Localgiving launches new remote volunteering skills matching app. The tool uses natural language processing to link volunteers to projects where they can usefully contribute their skills remotely in areas of the UK that are sentimental to them and their family.
Charities and groups providing frontline services to local communities will be able to post short and long-term volunteer opportunities, from logo redesigns to the delivery of a crowdfunding campaign.
Volunteers will no longer be restricted by the location of volunteering opportunities and the project will connect volunteers to grassroots charities providing vital services to local communities across the whole of the UK.
The volunteering platform will provide automatic matching of volunteering opportunities to a volunteers skills, availability and interests - significantly reducing the time it takes to help a local charity.
The digitalisation of volunteering will enable charities that are facing significant increases in demand for their services to reallocate local resources to meet this need.
Our vision is a product that will enable a freelancer in Brighton to come to the platform and instantly be able to re-design logos for two charities, in Rhyl and Newcastle, during the evening. If successful, the freelancer may be able to develop relationships that expand into paid work that they feature on their portfolio for other prospective clients. The product will also enable a graduate marketeer in Truro to sign-up to deliver a new social media campaign for a foodbank in Norfolk to support the launch of a crowdfunding campaign and be onboarded and volunteering within a week. This will enable a volunteer at the charity to be redeployed to frontline services, support the charity to raise extra funds during their campaign and for the graduate to add the experience to their CV.
Localgiving is a business which currently provides digital services and fundraising solutions to 3,000+ local charities and community groups, with partners such as the National Lottery Community Fund and People's Postcode Lottery. The funding for this project has enabled Localgiving to launch a new product led by the large demand facing organisations providing frontline services to vulnerable people through the Covid19 situation and beyond.