Where can I find charitable organizations that need volunteer editors?
April 17, 2014 6:51 AM   Subscribe

I'd like to donate some of my time to a charitable organization. The skill I have to offer is copywriting and editing. I can, obviously, do this remotely so the organization could be located anywhere in the world. What's the best way to locate organizations that might be interested in free writing and editing? Is this even a thing?
posted by ladybird to Society & Culture (8 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Look at the websites of organizations that you would want to help. If its not updated, or updated with poorly written content - you just found a prospect. Email the Executive Director or somebody else fairly high up and ask how you can help.
posted by COD at 7:05 AM on April 17, 2014


Best answer: Volunteer Match offers a variety of searchable volunteer opportunities, as does Idealist.

You might also want to try looking at the websites for specific organizations to see if they are in need. For example, the UN Refugee Agency has a link to volunteer opporunities, including writing and editing.
(Personally I only have experience with Volunteer Match.)
posted by Shadow Boxer at 7:11 AM on April 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


If you really want to go international, the UN has an Online Volunteer program which partners you with local NGOs who are need of assistance such that you offer.
posted by carabiner at 8:03 AM on April 17, 2014


Are you in a city that has Taproot Foundation? I volunteered with them to do a marketing project for a local nonprofit, and one of my team members was a copywriter.
posted by radioamy at 9:11 AM on April 17, 2014


Idealist
posted by melissasaurus at 9:33 AM on April 17, 2014


Best answer: Nonprofit employee here -- I haven't done an extensive survey of other organizations' websites, but in our case we have a link to a "Volunteer Opportunities" page from the "Contact Us" page.

That said, I think your primary task here is going to be identifying the organizations you want to help and hunting down the contact info (which shouldn't be too difficult if they're legit and have a decent enough web interface).

It's probably worth contacting any of them with an offer to write copy. They will most likely be delighted to hear from someone who is actually offering to do a specific, useful thing. Copywriting in particular is a *hugely* valued skill. And nonprofits tend to get a lot of people who want to "help the cause" without having the first clue what they're actually good at. In other words, you've got a very good chance of getting a positive response, you just need to decide who you want to assist and go for it!
posted by aecorwin at 9:58 AM on April 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Open source software projects are usually looking for people to write documentation and other things.
posted by XMLicious at 11:47 AM on April 17, 2014


You can find UK charities who need copywriters at do-it.org.uk although their search engine isn't really set up for people searching from outside the UK. (You have to give a UK postcode first and then select virtual volunteering/home working once you're on the results screen.

They also have a page listing international equivalents.
posted by the latin mouse at 1:55 PM on April 17, 2014


« Older Report a Gmail hack attempt to the hacker's IP?   |   Unsure if I should seek clarification on workplace... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.