In the time it takes to update your Facebook page, you could be making the world a slightly better place. That’s the idea behind The Extraordinaries, a Web-based platform for microvolunteering that’s been generating plenty of buzz since its launch last year.
The goal is to harness thousands of currently untapped hours by making volunteering fast, convenient, and bite-sized. While waiting for a bus or cooling your heels at the dentist’s office, you could be using your smart phone to tag photos for the Smithsonian, send a study tip to an at-risk student, or map your local parks. “We want volunteering to be as fun and ubiquitous as playing a game,” explains Sundeep Ahuja, cofounder and president of the San Francisco-based business.
The Extraordinaries (www. beextra.org) was founded by a trio with deep experience in social media. Chief technology officer Ben Rigby pioneered the use of mobile phones for youth voter registration when he founded Mobile Voter. CEO Jacob Colker was one of the first to harness Facebook to organize political campaigns. Ahuja was a product manager at MySpace before helping to launch Kiva, the microphilanthropy site.
Traditional community service “has been about carving out a Saturday afternoon or an evening to go do something in person,” Ahuja says. That can be tough to squeeze into a busy schedule. What’s more, few nonprofits have the capacity to match volunteers’ talents with specific tasks. “Even if you have time to give, nonprofits don’t necessarily play to your strengths,” Ahuja says. It adds up to missed opportunities for potential volunteers and the organizations that could benefit by their efforts.
With its superhero brand (including a Superman-inspired logo), The Extraordinaries is eager to make volunteering not only convenient, but also cool for the millennial generation. “We want people to feel excited — special— about doing something good,” Ahuja says.
The Extraordinaries challenges participating nonprofits to think differently about how they engage with volunteers. “This is a chance for organizations not just to engage with people in online conversations,” Ahuja says, “but also have them do real work that contributes to the mission. Volunteers love being asked to do something more than write a check or retweet.”
Christel House, for example, operates five learning centers for impoverished youth in global hot spots. “We’re not top-heavy when it comes to marketing,” says development director Nathan Hand, “and we don’t really have a structured volunteer program.”
When Hand heard about The Extraordinaries, he immediately saw the platform as a way to get the word out about Christel House, and possibly bring more volunteers into its poverty-fighting efforts. He created an action campaign that asks volunteers to send study tips and inspirational messages to impoverished students preparing for high-stakes tests.
Right away, messages started flooding in from around the globe. “When someone from thousands of miles away shares a study tip or an encouraging message with our kids, it really is powerful,” Hand says. He’s not sure if it will result in longer-term connections with volunteers, “but it has exposed them to a new organization and, potentially, a cause they’ve never been involved in before.”
The Extraordinaries platform is currently available at no charge to volunteers or participating nonprofits. Eventually, using what Ahuja calls the “freemium model,” there may be a small fee for certain highvalue services alongside the free stuff.
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.