Updated 6/14/22. I am amazed how many people are actively looking for software engineer volunteer opportunities.
Are you a software engineer or web developer looking for volunteer opportunities that leverage your knowledge or skills? You’re in luck! This is the post for you.
Writing code is often slow and expensive. When done well, the result can be downright magical. We can make tasks that were once extremely time-consuming or impossible into something easy and unbelievably fast. We can help organizations and people spread their message to a much wider audience. We can be a force multiplier for an organization’s goals. It’s also a career with a lot of good paying jobs in the market right now. For those reasons, there are a lot of potential opportunities for a coder who wants to make a big impact in their communities.
I searched the other day for volunteer opportunities for software engineers and was surprised to discover just how hard they are to find. I hope this list will help people motivated to give back or create something for the greater good find the organizations and opportunities to do that.
Create your own opportunity
- Reach out to an organization that you are interested in – You are only limited by your imagination and free time. Is there an organization or cause you care about? They might be open to some help.
- Meetup – There are so many different coding clubs these days and many of them are focused on teaching, mentoring, or coding in the community. Do a search!
- Open Source – There are so many open source projects out there. Choose a project that seems interesting to you or create your own! Below are some links to help you find open source projects.
Teaching
- Coder Dojo – Help kids learn programming. Serve as a mentor or start a coder dojo where you live.
- TEALS – Teach kids, sponsored by Microsoft.
- Code Your Feature – Teach refugees, asylum seekers and other disadvantaged people how to code.
- Code.org – Teach women and underrepresented minorities during “Hour of Code” event.
- Girls Who Code – Empower, support, and teach women how to code.
- Mother Coders – Present, code review, mentor, and teach other mothers.
- Code the Dream – Teach, mentor, and review coding assignments to help immigrants and communities of color get into the programming profession.
- CodePath – Teach and mentor.
Write code for non-profits
- Benetech – Contribute to projects benefiting humanity.
- Donate Code – Well-designed, search through projects and see what ensnares your interest.
- Social Coders
- RagTag – Help build apps for progressive causes.
- Give Camp – Help local charities.
- Catch a Fire – Skills-based volunteering.
- Free Code Camp – Learn to code and help nonprofits simultaneously.
- Code For DC – DC-specific, allied with Code for America.
- Taproot Plus
- Red Cross – Volunteer as a software engineer for the Red Cross.
- Develop for Good – Build projects for non-profits.
- Catchafire
Do you know of an organization not listed here? Have you ever participated in one of the orgs mentioned above? Let me know in the comments below!