iT4Communities provides free IT support and volunteering opportunities to charities in need. They have over 5,000 registered IT professional volunteers and have delivered over £2.75 million in IT services to charities since 2002. iT4Communities handles the entire process from defining a charity's IT needs to matching them with a suitable volunteer and providing ongoing support throughout the project. This approach benefits both charities, who receive improved IT resources, and volunteers, who gain experience and skills.

1. [Presenter Name] [Job Title] Who are we and what do we do?

2. iT4Communities Provides: Free Professional IT Support for charities needing IT help IT volunteering opportunities for IT Professionals to enhance their skills and get them out the office IT Strategy Websites Servers & Networks IT Buying Advice Database Development Telephone Systems Training ...and more! Our Volunteers help with:

3. Where Do We Come From? iT4Communities is a programme of the Information Technologists’ Company – the 100 th City of London Livery Company Set up in 2002 and delivered £2.75 million worth of IT services to the third sector so far The Information Technologists’ Company members are all senior IT professionals who joined to give something back to the IT sector and the wider community

4. Who Do We Help? Charities or charitable organisations such as community organisations, social enterprises etc. UK based organisations (work can be carried out overseas) Organisations who need IT help and support In fact, we help the whole Voluntary and Community Sector!

5. Who are iT4C’s Volunteers? Our volunteers are all IT Professionals We ask that they have: One year's IT experience with relevant IT qualifications OR Three years' IT experience without relevant qualifications We have 5,000 Volunteers on our database All have different skills and different reasons for sharing their time and talent

6. Where are iT4C’s Volunteers? Our volunteers come from all over the UK They are concentrated in urban areas There are over 5,000 volunteers There are 2,200 Charities registered Virtual Volunteering means geography is irrelevant

7. From First Contact to ‘Job Done’ How it Happens Charities and Volunteers register on our website We help the charities define their needs Our unique Project Definition process means both the charities and IT professionals know exactly what is required We publish the opportunities on our website and our RSS feed We offer ‘Start to Finish’ support iT4C staff are available throughout the project as an independent source of advice and guidance Volunteer contacts charity Charity assesses volunteer suitability and they both agree to work with each other Project starts and is completed leaving charity with a brand new sustainable and professional IT resource We write up a case study and press release to promote the charity locally

8. iT4Communities administration fee: £85 for 12 months of iT4C support As many requests for volunteers as you need Help defining requests for volunteers & access to resources to help you manage your project End to end support from advertising amongst our community of volunteers to helping manage communications when the project starts Help with case studies and publicity when the project finishes 4 newsletters and other communications about relevant events, our annual volunteer awards, referrals and special offers 1 in 3 success rate for matching a volunteer to your project (and this figure is improving)

9. Project Completed then turned into a case study and press release – well done! Charity Registers online iT4C Project Definer contacts charity and creates unique Project Definition (PD) Volunteer expresses their interest and contacts charity Both Charity & Volunteer agree to work together How it Works: Charity requests a volunteer PD posted online and RSS for volunteers to see

10. Why it Works So Well Benefits to Charities Better end-IT resource thanks to help from an IT Professional More time & money to dedicate to front line support iT4C removes the scary ‘techie’ barrier No worries as iT4C team are always on hand for support & guidance Benefits to Volunteers Feel good factor from making a difference Increased business & communications skills for CV Enhanced future job prospects

11. Making it Work for You Don’t forget there are costs involved with using IT Volunteers: Staff time Project Management Training Sustainability Costs of IT equipment, web hosting etc The BEST projects are: Well planned and managed Have the support of the Board/staff Well communicated from the start Not mission critical Not urgent Sustainable

12. It Worked For Us! Learning Through Action Learning Through Action is a charity addressing personal issues with children & young people They came to iT4C as they needed a new, engaging and fully accessible website Volunteer Ian Cooper enjoyed working with LTA so much that he became their long-term webmaster Website launched in just 5 months Ian now volunteers as a Director-Trustee and continues to add new features to the website

13. It Worked For Us! Depression Alliance London DA is the UK’s lead depression information & support charity They were in a funding predicament and came to iT4C to help get them back on their feet through training in Fundraising software Volunteer Ian Rumford completed a full IT audit and trained staff in the new software Both the charity and its server are back from the brink of collapse Ian continues to act as the DA’s IT Support when needed

14. Any Questions? Anne Stafford www.it4communities.org.uk [email_address] 020 7796 2144