Online Community Engagement Associate

About Ways to Connect

Ways to Connect is Inspiring Service’s community-powered platform designed to help people find meaningful ways to get involved in their local communities. Rather than listing volunteer opportunities directly, the platform connects people to the local volunteer platforms, service clubs, organizations, and resources already active in their area.

Built through contributions from volunteers across the country, Ways to Connect is more than a directory. It is a growing network of people who care about strengthening volunteer ecosystems and sharing local knowledge to make volunteering easier to find and navigate. Launched in 2025, the platform now includes more than 380 community pages highlighting local volunteer platforms, service clubs, grassroots and mutual aid groups, and community events.

Role Overview

The Online Community Engagement Associate supports the growth, quality, and sustainability of the Ways to Connect community. This role focuses on recruiting, welcoming, and onboarding volunteers, reviewing and providing feedback on volunteer contributions, and helping ensure volunteers feel supported, confident, and connected to the impact of their work. The goal of this position is to help transform our volunteer base into an engaged and active online community.

This role is ideal for someone with an interest in volunteerism and nonprofit ecosystems who enjoys mentoring, quality review, and supporting community. The position is designed to start with well-scoped responsibilities that support day-to-day community engagement but can be shaped by the Associate’s skills, creativity, and initiative. As the project evolves, there may be opportunities for this role to take on additional responsibility in areas, such as community strategy and creative engagement, based on demonstrated interest and project needs.

What You Will Do

Community Engagement, Recruitment, & Onboarding

• Recruit volunteer contributors to participate in Ways to Connect through outreach, referrals, and partnerships based on project strategy.
• Welcome new contributors and help them understand how to get involved and where their contributions can have the most impact.
• Serve as a friendly, reliable point of contact for contributor questions, guidance, and support.
• Contribute ideas for improving recruitment, onboarding, and contributor communications.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and respectful community environment aligned with our values and community guidelines.
• Support community ambassador initiative and local activation efforts by supporting contributor onboarding and communication as initiatives expand.

Contribution Review & Feedback

• Review volunteer contributions to community pages for accuracy, clarity, and alignment with contribution standards.
• Provide timely, constructive, and supportive feedback to help volunteers strengthen their work and build confidence.
• Support and expand contribution review volunteers

Engagement Activities & Continuous Improvement

• Support and coordinate communications with the online community, including newsletters and volunteer updates.
• Help contributors progress from first contribution to sustained involvement
• Strengthen sense of belonging within the community
• Support engagement initiatives such as contributor spotlights and contribution efforts.
• Help identify common challenges volunteers experience and make improvements to guidance and training.
• Collect and summarize feedback from volunteers to inform technical improvements.
• Monitor engagement health indicators such as contributor activation, retention, and contribution quality.

What You Will Need to Thrive

Essential

• Strong interest in volunteerism, civic engagement, or nonprofit work.
• Experience working with and coordinating volunteers, or online communities.
• Clear, empathetic written communication skills and comfort providing constructive feedback to volunteers.
• Experience participating in mission-driven, contributor-led, or student-based communities (e.g., volunteer networks, campus organizations, chapter programs).
• Organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable learning new processes.
• Creative problem-solving and a willingness to test and iterate new ideas.
• Willingness to take initiative, ask questions, and contribute ideas within a guided role.
• Comfortable using common digital tools (e.g., email, Slack, Google Drive, Zoom).

Nice to Have

• Experience participating in crowdsourcing or similar online communities.
• Experience reviewing or supporting volunteer, intern, or peer-produced work.
• Experience working in a remote team environment.
• Familiarity with navigating online community guidelines and moderation.
• Interest in local volunteer ecosystems and community resources.

Are you missing a few of the skills listed? We would still like to see your application. While the skills above fit our vision of this role, we are open to those candidates with a strong knowledge foundation who are fast learners and highly motivated to close any experience gaps.

Why This Role Matters

Ways to Connect depends on people who care about their communities and want to help others find ways to give back. This role helps ensure contributors feel supported and confident while maintaining high-quality community pages that make volunteering more accessible. Over time, the Associate will help shape how the community grows by learning from contributors and contributing thoughtful improvements to how the project operates.