How to share large files with online volunteers?


Working with online volunteers generally means the need to exchange files that, more often than not, exceed email attachment limits. So how can an NGO, with limited financial resources, successfully work with its online volunteers?

On the Internet there are currently a range of open-source services that allow the storage and transfer of files from 2 gigabytes (GB) up to 50 gigabytes, making it possible for an online volunteer and a non-profit organisation to easily exchange videos or graphics and files.

Appropriately, with the help of online volunteers, Randy Tyler, responsible for the Macdonald Youth Service (MYS) Online Volunteers Programme has released a list of 17 free file sharing services on the internet.

Tyler provides the name of the service, Web address, maximum transfer size, monthly transfer limit, maximum storage capacity, allowed file storage duration and the requirements of the customer, all in one simple PDF. The services referenced in it allow between 100 and 300 anonymous file transfers.

Iwith.org volunteers are largely comprised from the sphere of translation. If the tools referenced in the above PDF are not of assistance, our Organisation, specialised in reducing the gap between new technologies and the third sector, provides an Online translation system that allows your extranet members to collaborate directly on your web site without the need to send files. In this way, the person who edits the site is also the person that publishes it, meaning that work does not have to be done twice.