Yesterday there were terrible storms across the Midwest. In the immediate Chicago area (where I was), it mostly amounted to torrential downpours, wind, and lightning, but in other parts of the state tornadoes leveled entire communities and killed six people. One of the few positives coming out of the situation is that there has been an outpouring of people who want to volunteer as part of the recovery effort. The problem is that right now only trained professionals should be working in the disaster area. A bunch of random volunteers would get in the way and actually hinder relief efforts. So how do we take the positive energy and direct it to the right places? GiveGab might be the answer. They’re an Ithaca, NY based company that has built a “social network for volunteers and volunteer managers.”

Voluntary Employment

GiveGab’s sign up process ask users about their preferred causes, skills, and interests. From there it helps them find volunteer opportunities where they can add the most value and get the most fulfillment. I’m not sure how quickly new opportunities pop up in areas like disaster relief, but I think that really depends on how active the relevant non-profits are on GiveGab (and since GiveGab is pretty new, they’re not big in all locations yet). The goal is to “create a fun, online environment that encourages volunteer hours, donations, and social interactions.” GiveGab’s business model is based on charging businesses, non-profits, and universities for premium volunteer management software (there is a free version for organizations with basic needs). It looks like a really cool business, and I hope it continues to grow. If you’d like to be a part of that growth, take a look at GiveGab’s Careers page. Right now they’re looking for a Junior Rails Engineer, a Junior iOS Developer, a Front-End Web Developer, a DevOps Engineer, and a Customer Support Manager.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• GiveGab.com
• Jobs at GiveGab
• About GiveGab
• GiveGab’s Team
• GiveGab’s History
• GiveGab’s Blog

What’s your favorite organization to volunteer for?

We've identified GiveGab as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• community management
• customer service
• engineering
• mobile
• New York
• software development
• web development

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