by Jayne Cravens

What Was NetAid?

Summary.

NetAid was an anti-poverty initiative, started as a joint venture between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Cisco Systems. Its web site was www.netaid.org. The initiative no longer exists; the online volunteering portion of NetAid was spun off and hosted by the United Nations at onlinevolunteering.org for many years, but that has now been changed significantly and folded into the over all United Nations Volunteers program.

NetAid was meant to harness the Internet to raise money and awareness for the Jubilee 2000 campaign, to raise awareness for the challenges in developing countries, and to allow people to volunteer online, donating their skills to help people in the developing world. NetAid's goal was to make global philanthropy to support developing countries more efficient.

Launch in 1999.

The NetAid web site was launched in September 1999, with President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former President, logging on.

NetAid was globally launched with concerts on October 9, 1999 at Wembley Stadium in London, Giants Stadium in New Jersey and the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Unlike events like BandAid, ''We Are The World'' and Farm Aid, where wealthy entertainers performed and made pleas for the more fortunate to donate money for those with far less, but after the event, the public's commitment to the cause evaporates quickly, NetAid was meant to be far different. NetAid's organizers wanted to create lasting action and impact.

In an October 7, 1999 New York Times article, Djibril Diallo, then UNDP public affairs director, said ''We want to use the computer to help change how the world looks at poverty and motivate people to help.'' He said UNDP began examining ways of combining music, high technology and altruism more than a year before the NetAid concerts. The article notes that the NetAid web site was meant to be "a clearing house of information on the state of world poverty and the agency's programs as well as a means of raising money." The article quotes Mark Malloch Brown, then head of UNDP, who said ''The difference between this and earlier concerts is that we created a vehicle for people to come back, not just on the night of the concert with the one check they write. But instead, here's a site they're going to come back to time after time.'' The article also noted that the web site "will permit groups and people with particular needs to register them in a Netaid database. It will also allow people who are willing to donate particular skills or materials to register them in the database."

Speaking backstage at Giant Stadium during the concert to a reporter from Wired.com, Robert Piper, described as manager of the NetAid site for UNDP, said: "Our focus is not really just raising money. We're looking for long-term engagement and commitment. If people could donate one day every month it would have quite an impact." After the concerts, in a Washington Post story, "NetAid Catches Few On the Web," Piper said he was "more than satisfied" with the response, saying the main purpose was to pick up volunteers, not money. "We've been [complaining] for years about the need for people in the developed world to participate [in aid programs], but they never had the tools to participate," said Piper. "With the Internet, people can now get emotionally and intellectually involved."

A link to the NetAid site featured prominently on the UNDP web site home page for many months (screen capture of the UNDP web site featuring NetAid).

Performers at NetAid concerts.

NetAid multicolored logo
from Wembly concert DVD Performers at Wembley Stadium included: Eurythmics, The Corrs, Catatonia, Bush, Bryan Adams, George Michael, David Bowie, Stereophonics and Robbie Williams.

Performers at Giants Stadium included: Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Page, Busta Rhymes, Counting Crows, Bono, Puff Daddy, The Black Crowes, Wyclef Jean, Jewel, Mary J. Blige, Cheb Mami, Sting, Slash, Lil' Kim, Lil' Cease, and Zucchero.

Performers in Geneva included: Bryan Ferry, Texas, Des'ree and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The Wembley show was at capacity; the U.S. show suffered from very poor ticket sales.

The shows were recorded and released on DVD. There is a listing for it on Internet Movie Database (IMDB).

In an October 1999 article in the Washington Post, just before the concerts, it was noted that Harry Belafonte, the actor and musician who helped organize the event, and another supporter, actor Danny Glover were quitting the initiative, unhappy at how the event was organized and money raised would be distributed.

By the end of the concerts, it was reported that the NetAid website had received over 2.4 million hits and raised $830,000 from 80 countries.

NetAid after the concerts.

Following the concerts, NetAid was spun out of Cisco as an independent nonprofit, based in New York City. As of August 2000, the Netaid.org Foundation listed as its board of directors: Mark Malloch Brown of UNDP, Don Listwin of Cisco Systems, Carol Bellamy of UNICEF, Quincy Jones and David Morrison.

The staff at NetAid in New York tried various approaches to raising awareness of extreme poverty and raising money for anti-poverty projects undertaken by other organizations, through a variety of different campaigns.

In 2000, NetAid launched an online volunteering matching service on its web site, in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, part of UNDP. This was in keeping with the goal of NetAid to create lasting action.

The web site allowed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN-affiliated projects serving the developing world to recruit and involve online volunteers in various projects (virtual volunteering). UNV took over management of the online volunteering portion of the NetAid site entirely in 2001 and, in 2004, the online volunteering portion of the site was relaunched under UNV at its own URL, www.onlinevolunteering.org. This platform continued for many years, allowing any government-registered NGO, nonprofit or charity to recruit online volunteers through the platform. The platform was eventually discontinued and the UN's online volunteering activities were folded into UN Volunteers entirely, and now the online volunteering platform is limited to ONLY United Nations agencies recruiting online volunteers.

In 2000, Charity Village published an in-depth analysis by Graham Francis under the title, "Why did NetAid fail to raise more money from the visitors to its Web site?." In response to these and other criticisms regarding its finances, NetAid published a web page in November 2001 citing its record of donations to anti-poverty initiatives to date, such as granting "$1.4 million to 16 poverty alleviation projects in Kosovo and Africa — well over the $1m that had been raised from the public to that point... the remaining $10.6 million was dedicated to creating an innovative institution that will generate new support for reducing global poverty over the long term. Since January 2000, NetAid has used approximately $2 million to catalyze new support and partnerships for fighting global poverty." See "NetAid's Commitment to Accountability" on the NetAid web site, November 2001, archived from web.archive.org for more info.

In February 2001, Time and NetAid announced a pioneering initiative aimed at collecting donations through Palm VII handheld computers, allowing volunteers to collect credit card data from friends and input the information into the NetAid web site via these newly-wireless devices. The experiment "pushes the envelope for Web-based charities, according to analysts, who said the bid to turn handhelds into virtual wallets faces some significant hurdles--for example, guaranteeing the privacy and security of contributors." See the CNET News article, "Taking donations from the Palm in your hand", by Gwendolyn Mariano, February 2001, for more info.

NetAid also explored the use of video games for social change, co-founding the Games for Change movement in 2004. NetAid's work with games was initially offline, beginning with the "NetAid World Class" board game, which piloted in California, Massachusetts and New York in 2003. In 2004, NetAid co-produced a game with Cisco called "Peter Packet," which addressed how the Internet can help fight poverty, focusing on issues of basic education, clean drinking water and HIV-AIDS.

By 2004, NetAid was promoting an initiative called the NetAid World Schoolhouse. Even though the online volunteering service was now being managed entirely by United Nations Volunteers, NetAid maintained a link to it on the home page.

By 2006, NetAid had again narrowed its focus to raising awareness among high school students in the USA regarding poverty in developing countries.

The different campaigns of NetAid are chronicled through archived versions of its web site, www.netaid.org, available at the Wayback Machine.

In 2007, NetAid became a part of Mercy Corps, a nonprofit international humanitarian aid organization. MercyCorps later discontinued the initiative and no longer promotes the brand.

For researchers and journalists

The best way to research the different programs of NetAid over the years is to look up:

www.netaid.org at archive.org and look at the different services offered by NetAid each year. Starting in February 2001, I began directing the online volunteering part of NetAid. Looking at that portion of the site every year will give you an idea of how I changed it.
www.undp.org at archive.org, look up versions of the web site in 1999 and through 2006, and look for UNDP articles about NetAid on the various web sites.
www.onlinevolunteering.org at archive.org, look up versions of the web site from about June 2004 through about June 2016. If you look in June of each year, you will see how both the site and the entire program evolved while at UNV. Note: I managed the program through February 2005.
the word NetAid on newspaper archives and major TV network news archives (articles will begin as early as 1999).
the word NetAid on Bing. As of 2017, you will get a good list of archived newspaper and newsletter articles from 1999 and beyond. It works much better than Google in this regard.

Note that many media archives are behind paywalls. Your local public library or a university library can help you access these for free if you visit the library onsite.

I also have an archive of articles from various publications before the concerts, as well as articles that criticized NetAid. Contact me if you would like access to such. Please give me your complete name, the name of your university or media organization, your geographic location, and the reason you want access.

Also see lessons from onlinevolunteering.org. This is a list of key learnings from the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.

Why do I care?

In 2000, UNV created a new position, the Online Volunteering Specialist, and contacted me,, Jayne Cravens, to apply for the job. I did so, and began in the position in February 2001, based at the UNV offices in Bonn, Germany. I both directed UNV's online volunteering responsibilities through NetAid and the online materials and online activities of the United Nations Technology Service (UNITeS). I substantially revamped the online volunteering portion of the NetAid web site, making it much more focused on helping organizations involve volunteers and to reduce the number of people signing up for assignments without understanding that virtual volunteering is a real commitment (and thereby reducing the number of volunteer drop outs). You can compare the August 2000 version of http://www.netaid.org/ov/ to the August 2 2002 version of http://www.netaid.org/ov/ to see how I changed the site. I then oversaw the negotiations to move the online volunteering service entirely to UNV under it's own URL, www.onlinevolunteering.org.

I authored this list of lessons from onlinevolunteering.org, based on my experience directing the service from February 2001 to February 2005.

Also see:

The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

available for purchase as a paperback & an ebook.
Published January 2014.

By Jayne Cravens & Susan Ellis.

A great deal of what was learned from managing the UN's Online Volunteering Service, including when it was a part of NetAid, is shared in this book. If you are researching NetAid or United Nations tech-related initiatives, this book is a must read.

Tech Volunteer Groups / ICT4D Volunteers
A listing of organizations and groups that promoted and placed tech volunteers - both defunct initiatives and current ones.
United Nations ICT4D Initiatives
Various United Nations offices have launched initiatives to promote the use of computers, feature phones, smart phones and various networked devices in development and humanitarian activities, to promote digital literacy and equitable access to the "information society," and to bridge the digital divide. This web page is my effort to track UN Tech4Good / ICT4D programs, from the oldest through 2016. My goal is to primarily to help researchers, as well as to remind current UN initiatives that much work regarding ICT4D has been done by various UN employees, consultants and volunteers for more than 15 years (and perhaps longer?).
List of Initiatives to Related to Bridging the Digital Divide or Building Digital Literacy in the Developing World or Globally in 2002.
UNDP Chief Warns G-8 Leaders of a Widening “Digital Divide” from July 2000.
A history of the Smart Valley initiative
In 1994, perhaps earlier, an initiative called Smart Valley was launched in California. Smart Valley was a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization focused on creating an "information infrastructure" in Silicon Valley, California - Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, San José, Santa Clara and the surrounding area, creating projects to enhance the quality of life in Silicon Valley. Smart Valley's projected included SmartSchools NetDay and PC Day, Smart Voter, to help people learn about upcoming elections, Connect 96: The Global Summit on Building Electronic Communities, the Public Access Network (PAN), a Telecommuting Initiative, and the Smart Valley Webmasters Group. Smart Valley was also affiliated with the nonprofit organization Plugged In, one of the first digital divide efforts, working to bring "the tremendous technological resources available in the Silicon Valley to youth in low-income communities" in East Palo Alto and SV-PAL, the Silicon Valley Public Access Link.
Short-term Assignments for Tech Volunteers
There are a variety of ways for mission-based organizations to involve volunteers to help with short-term projects relating to computers and the Internet, and short-term assignments are what are sought after most by potential "tech" volunteers. But there is a disconnect: most organizations have trouble identifying such short-term projects. This is a list of short-term projects for "tech" volunteers -- assignments that might takes days, weeks or just a couple of months to complete.
One(-ish) Day "Tech" Activities for Volunteers
Volunteers are getting together for intense, one-day events, or events of just a few days, to build web pages, to write code, to edit Wikipedia pages, and more. These are gatherings of onsite volunteers, where everyone is in one location, together, to do an online-related project in one day, or a few days. It's a form of episodic volunteering, because volunteers don't have to make an ongoing commitment - they can come to the event, contribute their services, and then leave and never volunteer again. Because computers are involved, these events are sometimes called hackathons, even if coding isn't involved. This page provides advice on how to put together a one-day event, or just-a-few-days-of activity, for a group of tech volunteers onsite, working together, for a nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO), community-focused government program, school or other mission-based organization - or association of such.
Volunteering Abroad (especially for Westerners)
An in-depth look at the different kinds of volunteering abroad, with extensive information on what a person would need to do and study to become a viable candidate for long-term volunteering gigs where the volunteer does NOT have to pay his or her own travel and accommodations, such as the PeaceCorps or UNV.
Incorporating virtual volunteering into a corporate employee volunteer program (a resource for businesses / for-profit companies)
Virtual volunteering - volunteers providing service via a computer, smart phone, tablet or other networked advice - presents a great opportunity for companies to expand their employee philanthropic offerings. Through virtual volunteering, some employees will choose to help organizations online that they are already helping onsite. Other employees who are unable to volunteer onsite at a nonprofit or school will choose to volunteer online because of the convenience.
Women's Access to Public Internet Access, a resource I developed through research & experience to support the development of women-only Internet centers/technology centers/etc., or women-only hours at such public Internet access points, in developing and transitional countries.
Lessons from onlinevolunteering.org
Some key learnings from directing the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.
San Francisco Women of the Web (SFWOW): A History
In the 1990s, various associations sprung up all over the USA to support women using the Internet as a primary part of their work - or who wanted to. These associations created safe, supportive, content-rich, fun spaces, both online and in real spaces, for women to talk about their tech and online-related work, to ask questions, and to learn from each other. One of the best well-known at the time, San Francisco Women of the Web, chose 25 women in 1998, in 1999, in 2000 and in 2001, recognizing them with their Women of the Web award. To help highlight some of the many women who played important roles in the 1990s Internet - which I consider the "early days" - as well as some truly pioneering tech projects that laid the groundwork for the success of so many initiatives today, I have reproduced this list of Top25 Women on the Web on my own site.
Early History of Nonprofits & the Internet
The Internet has been about people and organizations networking with each other, sharing ideas and comments, and collaborating online. It has always been interactive and dynamic. And there were many nonprofit organizations who "got" it early -- earlier than many for-profit companies. So I've attempted to set the record straight: I've prepared a web page that talks about the early history of nonprofits and the Internet. It focuses on 1995 and previous years. It talks a little about what nonprofits were using the cyberspace for as well at that time and lists the names of key people and organizations who helped get nonprofit organizations using the Internet in substantial numbers in 1995 and before. Edits and additions are welcomed.

Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.

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