HandsOn Tech is recruiting volunteers for the following projects:
Attention techies! Volunteer with HandsOn Tech to improve nonprofit technology capacity in Chicago!
Dreams For Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering disabled youth and those at-risk, is seeking volunteers skilled in the following areas:
826CHI, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, is seeking volunteers skilled in the following areas:
The Bridge Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit family and youth counseling service, is seeking volunteers skilled in the following areas:
Leap Learning Systems, a nonprofit dedicated to language and literacy development of children in under-served communities, is seeking volunteers skilled in the following areas:
If you have any questions, contact HandsOn Tech Chicago at handsontechchicago@gmail.com or call us at 847-228-1320
Dreams For Kids
Picasa - (http://goo.gl/t5GkS)
Project Overview
Help Dreams For Kids, an agency dedicated to empowering at-risk youth and those with disabilities, unclog its server space by helping them move their pictures to Google’s Picasa Web Albums. Their current system is prone to data loss and makes the whole organization less effective! Volunteers will create a data migration plan, train all applicable staff on Picasa Web Albums, and then help the agency move its pictures up to Picasa.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable of Picasa and able to effectively communicate new processes to staff. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last one month (2/15/2012-3/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help Dreams For Kids empower youth in Chicago!
Dropbox - (http://goo.gl/Z1dvx)
Project Overview
Help Dreams For Kids, an agency dedicated to empowering at-risk youth and those with disabilities, organize their Dropbox account and move them to free Dropbox accounts. Dreams For Kids currently has a paid Dropbox account that is shared by everyone in the organization. This means that all data, including sensitive data and large photo albums, are downloaded to the computers of everyone in the organization. A well organized Dropbox space will allow more effective sharing, remote access, and better access controls. Volunteers will evaluate the data inside of Dropbox, determine the best way to organize it, and move the data away from the paid account.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable of Dropbox and able to effectively communicate new processes to staff. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last one month (3/15/2012-4/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help Dreams For Kids empower youth in Chicago!
Documentation - (http://goo.gl/Kuuix)
Project Overview
Help Dreams For Kids, an agency dedicated to empowering at-risk youth and those with disabilities, document the use of their services and products. Dreams For Kids relies heavily on interns who stay for only a few months. This means that good documentation is vital to allow the interns to quickly learn how to use Dreams For Kid’s systems and spend more time focusing on the youth the serve. Volunteers will determine what documentation is needed, create the documents, and then organize the documents and train staff on their use.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should have a strong ability to distill complex documentation into clear and simple directions. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last two months (2/15/2012-4/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help Dreams For Kids empower youth in Chicago!
826CHI
Documentation - (http://goo.gl/XPr3J)
Project Overview
Help 826CHI, a youth literacy and tutoring nonprofit, reduce downtime and increase productivity by creating documentation to solve common IT problems. Because the office does not have a dedicated IT person, they experience downtime anytime they encounter IT issues beyond staff expertise to solve. This can be alleviated by documentation that details how to solve commonly encountered technical problems. Volunteers will determine which IT issues are commonly experienced and cause downtime, document solutions for each problem, and then organize the documents and train the staff.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should have a strong ability to distill complex documentation into clear and simple directions. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last two months (2/15/2012-4/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help 826CHI improve the literacy of Chicago students!
Google Apps - (http://goo.gl/enjw2)
Project Overview
Help 826CHI, a youth literacy and tutoring nonprofit, implement Google Apps, specifically Docs, within their organization. This project will improve staff’s ability to share and access documents as well as to collaborate in real time. Volunteers will create Google Apps accounts for all staff, provide basic training on Docs, and then help the staff with any further transitions.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable about Google Apps, and be able to effectively train staff. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last two months (2/15/2012-4/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help 826CHI improve the literacy of Chicago students!
Dropbox - (http://goo.gl/1mHQk)
Project Overview
Help 826CHI, a youth literacy and tutoring nonprofit, implement Dropbox within their organization. This project will improve staff’s ability to share and access documents as well as to simplify working between multiple computers. Volunteers will create Dropbox accounts for all staff, determine what data should be placed into Dropbox, provide basic training on Dropbox, and then help transition the appropriate data into the shared folders.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable of Dropbox and able to effectively communicate new processes to staff. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last one month (3/15/2012-4/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help 826CHI improve the literacy of Chicago students!
Printer Optimization - (http://goo.gl/uLv52)
Project Overview
Help 826CHI, a youth literacy and tutoring nonprofit, optimize its printer setup, increasing the ability of the organization to print student work. The printer is a professional-grade machine and has many capabilities that 826CHI does not currently utilize.This project will improve staff’s ability to print large student projects remotely, saving time and allowing the printer to be in use outside of staff hours. Volunteers will discover the full functionality of the printer, prioritize useful features and then create documentation and train the staff on the features.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable of printers and be comfortable distilling complex documentation into simple and concise directions. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last one month (2/15/2012-3/15/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help 826CHI improve the literacy of Chicago students!
The Bridge
Solving server and network connections - (http://goo.gl/cyr2T)
Project Overview
Help The Bridge Youth and Family Services, a family and youth counseling service, solve their network interruptions and dropped connections! The Bridge staff experiences weekly network interruptions and data loss from their main server. By helping them solve this issue, you will be saving valuable staff time that could otherwise be spent achieving their mission. Volunteers will evaluate the network infrastructure and determine the causes of the dropped connections. They will then create a plan to prevent future service failures.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable about the infrastructure of servers. We are also looking for a volunteer to manage this project. The project will last 3 months (2/13/2012 – 5/1/2012) and it will require about 2 hours per week at The Bridge’s offices in Palatine IL.
Register today and help families connect with troubled youth!
Creation of online Employee Portal - (http://goo.gl/2OCGS)
Project Overview
Help The Bridge Youth and Family Services, a family and youth counseling service, create an employee portal to help staff access and utilize their web services. This will also allow The Bridge to better track volunteer hours and data from the field. Volunteers will determine what The Bridge would like included in an employee portal, create an outline of the proposed portal, and then create the portal.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers must have knowledge in website design and they must have skills in basic database design. We are also looking for a volunteer to serve as a project manager. The employee portal will help The Bridge with their daily routines in the office and in the field. This project will last 2 months (3/13/2012 – 5/1/2012) and will require about 2 hours per week, much of which can be done remotely.
Register today and help families connect with troubled youth!
Dropbox - (http://goo.gl/0Ku74)
Project Overview
Help The Bridge Youth and Family Services, a family and youth counseling service, implement Dropbox within their organization! This project will improve The Bridge’s ability to share and access documents as well as to simplify their work between multiple computers. Volunteers will create Dropbox accounts for all staff, determine what data should be placed into Dropbox, provide basic training on Dropbox, and then help transition the appropriate data into the shared folders.
Necessary Skills
Volunteers should be knowledgeable of Dropbox and able to effectively communicate new processes to staff. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader. This project will last one month (3/13/2012 - 4/13/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help families connect with troubled youth!
Leap Learning Systems
Help Improve Leap Learning Systems’ Website - (http://goo.gl/Yv9DK)
Project Overview:
Leap Learning Systems, a nonprofit organization in Chicago dedicated to language and literacy development of children in under-served communities, needs help with improving their website. Leap wants to change the way they post newsletters and sponsor logos on their website. They currently have a volunteer developing a new interactive way for visitors to browse newsletters using jQuery. In the next month they are looking to solve any issues they have with uploading newsletters to the website, and with displaying sponsor logos on a rotating banner. The second goal is to start exploring content management systems (CMS) that will allow the staff to update their website on a more frequent basis. They currently use Dreamweaver which is relatively difficult for the staff to manage. At the end of the project, HandsOn Tech will make a recommendation based on staff feedback as to what CMS tool is most appropriate for the organization.
Necessary Skills:
HandsOn Tech is looking for a volunteer with extensive web design skills. This project will last one month (2/1/2012-2/29/2012) and require about 1 hour a week, much of which may be done remotely.
Register today and help Leap Learning Systems empower youth in Chicago!
Google Apps & Dropbox Implementation - (http://goo.gl/QjlzQ)
Project Overview:
Leap Learning Systems, a nonprofit organization in Chicago dedicated to language and literacy development of children in under-served communities, is interested in exploring a migration to Google Apps. The organization wants to assess how their office is currently using Google Apps, and whether a full migration to Google Apps would be appropriate. The office currently uses Calendar and Docs for certain tasks, and some staff have expressed an interest in moving to Gmail. The goal of this project will be to determine whether or not a full migration to Google Apps would be appropriate for the office, and if so, what data would be appropriate to migrate. Staff will also begin using Dropbox to share and collaborate on documents to determine if this solution would improve office efficiency.
Necessary Skills:
HandsOn Tech is seeking a volunteer who has experience in migrating an organization to Google Apps and familiarity with Dropbox. This project will last the month of February (2/6/2012 - 2/29/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader.
Register today and help Leap Learning Systems empower youth in Chicago!
Expansion of Social Media Outreach - (http://goo.gl/Wh3iP)
Project Overview:
Leap Learning Systems, a nonprofit organization in Chicago dedicated to language and literacy development of children in under-served communities, is interested in reviewing their social media outreach. The organization has a presence on Facebook, and has a volunteer helping manage that account. Leap wants to evaluate their current social media efforts, with a plan for possibly joining new social media networks (LinkedIn). Goals for each social media channel will be set, with a plan for achieving those goals.
Necessary Skills:
HandsOn Tech is seeking a volunteer who has experience developing and managing social media campaigns. This project will last roughly two weeks in February (2/13/2012 - 2/29/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader.
Register today and help Leap Learning Systems empower youth in Chicago!
Google AdWords Implementation - (http://goo.gl/wc1pF)
Project Overview:
Leap Learning Systems, a nonprofit organization in Chicago dedicated to language and literacy development of children in under-served communities, is interested in improving their use of Google AdWords to achieve organization goals. Leap wants to create a well-organized Google AdWords account with campaigns aligned with the organization’s marketing goals. This volunteer will help develop campaigns to ensure high click-through rates that lead to conversions for the organization.
Necessary Skills:
We are seeking a volunteer who has experience optimizing existing Google AdWords campaigns. This project will last roughly two weeks in February (2/1/2012 - 2/10/2012) and require about 2 hours a week, much of which may be done remotely. We are also looking for a volunteer interested in managing the project as a volunteer leader.
Register today and help Leap Learning Systems empower youth in Chicago!
