Aussie NFP Wins International Award
9 October 2006 at 1:10 pm
A Sydney web-based Not for Profit called Volunteer X Change has featured in the international awards line up announced by the ePhilanthropy Foundation.
The ePhilanthropy Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based educational Not for Profit organisation, announced the winners of its 2006 International ePhilanthropy Awards at the Harvard Club in New York City.
Winners include Greenpeace International for its “No Whaling Virtual March”, Network for Good for its work to facilitate online donations, and Volunteer X Change Best Community Building/Volunteerism and/or Activism Campaign.
VolunteerXChange.com is the world’s first virtual volunteer system delivering professional services, skills and advice to the Not for Profit sector through the Internet, 24 hours a day anywhere in the world.
The site unlocks the potential of volunteers who are “chained to their desks” by letting them donate their professional skills through the computer to help solve the challenges faced by community organizations.
Volunteers also receive feedback on their contributions and audited reports as a record for their added experience and professional development.
Rob DePinto is the founder and CEO. After attaining his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia, Rob spent several years in Europe where he worked in intellectual capital and managed large engineering projects.
He then spent several years with a leading IT consultancy and systems integrator, where he worked on collaboration and integration solutions for multinationals such as ABB, BNP and UDV. In 2000 he founded LiquidWit in San Francisco.
He founded Volunteer x Change in 2005 and runs the operation from Sydney.
DePinto says winning offers both personal and professional validation as the award recognises the vision and the gap in the market and the entrepreneurial skills needed to get the system up and running in Australia.
He says Volunteer X Change has great benefits for both the Not for Profits and corporates.
DePinto says it offers services for Not for Profits that never existed before such as website reviews and a wide range of network support.
For corporates he says Volunteer X Change allows employees sitting at their desk in Australia to help a community group in Rwanda or anywhere else in the world using their expertise.
He says the beauty of the system is that is requires no administration or co-ordination once a company decides to get involved.
The annual International ePhilanthropy Awards honour individuals, organisations and companies working in the ePhilanthropy field who have demonstrated extraordinary talent, creativity and insight in drawing the public’s attention to the use of the Internet for philanthropic purposes and/or have created services or strategies that support those efforts.
Link: www.volunteerxchange.com
