Virtual volunteering can be an efficient and cost-effective way to help organizations, said Gordon Mayer, vice president of Community Media Workshop, which provides communications training for Chicago-area nonprofits. … Some organizations have found that virtual volunteering lets them harness the talents of people who have only a few intermittent hours to give.

Too many of us trot out the excuse, "I want to volunteer, but I can't get there because …" Thanks to the Internet, phone, and virtual work of all kinds, that is no longer viable. "Virtual volunteering" is now a big part of the volunteer sector. My 84-year-old mom has a tough time getting around in the winter, but she volunteers from her living room as a phone screener for families seeking social services.

The newest category of volunteering was not even imaginable as recently as three years ago because it has evolved as a direct result of computer technology and online interaction in cyberspace. In fact, a whole new term has been coined to identify "virtual volunteering."