Volunteer Today: An App for Helping Others
Ryan Fennell Emerging Technologies Karen Girton-Snyder Rfennell001@gmail.com
Abstract
This paper describes the structure and use of Volunteer Today, a phone application that lets users search for and sign up for community volunteer work in their area. It’s designed to be a quick way to both find volunteering events in one’s area, as well as an easy way to get a group of people together.
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Introduction
There are a lot of innovative apps out there; since the smart phone boom nearly every possible aspect of reality seems to have an app tied to it now. For all the frivolous ones out there, there is a market for those trying to make life better. There are self-help apps, job search apps and a lot more. Surprisingly, however, one thing I found to be surprisingly lacking is an app that revolves around volunteer work. Volunteering is a really popular pastime for people, and with the amount of smart-phone users it seems like an obvious idea to try and bring people together somehow. For my project I designed an app for finding volunteer work in one’s area and connecting with the group, as well as starting helpful neighborhood projects of their own. When I began this project I set out to find apps with similar things in mind; one that almost mirrored what I wanted to do is called “Flash Volunteer”, though its downfall is that it’s only in the Seattle area. Still, the app allows people to use Google maps to search for areas in Seattle that have volunteer programs posted within the app. People can also connect with one another based on previous volunteer experience (Flash Volunteer). This is very close to what I wanted to accomplish with this project, though I wanted a wider scope. There are other apps with similar aspects but ultimately didn’t hit the mark. There’s “Vinspired”, which uses pre-existing groups to create RSS 2
feeds of upcoming events (King). There’s also “+U”, an app Sony is creating for the UK region to organize volunteering events (+U). Other apps about volunteer work were usually based around pre-existing magazines and organizations, such as “Minnesota Conservation”, an iPad app based around a magazine of the same name (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer). Still, nothing quite the same as what I wanted to accomplish. Nearly 38 million Americans who had volunteered with a nonprofit in the past didn't show up in 2006 (TIME Magazine) and I can’t help but feel that miscommunication is part of the cause of that. For my project I decided to design an app that would span the entire U.S., and use GPS technology often found in phones to use the person’s location as a starting point for finding volunteer work. Within the app people can both find and post charity work, as well as connect should they wish to. Unlike programs like “Flash Volunteer” this is a system that could exist all over the country, and sort information based on geographic location. It would be able to bring together neighborhoods and cities across the country.
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Scenarios The real beauty of the app is the instantaneous communication between the volunteers and the group’s holding the event.
For instance if a
man, lets call him Greg, is expecting to volunteer Thursday night at a neighborhood trash-cleaning meeting. However, Thursday afternoon it becomes apparent that he cannot make it due to unexpected work. With his app he can simply go to the group’s page, click a button and notify the group he will not be there. The group instantly knows this, and plans accordingly. Perhaps even more importantly, if a group needs to cancel an event, it can immediately inform everyone who is going to attend. Say a church group is having a fundraiser with more than two-hundred people coming. They would have had to use to send e-mails that likely would have been ignored, called a massive amount of people or simply put a sign up on the door.
Now it’s quick, instantaneous and easy for them to inform hundreds
of people not to come to the church fundraising.
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Technology Description The design for the opening page is simple; there is a search form, a logo and three buttons that connect to the three main aspects of the app. The search form is for immediate gratification: one can simply type in a zip code and get linked straight to a Google maps shot of that location. After the logo the first button is “My Account”, which links to the user’s account page. Next is “Nearby Events”, where one can search for events close to him. Last is “Host an Event”, where someone can create their own event.
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The second link on the homepage is “Nearby Events�, where one is linked to a Google maps image of their surrounding area, depending on where they are at that moment. The map is able to be scrolled through, and icons appear where there are either events or group meetings. There is a list below the map of the groups that is ordered by proximity to the user, as the closer they are the higher they are on the list. The list items have the name of the event and a few short details about the event, to help users can get a slight indication of what the event is doing. Clicking on either a map icon or a list icon will take them to the event’s page itself.
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Once a user clicks onto an event either listed or on the map, they’ll be brought to the page made by the user hosting the event. It can be hosted either by a person, a group, or a person representing a group. The information given by the person hosting it is laid out on the page, with all the important information easily accessible by potential volunteers. You can see a thumbnail picture of the place at the event, the name of the place where the event takes place, the host, the time and the address. There is also a small description given where people can list important information that might not be able to fit anywhere else. You can either go back, RSVP to the event or click on the host’s name to contact them directly.
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Should someone wish to host an event, the third button on the home page entitled “Host an Event” will bring them to this page. Here a user to input all of the information that would be displayed in the event’s page shown on the previous page of this document. Required fields are the event’s name, the name of the person posting the event, the date and time the event takes place, and a small description of the event. There is also the option for a group name, but because not everyone may be affiliated with a group it is not required. There are two smaller buttons, one that submits the fields entitled “Submit”, and one that easily clears the forms, entitled “Clear”. Now an event can easily be set up.
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Future Plans With the “Volunteer Now!” application it makes hosting and attending charity and volunteer events easier than ever. This will create a network of people that can meet other volunteering enthusiasts and find events in the area that might otherwise go unnoticed. Sponsors, such as advertisers, can easily find events and there may even be a “Sponsor” option for users if the demand becomes high enough. The app will remain free, but be expanded on as more and more people join and unforeseen demands become apparent. One of the best things about the “Volunteer Now!” app is that it might spike up the number of volunteers across the country. With it being so easy to find events there would be little excuses people could give for not volunteering, and organizations, such as the boy scouts, that require people to have a certain amount of volunteering hours would certainly benefit. Whether it is a full time hobby or just a one time thing, people everywhere would have more incentive to go out, get some exercise and help out.
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Works Cited Flash Volunteer. [iPhone App]. Kadlec, Daniel. "Life After Work: The Right Way to Volunteer - TIME." Time.com. Time Warner, 27 Aug. 2006. Web. 15 June 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376242,00.html>. King, Mark. "Vinspired - Consumer App of the Week | Money | Guardian.co.uk." Editorial. The Guardian 2 Dec. 2010. Guardian.co.uk. 2 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 June 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/dec/02/vinspired-consumer-app-of-week>. Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. [iPad App]. Volunteer. [iPhone App].
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