Peace Corps Connect | NGOs and Organizations join now to network professionally

I am volunteering a little (marginally) with the National Peace Corps Association to try and help them with their new networking website called Peace Corps Connect. I talked to the Peace Corps manager of the Peace Corps Connect website and she encourages NGOs to join the network.

Please join and create a group for your NGO so you can start networking today with Returned and Current Peace Corps Volunteers. Here are the reasons that I think NGOs should be interested in joining this network:

1. Easy access to potential donors for future projects (known and unknown, unlike facebook)
2. Easy access to potential volunteers for projects and knowledgeable people about your area of interest
3. Database of past PCV projects and contact info for partnerships (unveiled next week)

Website:

community.peacecorpsconnect.org/

I realize this takes work and it may not be benefical to your organizations in your eyes in terms of time commitment. Here are some of the things you can easily setup for your NGOs or organizations:

• Integrated RSS of your blog/s on the site (linking back to your own site) that updates automatically
• Integration of Flickr accounts into the Peace Corps Connect network
• Uploading and maintain photo galleries from your site accounts
• Creation of Groups for your cause

This a great way to specifically target potential donors and volunteers for your specific causes. Unlike Facebook, which basically limits interaction between friends and area networks, the Peace Corps Connect allows people interested in particular issues to join groups specifically designed for those subjects.

While Facebook is also a viable venue, I feel this is more professional and specific for the Peace Corps. Right now we are concentrating on building a larger online presence. We hope to provide a database of current and past projects so that current volunteers can know what options are available to them as they serve and how returned volunteers can continue to contribute to causes that interest them when they return to the United States.

If you have any questions, please let me know and I hope some of you find the site useful.