Micro-volunteering is the act of completing a small voluntary task. Whilst a firm definition has yet to be delineated, it generally refers to an act that can be completed from home and/or through the use of an internet connection in a small space of time. Help From Home, one of the leading micro-volunteering websites, describes its remit as:

Help From Home aims to make volunteering more accessible by providing information on easy, home based volunteering opportunities. Volunteer your time in bite size chunks, when you want to. Benefit worthy causes to suit your lifestyle, at your own convenience. Dip in and dip out with absolutely no commitment…And, oh yeah, you can do them in your pyjamas!

Flexibility and accessibility are thus the key features of micro-volunteering; with an internet connection and a small amount of free-time being the only requirements for participation. Examples of micro-volunteering activities include publicising campaigns by blog-writing or tweeting, e-mentoring, signing and organising online petitions and transcribing old data to aid scientists. A prominent player in this new phenomenon is a US group calling themselves ‘The Extraordinaries’ and they have been pioneering micro-volunteering by smart phone. A YouTube video detailing micro-volunteering by smart-phone can be found here and their main website is here.

Another UK micro-volunteering site is i-volunteer and a Spanish site is MicroVoluntarios.

Added: A post discussing definitions of micro-volunteering can be found here.