Tech Talk: Make Me a Match Web technology helps nonprofits spur volunteerism

Each listing specifies a requisite skill set, as well as a date range in which volunteer service is needed. Users can click on a button that says, “I like this opportunity” and be ushered to a registration page, or a button that says, “E-mail this to a friend.”

Since its inception, VolunteerMatch has logged more than 1.7 million referrals, or official “matches,” and currently oversees 30,000 nonprofit administrators using the service. In 2003, the Web service recorded more than 400,000 volunteer referrals and hopes this year to reach the 600,000 mark.