Digital engagement at a distance as a new way of volunteering : the case of the NGO APSOPAD International
While the global health crisis has changed hygiene habits, work systems and social behaviours, volunteerism patterns have not been neglected at a time when any establishment open to the public had to close its doors in view of the health risk and the instructions issued by government authorities. Thus, many NGOs have seen their activities temporarily suspended, due to the absence of mechanisms for working at a distance or to a lack of preparation and visibility in terms of making contact with beneficiaries in this unprecedented context.
APSOPAD International, a non-profit humanitarian NGO founded in 2012 and headquartered in Tangier (Morocco) has made no exception in this regard and has also had to temporarily close its headquarters as soon as the Moroccan authorities announced instructions to close non-essential public spaces in all regions of the kingdom, knowing that it regularly supports nearly 2,400 beneficiary families.
However, the NGO had already put in place, since September 2019, a new mode of volunteering based entirely on remote digital engagement, in order to support the volunteers on site through the accomplishment of tasks related to the development of the visibility of the NGO on the net by relaying among others, its actions and its campaigns to collect donations, and on the other hand, by granting people interested in humanitarian volunteering but who, for reasons of geographical remoteness or unavailability, cannot join the physical activities, to be able to get involved by helping the NGO according to their arrangements and schedule.
Digital volunteering, also known as e-volunteering at APSOPAD International, allows for remote involvement on several levels, notably by developing the network of the association's collaborators (Members, partners, sponsors, donors...), by maximizing the visibility of the NGO on the net, by relaying messages and activities carried out on social networks, by collecting funds online and by engaging in translation, data entry and digitization tasks.
Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated that the use of digital transformation is no longer a luxury or a trend, it is now an imperative transition on which the survival and development of organizations depend, before being a guarantee of growth and a source of new opportunities.
