One bright spot during the COVID-19 pandemic is how it has brought people together as they explore ways to help each other. In addition to groups seeking donations for relief funds and signatures for petitions for helping the industry's voices be heard, virtual volunteering opportunities allow you to offer your time. Here are some opportunities that allow those you to help make a difference even as you shelter in place to flatten the curve. 

All for Good 
All for Good is a digital hub for volunteerism and community engagement. It aggregates volunteer opportunities from AARP, United Way, the Hands-on Network, and more, to help connect you to the projects and organizations that inspire you to serve.

Be My Eyes 
Be My Eyes is an app that connects sighted people to the vision impaired through a live video call for assistance. These are usually small, brief tasks, such as reading a recipe off the back of a box, adjusting the thermostat, sorting laundry, etc.

Crisis Text Line 
Crisis Text Line offers free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. If you’re at least 18 years old and can commit to volunteering four hours each week, you can apply to be trained for free.

Career Village
Career Village aims to democratize career information by crowdsourcing answers to students' career questions and aggregates the answers in a massive online open-source database. Professionals can contribute their expertise by volunteering in several ways.

Catchafire
Catchafire is a community of individuals seeking to support and strengthen the social good sector by matching professionals who want to donate their time and talent with nonprofits who need those skills.

DoSomething.org 
DoSomething empowers young people to enact social change both online and off.

Idealist
Idealist is a nonprofit organization helping connect individuals to a variety of virtual volunteering opportunities.

Independent Restaurant Coalition
The Independent Restaurant Coalition is seeking signatures for their letter to Congress to help save restaurants and the millions of workers who depend on them reopening.

Knit-A-Square
Volunteers knit simple squares that are then assembled into blankets and distributed to those in need. 

The New York Public Library’s Building Inspector
The New York Public Library’s Building Inspector program promises to help you kill time and make history by identifying buildings and other details on beautiful old maps.

Operation Gratitude 
Normally Operation Gratitude allows you to send handwritten letters to military and first responders. However, during COVID-19 it is providing ways to give back and say “thank you” to those who are helping during this pandemic.

Project Gutenberg
Founded in 1971, Project Gutenberg’s goal is to create the largest digital library. So far they’ve amassed a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. You can volunteer by donating eligible materials, transcribing books into a digital form, or proofreading others’ work.

Red Cross’s Digital Volunteer Program
The Red Cross is connecting volunteers with people affected by disasters who need help navigating aid services, getting information or just need someone to listen.

The Smithsonian Institute
If you’re passionate about education and interested in history, science, or anthropology, the Smithsonian Institute has two main virtual projects they help with: transcribing historical documents and updating relevant Wikipedia pages.

Translators Without Borders 
Translators Without Borders offers translation services for humanitarian and development agencies and other nonprofit organizations globally. If you are fluent in at least one language other than your native language, you can virtually volunteer as a translator.

United Nations 
The United Nations runs a virtual program connecting volunteers to organizations worldwide. You can help with a variety of short and longer-term opportunities from writing and editing, translation, technology services, research, and advocacy.

VolunteerMatch 
VolunteerMatch has made it easy for good people and good causes to connect. Their site allows you to explore hundreds of virtual volunteer opportunities in cause areas like health and medicine, education, and community building, that you can do from a computer.

Zooniverse
Zooniverse is a platform for people-powered research and has more than 95 nonprofit research projects. You can spend as much or as little time as you’d like on projects from identifying endangered animals, classifying galaxy systems, or transcribing Shakespearean manuscripts.