Leading social good platforms unite, connecting individuals everywhere with more opportunities to take action.
Idealist and VolunteerMatch, two nonprofits that pioneered the use of technology to empower people to take action for social good, announced that the process to bring both online platforms together is complete. Finishing a transition that began with an organisational merger in January, individuals looking for a social-impact job, a volunteer opportunity, or ways to take action can now do so by visiting idealist.org.
Idealist, founded in 1995, serves millions of people looking for ways to build a better world, through full-time jobs, internships, volunteerism, and connecting with neighbours to address local problems. With VolunteerMatch now part of the Idealist family, Idealist houses the largest network dedicated to connecting nonprofits with individual and corporate volunteers through its website, API and syndication partners.
This single platform, built for impact, allows organisations to showcase more ways for individuals to get involved: employment, volunteer opportunities and attending events. Idealist also provides ways for organisations to share more about their mission. In turn, Idealist will become more of a place for any person wanting to take action to come and find numerous entry points toward getting involved in any cause.
“It’s been a long and exciting process to get here,” said Ami Dar, Executive Director of Idealist. “Combining two nonprofits—our programmatic work, our communications, and our websites—has been both fascinating and complex. I cannot wait for our community and anyone with a passion for social impact to join us.”
With the platform merger complete, Idealist will now focus on expansion and on new tools to make lending a hand even easier. Recently, Idealist Days launched, inspiring and empowering people everywhere to take action on days that are synonymous around the world, regardless of date convention—9/9, 10/10, 11/11 and so forth. Volunteers around the globe are participating in these monthly days of action, whether through informal means or through volunteering with nonprofits on Idealist.
Idealist will also carry on VolunteerMatch’s successful work in the social-impact technology space, continuing to innovate on tools that serve nonprofits and impact-driven businesses, bringing more volunteer opportunities into more online spaces everywhere—from a corporate intranet to nonprofit networks around the world.
“I’m so proud of what we’re achieving,” said Idealist board of directors’ chair Bob Giannino. “In this time of strife and separation, technology that brings us together is critical for our collective future. Whether through full-time employment, volunteering for a day or solving an issue with neighbours, Idealist can and will foster connections that make a lasting impact locally and around the world.”
