Charities Tap Skills of Jobless Professionals

After gaining a little insight into the nonprofit world, Gilman has broadened his search and interviewed at nonprofits such as GreatSchools.net.

"I'm learning that the nonprofit world is just as organized as the corporate world," he said.

HandsOn Bay Area and VolunteerMatch, another online service, are filling projects months in advance. In November, HandsOn Executive Director Lou Reda said he noticed the months started booking up, and by January, people started bypassing the online calendars and calling the office trying to find a project to join.