centre is a Brussels -based umbrella organisation of 26 National and Regional Volunteer
Development Centres across 21 countries in Europe. The key aims of the organisation are:

• To be the voice for volunteering in Europe;
• To strengthen the infrastructure for volunteering in the countries of Europe;
• To promote volunteering and make it more effective.

For more information, contact:
CEV, Rue de l’Industrie 42/10, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel : (32 2) 511 75 01, Fax: (32 2) 514 59 89
Email: cev@cev.be, website: http://www.cev.be