Slide 1Copyright iT4C 2008
Free Professional IT Support for charities needing IT help
IT volunteering opportunities for IT Professionals to enhance their skills and get them out the office
IT Strategy
Where Do We Come From?
iT4Communities is a programme of the Information Technologists’ Company – the 100th City of London Livery Company
Set up in 2002 and delivered £2.75 million worth of IT services to the third sector so far
The Information Technologists’ Company members are all senior IT professionals who joined to give something back to the IT sector and the wider community
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Organisations who need IT help and support
In fact, we help the whole Voluntary and Community Sector!
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Our volunteers are all IT Professionals
We ask that they have:
One year's IT experience with relevant IT qualifications OR
Three years' IT experience without relevant qualifications
We have 5,000 Volunteers on our database
All have different skills and different reasons for sharing their time and talent
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Our volunteers come from all over the UK
They are concentrated in urban areas
There are over 5,000 volunteers
There are 2,200 Charities registered
Virtual Volunteering means geography is irrelevant
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How it Happens
Charities and Volunteers register on our website
We help the charities define their needs
Our unique Project Definition process means both the charities and IT professionals know exactly what is required
We publish the opportunities on our website and our RSS feed
We offer ‘Start to Finish’ support
iT4C staff are available throughout the project as an independent source of advice and guidance
Volunteer contacts charity
Charity assesses volunteer suitability and they both agree to work with each other
Project starts and is completed leaving charity with a brand new sustainable and professional IT resource
We write up a case study and press release to promote the charity locally
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Project Completed then turned into a case study and press release – well done!
Charity Registers online
iT4C Project Definer contacts charity and creates unique Project Definition (PD)
Volunteer expresses their interest and contacts charity
Both Charity & Volunteer agree to work together
How it Works:
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Benefits to Charities
Better end-IT resource thanks to help from an IT Professional
More time & money to dedicate to front line support
iT4C removes the scary ‘techie’ barrier
No worries as iT4C team are always on hand for support & guidance
Benefits to Volunteers
Increased business & communications skills for CV
Enhanced future job prospects
Making it Work for You
Don’t forget there are costs involved with using IT Volunteers:
Staff time
Project Management
The BEST projects are:
Well planned and managed
Well communicated from the start
Not mission critical
Learning Through Action
Learning Through Action is a charity addressing personal issues with children & young people
They came to iT4C as they needed a new, engaging and fully accessible website
Volunteer Ian Cooper enjoyed working with LTA so much that he became their long-term webmaster
Website launched in just 5 months
Ian now volunteers as a Director-Trustee and continues to add new features to the website
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DA is the UK’s lead depression information & support charity
They were in a funding predicament and came to iT4C to help get them back on their feet through training in Fundraising software
Volunteer Ian Rumford completed a full IT audit and trained staff in the new software
Both the charity and its server are back from the brink of collapse
Ian continues to act as the DA’s IT Support when needed
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