Sunday
Feb152009
Unemployed, loved to volunteer -- This is for you.
Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 6:27AM
I haven't posted an "Ideas" post in a while but Roman's post the other day sparked my desire to throw another one of my open-source ideas up here. Roman's idea centers around freelancers, social networking and a marketplace for both and this idea is not so far off. It could be for those freelancers out there and it definitely involves the social and marketplace aspects.
The basic idea is a marketplace for people who love to volunteer to post their desire to volunteer, an hourly rate and their location. Then along comes Mr. Too-Busy-To-Volunteer-But-Wants-To-Donate-Time. This guy, Mr. Too-Busy for short, can find a person or people who he would love to give money to in exchange for their volunteer hours at their place of choice. I know it sounds a little strange at first, but hear me out.
Scenario 1 - I'm out of work, need some money and I have skills that are desired at Philabundance (a food supply charity). Mr. TooBusy loves the idea of feeding the needy and he knows that Philabundance needs volunteers to sort through food. I request $8/hour to volunteer at a local food supply charity. Mr. TooBusy logs online, donates $80 and chooses me as his volunteer of choice. I accept his offer, volunteer for 8 hours, get it signed off by the organization and voila, $80 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
Scenario 2 - I'm a student who needs extra money, loves to volunteer and it would look great on my resume. I post this information in addition to the fact that I love animals on this site. Mr. TooBusy comes online, finds me, offers me $6/hour. I then tell him how much time I can volunteer and he accepts my offer of 10 hours of volunteer work over the next 30 days. I volunteer at the local SPCA, I get it signed off by the organization, and voila again, $60 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
These are only two scenarios that I've come up with but I believe that if they were backed by the city, local charities and other major organizations in the area (thinking: Comcast, Verizon, Staples, etc) they would be a big hit, they could help unemployed people in our own community and others who need the extra money and/or experience. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Do you think it might work or not? If you have the desire to help this get off the ground, let me know. I'd be happy to get involved and make this happen in the Philadelphia area or beyond.
The basic idea is a marketplace for people who love to volunteer to post their desire to volunteer, an hourly rate and their location. Then along comes Mr. Too-Busy-To-Volunteer-But-Wants-To-Donate-Time. This guy, Mr. Too-Busy for short, can find a person or people who he would love to give money to in exchange for their volunteer hours at their place of choice. I know it sounds a little strange at first, but hear me out.
Scenario 1 - I'm out of work, need some money and I have skills that are desired at Philabundance (a food supply charity). Mr. TooBusy loves the idea of feeding the needy and he knows that Philabundance needs volunteers to sort through food. I request $8/hour to volunteer at a local food supply charity. Mr. TooBusy logs online, donates $80 and chooses me as his volunteer of choice. I accept his offer, volunteer for 8 hours, get it signed off by the organization and voila, $80 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
Scenario 2 - I'm a student who needs extra money, loves to volunteer and it would look great on my resume. I post this information in addition to the fact that I love animals on this site. Mr. TooBusy comes online, finds me, offers me $6/hour. I then tell him how much time I can volunteer and he accepts my offer of 10 hours of volunteer work over the next 30 days. I volunteer at the local SPCA, I get it signed off by the organization, and voila again, $60 gets deposited into my Paypal or bank account.
These are only two scenarios that I've come up with but I believe that if they were backed by the city, local charities and other major organizations in the area (thinking: Comcast, Verizon, Staples, etc) they would be a big hit, they could help unemployed people in our own community and others who need the extra money and/or experience. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Do you think it might work or not? If you have the desire to help this get off the ground, let me know. I'd be happy to get involved and make this happen in the Philadelphia area or beyond.
Reader Comments (9)
This is a fantastic idea. I am sure it could be done. The only thing that would have to be worked out from a legal pov is how the "employee or contractor status" would be handled. If you pay someone to do something, there could be 1099 issues. Maybe the payment is a gift. All of this would have to be done correctly and consistently, and documented. Don't need IRS or Dept of Labor problems when you are trying to help. IANAL; however, none of that sounds insurmountable.
Reed,
You make a really valid point. My thoughts on this would be that any income you get would be as a sub-contractor with a 1099. It would be classified as income, not a gift. Any money that you give to the service (since it could be non-profit) would be able to be written off minus the administrative fees.
I know it sucks that you'd have to pay as a recipient but it is income since you are volunteering in exchange for cash. That's not true volunteerism.
I like this project because it has the potential to connect two groups that normally wouldn't. I agree that it wouldn't be a difficult project to test drive and try to on-board one to two corporate partners. Let me know when/if you want to get started. = )
In addition I feel like this could be setup just as a one-to-one pairing system to begin with. No man-in-the-middle service even necessary to see if there is a need and desire for it.
I'm sorry, but I have to say I disagree with such an idea. Whether we do it actively or passively, we choose to make time for things in our lives. If that "Mr. TooBusy" wanted to help, he would either donate that money directly to the organization or donate his time instead. While I can see the way that this could benefit the person on the other end, it takes away from the idea of volunteering and turns it into any other job that person could be doing. The two birds concept is nice, but they may not be volunteering for the right reasons then.
Not trying to knock on the basic concept at all, but I feel that everything that happens in our lives is the result of our action or inaction. And if we did care strongly enough about something (volunteering, work, etc.) we would make it happen somehow.
I will definitely reach out to Jordan to find out what he's working on. I have heard small bits and pieces about it but I should get some more details.
Ian,
These are great points. I'm not trying to negate the need for true volunteering but I am trying to create small jobs for people who may be unemployed, under paid and those who have free time. In addition, the largest group I'd like to see give money is not "Mr. TooBusy", but the small and large businesses in the area that may or may not have had to lay off people.
If I make $14/hour and I work 40 hours/week my company pays around $760/week including benefits (if they offer one of the lowest Aetna Health Plans). If they had to lay off one other person and me ($1520/week savings) because times are hard, they may be willing to spend $200/week towards a non-profit that would in turn help to "employ" people who have otherwise been put out.
That $200/week from that business is chump change to them (as they just saved a whole lotta loot) but at $10/hour, that could employ someone, who is otherwise S.O.L., 20 hours per week, give them experience in a field they enjoy and assist those who are helped by the charities they are "volunteering" for.
In a perfect world, this isn't necessary but there are too many charities that go under-helped and too many people who are under-support by those charities and too many others who are unemployed.
This is just another way of looking at it.
Very interesting - I had the same concept, although mine centered around the form of political/social protest. If you are too busy or high profile to get arrested at a rally or social action, you could hire someone to participate in your place. My concept started out as an idea for a satirical presentation for an Ignite Philly type event.
Wow! I would have never thought of that but paying someone to rally in your place is quite a concept. Not sure how many would put their necks on the line (and get arrested) but it could definitely raise some eyebrows.