Question 1

What training will I receive?

Accepted Answer

CITA will carefully match you to charities that have expressed a requirement for the specific skills and experiences that you will have told us about, so training should not be required.

Whilst CITA is unable to provide training, we do offer guidelines, built from other volunteers’ experiences which share best practice in terms of approach, behaviour and traps to avoid!

Question 2

Do I have to fulfil a certain number of assignments each year?

Accepted Answer

There is no requirement to undertake a minimum number of activities – and no ceiling on how many!

Question 3

What if my circumstances change and I can’t commit myself to supporting CITA?

Accepted Answer

CITA recognises that careers in IT can ebb and flow and that a volunteer’s availability will vary accordingly. If you find that you cannot commit to supporting CITA, you can either alter your preferences to opt out of further contact or decline any invitations to engage with future assignments, until you are ready to volunteer again.

Question 4

What if I don’t want to work with a charity / on a project I am engaged with?

Accepted Answer

Please let CITA know via the Help Desk as soon as possible and we will arrange for an alternative volunteer to take over the project. We ask that you help and support the new volunteer in terms of making the handover as seamless as possible.

Question 5

What if my skills don’t match the needs of the charity?

Accepted Answer

If this is the case, please let CITA know via the Help Desk as soon as possible and we will arrange for an alternative volunteer to take over the project. As above, we ask that you help and support the new volunteer in terms of making the handover as seamless as possible.

We would like to understand how the mismatch happened – did the charity’s needs change or were they misinterpreted? Or is our data on your current skills out of date?

Question 6

Will I get paid?

Accepted Answer

No. All volunteers are expected to work pro bono (i.e. free of charge). Where there are travel and subsistence costs, these may be recoverable from the charity – but you would need to agree this in advance, directly with the charity.

CITA does make a nominal charge to some charities (above a certain income threshold) to recover our administration costs.

Question 7

Can I promote my own business as a volunteer?

Accepted Answer

No. CITA volunteers are totally independent and not tied to any manufacturers, products or services.. You should not use your position whilst volunteering to promote any self-interest.

Question 8

What checks are made when I register?

Accepted Answer

CITA will endeavour to check that all CITA volunteers are professional, trustworthy, have the required skill levels and appropriate experience. We check these values in several ways – through reviewing LinkedIn and other social media channels and, on occasion, requesting references.

FAQs for Volunteers

Frequently asked questions