# Using Instant Messaging to work with volunteers

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2002/11/08/using-instant-messaging-work-volunteers/
- Published: 2002-11-08T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Jayne Cravens of United Nations Information Technology Services (UNITeS), has published
an article to help

illustrate the advantages of using Instant Messaging to work with volunteers.

Many volunteer managers communicate with volunteers via the phone and e-mail, especially
volunteers operating remotely. Can Instant Messaging (IM) also be a useful tool 
in such distance management?

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Jayne Cravens, author of the article “Handheld computer technologies in community
service/volunteering/advocacy,” shares her thoughts on the benefits of IM in this
field. She pulls together research derived from online discussion groups, from UNITeS’
staff’s own experiences, and from other resources.

She is careful to define IM as “a text-only exchange among two or more people that
is via computer and the Internet, is private, and is live.” She contrasts this with
online “chat” which is usually involves more people and is more public.

Read “Using Instant Messaging to Work With Volunteers: Benefits and Suggestions”
at UNITeS.

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