We need to make volunteering more fun, more financially sustainable, and more adaptable to our busy lives.

National programs like Americorp are one way to make volunteering pay. Some volunteer positions offer prestige, experience, and connections which can pay off in other aspects of life. But can we make a direct link between time volunteering and availability of resources? This is exactly what we do with Groundcrew, by letting neighbors offer up use of their resources to local, high-achieving volunteers.

Free time is precious these days. Most people have had the experience of over-scheduling themselves, and are wary of it. SMS and mobile technology has a great role to play, in making ad-hoc volunteer opportunities available to us, and in letting community organizers react to availability, instead of depending on it.

There’s tremendous opportunity in GPS/mobile for updating the whole spirit (and demographic) of volunteering.