Of course, we all know word of mouth is is the best way for potential volunteers to find your organization.  But more and more, the internet is playing a big part.

Selecting an organization to volunteer for has become easier recently, thanks to a number of Web sites now hosting searchable databases of volunteer opportunities. Below you will find a selection of these resources that will assist you in posting your volunteer opportunities.

• United Way (http://www.liveunited.org/?) Type in your zip code to find the website for your local chapter.
• Network For Good (http://www.networkforgood.org/volunteer) allows you to search for volunteer opportunities by zip code, distance, and by interest area. You can also search for a specific volunteer opportunity by organization name. 
• Volunteer Match (http://www.volunteermatch.org) can be searched by zip code, category, and distance. You can then sign up automatically by email for those volunteer opportunities you are interested in. 
• Guidestar (http://www.guidestar.org/classifieds) hosts advertisements for volunteer opportunities (select the term “Volunteer” from the drop-down menu) in addition to its searchable database of nearly one million nonprofit organizations in the United States. 
• Idealist (http://www.idealist.org/) posts volunteer opportunities that can be searched by area of focus, project description, country, state, city, skills needed, language needed, and age. You can also indicate the time frame in which you would like to volunteer. 
• 1-800-Volunteer.org (http://www.1-800-volunteer.org) can be searched a number of ways, including keyword, zip code, organization, and population served. You can also search by the days and times you would like to volunteer. 
• Craigslist is for online classifieds.  Just type craigslist into a google search. 

Try this exercise:  Type “volunteer in (your city) TN” into a google search and see what comes up.